How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in Irving needs to be refreshed, a fresh coat of exterior paint is an easy, affordable option to improve its appearance. So if your home exterior is looking shabby or if you’re just ready for something different, consider repainting the exterior of your home yourself or enlist a professional painter to do the job for you.

Painting a house is a big job, but it isn’t an unreasonable job for some homeowners. You just have to do your research to know how to prep the exterior surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as which brushes and paints to use.

You can even partner with a painter by completing all the prep work yourself, but then having their team come in and do the actual painting with their tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.

Whichever choice is right for you, you’ll still want to know how to prepare your home for painting. Here are some of the most important things to remember.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Choose which parts to paint, collect the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you’re preparing to do the painting yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a plan will make the actual painting go much faster as soon as you get started. Collecting your equipment beforehand ensures that once you start painting, you won’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning that you’ll have to maintain a wet edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose the right paint and brushes. The most fun part of painting your home is deciding the color or color combo. You’ll also want to choose the right paint finishes for each part of the home. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It’s less messy and easier to clean up. The flat surfaces require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss. You’ll want to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also time-saving options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to start prepping the exterior of the home for its beautiful new paint! Put time into power washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to loosen any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure water is the recommended way to eliminate old paint, and it cleans the exterior of your home. Some sections of paint should peel off as soon as you spray over them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, scrape it off with a plastic or metal straight edge, being diligent not to dig into the wood. Then sand bumpy surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand each surface all the way down to the bare wood. Any sections where the paint is still adhered just need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new paint goes on the home smoothly.
5. Prime. Do not skip priming! Primer is a very important step because it covers up any prior paint (especially with dark colors), results in an even color for your new coat, and a smoother exterior with minimal imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the first layer of paint won’t mix with it or result in a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter is able to look at the weather forecast and tell you the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re professionals! If you want to do the painting on your own, wait for a day that is between 75 and 85 degrees, with little humidity. This will result in the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only does a new paint job make your house look several years newer, it also creates a layer of protection for the overall exterior of your home.

Paint can help prevent insects from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also stops wear and tear from inclement weather. Good quality paint stops wood from rotting and dirt won’t adhere to paint the way it does to wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious indication that it is time to be replaced. If your paint is peeling, you really need to have it repainted to protect the wood beneath.

Worn paint really takes a toll on your home’s appearance. If you’re concerned about curb appeal, painting your home is one of the easiest things you can do.

Painting is also a good idea if your home doesn’t to “fit in” in the neighborhood (but you want it to). If your home’s exterior color makes it stand out, or if the opposite is true and you really want it to stand out, a different color can completely change its vibe.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Irving

After the prepping is over, you have the option to turn the work off to a professional painter in Irving (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also ensures that the results will exceed your expectations with less effort from you.

Hiring a local painter to paint your home has several obvious benefits:

• A professional painter knows the best way to do the job, which means the paint will look a lot better and the project will go a lot faster.
• Pros don’t typically make a mess. Their results will be neater, with no extra paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will likely last longer than if you painted yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment needed to paint surfaces higher than ground level.

Based on your DIY abilities and interests, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most services are prepared to handle each part of the job, from removing old paint and pressure washing the exterior to actually applying the new paint.