How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Downey has to be updated, a fresh coat of exterior paint is a fast, inexpensive option to improve its curb appeal. So if your home exterior is starting to look worn down or if you are simply ready for a change, consider repainting the exterior of your home yourself or pay a professional painter to do it for you.

Painting a home is a huge project, but it isn’t an impossible job for some homeowners. You have to do your research to understand how to prep the exterior surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as what type of brushes and paints you need to use.

You can also meet in the middle with a painter by doing all the prep work on your own, but then letting their team come to your home and do the actual painting with their best tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.

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

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Choose which parts to paint, collect the ladders and all other safety equipment. If you are planning to do the painting by yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a clear plan will make the actual painting go much faster once you get started. Gathering your tools beforehand guarantees that once you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and look for needed supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose the right paint and brushes. The most fun part of painting your house is deciding the color or color combination. You’ll also want to pick the right paint finishes for all parts of the home. Latex is a lot better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It’s a lot less messy and easier to clean. The flat surfaces need 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 begin prepping the exterior of the home for its brand new paint! Put time into pressure washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure is the most effective way to remove old paint, and it also cleans the exterior of your home. Some of the sections of paint should peel right off as you spray them. That’s a sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, get more of it off the house with a plastic or metal straight edge, being diligent not to dig into the wood. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t necessary to sand every surface down to the bare wood. Any areas where the paint is still adhered need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new coat of paint goes on the home smooth.
5. Prime. Don’t skip the primer! Primer is an important part of preparation because it conceals any prior paint (especially with dark colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smoother exterior with minimal imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the first layer of paint doesn’t blend into it or create a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter is able to look at the forecast and determine the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re experts! If you plan to do the painting on your own, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, and with very little humidity. This will result in the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only will a brand new paint job make your home look several years newer, it also adds a layer of protection to the overall exterior of your home.

Paint will help prevent pests from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also reduces wear and tear from inclement weather. Good quality paint prevents wood from rotting and dirt won’t adhere to paint the same way it does to bare wood.

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

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

Painting is also a good idea if your home doesn’t seem 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 totally change its vibe.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Downey

After prepping is over, you might want to turn the work over to a professional painter in Downey (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also guarantees that the results will exceed your expectations with minimal effort from you.

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

• A professional painter will know the optimal way to do the job, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will be done a lot quicker.
• Pros don’t make a mess. Their results will be neater, with no extra paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will probably last a lot longer than if you did the job by yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment required to paint surfaces above ground level.

Depending on your DIY skills and interests, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most services are prepared to handle every part of the project, from removing old paint and cleaning the exterior to actually applying the new paint.