How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Glendale has to be updated, a fresh coat of exterior paint is an easy, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your home is looking worn down or if you are just ready for a change, consider repainting the exterior of your home yourself or enlist a professional painter to do it for you.

Painting a home is a big job, but it isn’t an impossible job for most homeowners. You just need 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 even partner with a painter by doing all the prep work on your own, but then letting their crew come over and do the painting with their best tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.

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

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Decide which parts of the home to paint, collect the ladders and all other safety equipment. If you’re preparing to complete the painting yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a clear plan will help to make the painting go much faster once you get started. Collecting your materials ahead of time guarantees that once you start painting, you won’t have to stop and search for needed supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The most fun part of painting your house is choosing the color or color combo. You’ll also want to choose the right paint finishes for all parts of the home. Latex is a lot better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is a lot less messy and easier to clean up. The flat surfaces require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll want to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are time-saving options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is 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 remove any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure water is the most effective way to remove old paint, and it also cleans the exterior of your home. Some sections of paint will peel right off as you spray them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was aging and had to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, get more of it off the house with a metal or plastic straight edge, being diligent not to dig into the wood surface. 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 areas where the paint is still adhered just need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new coat of paint goes on the home smooth.
5. Prime. Do not skip priming! Primer is a very important step because it conceals any prior paint (especially important with dark paint colors), results in an even color for your new coat, and a smoother exterior with minimal imperfections. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the original layer of paint doesn’t mix with it or leave behind a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter can look at the weather forecast and determine the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re professionals! If you plan to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, with low humidity. This will result in the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only can a brand new paint job make your home look years newer, it also adds a layer of protection for the overall structure of your home.

Paint helps prevent insects from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also prevents wear and tear from inclement weather. Good quality paint prevents wood from rotting and dirt doesn’t stick to paint the way it does to bare wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious clue that it is time to be replaced. If your paint is peeling on your home, you really need to go ahead and have it repainted in order to protect the wood surface.

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

Painting is 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 it is the opposite and you really want it to stand out, a different paint color can change its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Glendale

After the prepping is over, you can turn the project over to a professional painter in Glendale (if you hadn’t already decided that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also guarantees that the results will exceed your expectations with less effort on your part.

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

• A professional painter will know the optimal way to complete the job, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will be a lot faster.
• Companies don’t typically make a mess. Their results will be neater, with no extra paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Due to their skill and knowledge, your new exterior paint will last a lot longer than if you did the job yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment needed to paint areas above ground level.

Based on your DIY skills and interests, you can trust your painter to complete all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most services are prepared to take care of each part of the job, from eliminating old paint and pressure washing the exterior to applying the new paint.