How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Union City needs to be updated, a fresh coat of exterior paint is an easy, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your home exterior is starting to look worn down or if you’re simply ready for a change, consider repainting the outside of your house yourself or hire a professional painter to do the job for you.

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

You can also team up with a professional painter by completing all of the prep work on your own, but then having their crew come over and do the painting with their tools, safety equipment and selected paint.

Whichever option is best for you, you will still need 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 to paint, gather the ladders and all other necessary safety equipment. If you are preparing to complete the painting by yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a clear plan will make the painting project go much faster as soon as you begin. Collecting your equipment ahead of time ensures that when you start painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning that you’ll be able 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 home is choosing the color or color combination. You’ll also need to pick the right paint finishes for all parts of the house. Latex is a lot better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is a lot less messy and much easier to clean up. The flat surfaces require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll need synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also time-saving options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to start prepping the surface of your house for its brand new paint! Invest time into pressure washing your house (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure is the best way to eliminate peeling paint, and it cleans the outside of your house. Some of the sections of paint will peel right off as soon as you spray them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was deteriorating and had to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, get more of it off with a plastic or metal straight edge, being careful not to dig deep into the wood surface. Then sand bumpy surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand each surface down to the bare wood. Any areas where the paint is still adhered need to be tended to and have the edges sanded so the new coat of paint goes on smoothly.
5. Prime. Don’t skip the primer! Primer is a very 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 surface with less 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 is able to 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 on your own, wait for a day that is between 75 and 85 degrees, and with very low humidity. This will lead to the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only will a new paint job make your home look years newer, it also creates a layer of protection to the overall structure of your house.

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

Peeling paint is an obvious signal that it needs 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 beneath.

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

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

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Union City

After prepping is done, you might want to hand the work over to a professional painter in Union City (if you hadn’t already decided that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also ensures that the results will exceed your expectations with little effort from you.

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 a lot better and the project will go a lot faster.
• Pros don’t make a mess. Their results will be much neater, with no excess paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will likely last a lot longer than if you did the job by yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment needed to paint surfaces above ground level.

Depending on your DIY abilities and interests, you can trust your painter to complete all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most pros are fully prepared to take care of each part of the job, from removing old paint and pressure washing the exterior to applying the paint.