How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Columbia has to be updated, a new coat of exterior paint is a quick, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your house is starting to look shabby or if you are simply ready for a change, consider repainting the outside of your house yourself or enlist a local painter to do it for you.

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

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

Whichever direction is best for you, you’ll still need to know how to prepare your home for painting. Here are the most important things to consider.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Choose which parts to paint, collect the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you are planning to do the painting yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will make the actual painting project go much faster once you begin. Organizing your tools ahead of time ensures that when you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning you’ll be able to maintain a wet edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your home’s exterior is deciding the color or color combo. You’ll also need to choose the right paint finishes for each part of the house. Latex is a lot better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It’s a lot less messy and much easier to clean. 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 efficient options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to begin prepping the surface of your house for its beautiful new paint! Put time into pressure washing your house (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to wash off any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure is the most effective way to eliminate peeling paint, and it cleans the outside of your house. Some of the sections of paint may peel right off as soon as you spray them. That’s a sign that the paint was deteriorating and had to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the original paint has been loosened, get more of it off with a metal or plastic straight edge, being diligent not to dig into the wood surface. 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 just need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new paint goes on the home smoothly.
5. Prime. Don’t skip priming! Primer is an important step because it covers up any previous paint (especially with dark colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smoother surface with less imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the first layer of paint doesn’t blend into it or result in a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter can 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 little humidity. This will lead to the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

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

Paint can help prevent insects from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also stops wear and tear from the elements. Good 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 clue that it needs to be replaced. If paint is peeling, you really need to have it repainted to protect the wood beneath.

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

Painting is also a good idea if your house doesn’t to “fit in” in the neighborhood. 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 change its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Columbia

After the prepping is done, you can turn the job over to a professional painter in Columbia (if you hadn’t already decided that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also ensures that the results will exceed expectations with little 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, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will move a lot faster.
• Pros don’t make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, without extra paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Because of their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will last a lot longer than if you did the job yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment required to paint areas above ground level.

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