How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Gilbert needs to be updated, a new coat of paint is an easy, inexpensive option to improve its curb appeal. So if your home is looking worn down or if you are simply ready for a change, consider painting the outside of your house yourself or enlist a professional painter to do the job for you.

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

You can even meet in the middle with a professional painter by completing all of the prep work yourself, but then having their crew come in and do the painting with their tools, safety equipment and selected paint.

Whichever direction is best for you, you will 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 all other necessary safety equipment. If you are preparing to complete the painting by yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a plan will help to make the painting go much faster once you get started. Collecting your materials ahead of time guarantees that once you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning that you’ll be able to maintain a wet brush edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose the right paint and brushes. The best part of painting your house is deciding the color or color combination. You will also want to choose the right paint finishes for each part of the house. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is 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 want synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are efficient options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to begin prepping the surface of the house for its brand new paint! Put time into pressure washing your house (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure is the best way to eliminate old paint, and it also cleans the outside of your house. Some sections of paint will peel off as you spray over them. That’s a sign that the paint was aging 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 careful not to dig into the wood. Then sand bumpy surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t necessary to sand each surface down to the bare wood. Any sections where the paint is still adhered need to be tended to and have the edges sanded so the new paint goes on smooth.
5. Prime. Don’t skip priming! Primer is an important step because it conceals any prior paint (especially important with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smoother surface with less imperfections. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the original layer of paint won’t mix with it or create a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter can look at the weather forecast and find the most opportune day for painting a house. That’s why they’re professionals! 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 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 several years newer, it also creates a layer of protection for the overall exterior of your house.

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

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

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

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

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Gilbert

After prepping is over, you have the option to hand the work over to a professional painter in Gilbert (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the start!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also guarantees 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 optimal way to complete the job, which means the paint will look a lot better and the project will move a lot faster.
• Pros don’t typically make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, with no excess paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Because of their skill and knowledge, your new paint will last longer than if you did the job by 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 complete all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most companies are prepared to handle each part of the job, from removing old paint and cleaning the exterior to applying the paint.