How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Silver Spring has to be refreshed, a fresh coat of exterior paint is a fast, affordable way to improve its curb appeal. So if your home is looking shabby or if you are just 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 big 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 brushes and paints to use.

You can also compromise with a professional painter by completing all of the prep work by yourself, but then letting their crew come over and do the painting with their best tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.

Whichever choice is right for you, you’ll still need to know exactly how to prepare your home for painting. Here are some of the most important things to remember.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Decide which parts of the home to paint, gather the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you’re preparing to complete the painting by yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will make the painting go a lot faster once you begin. Gathering your materials ahead of time ensures that when you start painting, you won’t have to stop and look for all of the supplies, meaning that you’ll have to maintain a wet edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose the right paint and brushes. The best part of painting your home’s exterior is choosing the color or color combo. You will also need to choose the right paint finishes for all parts of the house. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is less messy and easier to clean. The flat surfaces need more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss. You’ll need to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also efficient options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to start prepping the exterior of the house for its brand new paint! Invest time into power 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 remove peeling paint, and it also cleans the outside of your house. Some sections of paint may 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 diligent not to dig deep 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 need to be tended to and have the edges sanded so the new coat of paint goes on the home smooth.
5. Prime. Do not skip the primer! Primer is a very important step because it conceals any previous paint (especially with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smooth exterior with less imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the first layer of paint won’t mix with it or produce a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. 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, 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 several years newer, it also creates a layer of protection for the overall exterior of your house.

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

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

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 easiest things you can do.

Painting is also a good idea if your house 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 paint color can update its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Silver Spring

After prepping is done, you can turn the work off to a professional painter in Silver Spring  (if you hadn’t already decided that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also ensures that the results will exceed expectations with minimal effort on your part.

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

• A professional painter knows the best way to complete the job, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will go a lot quicker.
• Pros don’t make a big mess. Their results will be neater, with no excess paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will last longer than if you did the job by yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment needed to paint areas higher than ground level.

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