How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in Lakewood needs to be updated, a new coat of paint is an easy, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your home is starting to look shabby or if you’re just ready for something different, consider painting the outside of your house yourself or enlist a local painter to do the job for you.

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

You can even compromise with a painter by completing all the prep work by yourself, but then having their team come in and do the painting with their best tools, safety equipment and selected paint.

Whichever choice 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. Choose which parts of the home to paint, collect the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you are preparing to do the painting yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will make the painting go much faster once you get started. Gathering your equipment beforehand guarantees that when you start painting, you won’t have to stop and search for needed supplies, meaning that you’ll be able to maintain a wet edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your home is deciding the color or color combination. You will also need to pick 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 much easier to clean. The flat surfaces require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss. 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 start prepping the exterior of your house for its beautiful 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 high pressure water is the best way to remove peeling paint, and it simultaneously cleans the outside of your house. Some of the areas 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 old paint has been loosened, get more of it off the house with a metal or plastic straight edge, being careful not to dig deep into the wood surface. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand every surface all the way down to the bare wood. Any sections where the paint is still adhered just need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new paint goes on smoothly.
5. Prime. Don’t skip the primer! Primer is a very important step because it covers up any previous paint (especially important with dark colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smooth exterior with minimal imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the first layer of paint doesn’t blend into it or create a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter is able to look at the forecast and tell you the most opportune day for painting a house. That’s why they’re professionals! If you want to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, with low 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 house look several years newer, it also adds 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 inclement weather. High quality paint prevents 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 needs to be replaced. If paint is peeling on your home, you need to have it repainted to protect the wood beneath.

Worn paint 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 (but you want it to). If your home’s color makes it stand out too much, or if it is the opposite and you want it to stand out, a different color can totally update its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Lakewood

After prepping is over, you can turn the job over to a professional painter in Lakewood (if you hadn’t already decided that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also guarantees that the results will exceed expectations with minimal effort from you.

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

• A professional painter will know the most efficient way to do the job, which means the paint will look a lot better and the project will be done a lot quicker.
• Companies don’t typically make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, with no excess paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Because of their skill and knowledge, your new paint will likely last longer than if you painted yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment required to paint areas above ground level.

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