How to Prepare Your Home for Painting
If your home in West Palm Beach has to be refreshed, a new coat of paint is a fast, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your home exterior is starting to look worn down or if you’re just ready for a change, consider repainting the outside of your house yourself or pay 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 understand how to prep the surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as what brushes and paints to use.
You can meet in the middle with a professional painter by doing all of the prep work by yourself, but then having their team come over and do the actual painting with their best tools, safety equipment and selected paint.
Whichever option is best for you, you will still want to know exactly how to prepare your home for painting. Here are the most important things to consider.
6 House Painting Preparation Tips
- Choose which parts to paint, gather the ladders and all other necessary safety equipment. If you’re preparing to do the painting yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a clear plan will make the actual painting go a lot faster once you begin. Organizing your materials ahead of time ensures that when you start painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and look for needed supplies, meaning that you’ll have to maintain a wet brush edge the entire time you are painting.
- Choose the right paint and brushes. The best part of painting your house is deciding the color or color combination. You’ll also want 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’s a lot less messy and easier to clean up. The flat surfaces require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll want to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also efficient options if possible.
- Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to start prepping the exterior of the house for its beautiful 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 water is the best way to remove old paint, and it also cleans the outside of your house. Some of the sections of paint will peel off as you spray over them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
- Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, get more of it off with a metal or plastic straight edge, being diligent not to dig into the wood. Then sand bumpy surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand every surface all the way 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 smooth.
- Prime. Do not skip priming! Primer is an important step because it conceals any prior paint (especially important with dark colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smooth exterior with minimal imperfections. 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.
- Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter can look at the weather forecast and tell you the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re professionals! If you want to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is between 75 and 85 degrees, and with low humidity. This will lead to the best adhesion.
Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea
Not only does a brand new paint job make your home look years newer, it also creates a layer of protection to the overall exterior of your house.
Paint will help prevent insects 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 way it does to bare wood.
Peeling paint is an obvious sign that it is time to be replaced. If your paint is peeling on your home, you really need to have it repainted in order to protect the wood beneath.
Deteriorating 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 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 really want it to stand out, a different color can totally update its look.
Hiring a Local Professional Painter in West Palm Beach
After prepping is complete, you might want to hand the work over to a professional painter in West Palm Beach (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also ensures that the results will exceed your expectations with minimal effort from you.
Hiring a local painter to paint your home has several obvious benefits:
- A professional painter knows the optimal way to do the job, which means the paint will look a lot better and the project will be done a lot faster.
- Pros don’t make a mess. Their results will be neater, with no excess paint splattered or spilled around home.
- Because of their skill and knowledge, your new paint will probably last a lot longer than if you did the job yourself.
- A professional painter will already 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 do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most companies are prepared to handle every part of the job, from eliminating old paint and cleaning the exterior to actually applying the paint.