Painting is a vital aspect of home maintenance—one that should never be neglected. Not only does painting protect the exterior of your house against the wreathing actions of snow, ice, and rain. It also beautifies your home and adds to its rental and sale values.
Whether you are doing a complete revamp of your house’s painting or simply want to cover up patches left by the repairs you have made to the exterior, here are some do-it-yourself exterior painting tips that you can use to refinish your home’s exterior like a pro.
- Nature Is your Friend
This is especially true when you paint your home’s exterior on a dry day. Paint don’t do well on wet surfaces, and you definitely don’t want a snowfall or rainfall immediately after painting. Therefore, plan ahead of time and check the forecast before commencing your paint job.
- Materials You Need
If you truly want to give your home’s exterior a professional touch, then you have to use professional tools. If not, you may end up ruining your walls. Here are some materials you need:
- Paint
- Ladder
- Epoxy filler
- Drop cloths
- Paintbrush and roller
- Sprayer
- Pressure washer
- Caulk and caulk gun
- Sanding block
- Paint scraper
- Painter’s tape
- Drop cloths
- Staining-blocking primer
- Spackle knife
- Plastic sheeting
- Choose Your Paint
One might think that when you know your paints, choosing the paint to use becomes easier. But this is only true when you are simply deciding between water-based latex and oil-based alkyd without equally considering each paint type’s make up and qualities.
For instance, latex dries quickly, produces low odour, can be washed with soap and water, and doesn’t crack easily due to its long-lasting flexibility. Alkyd paints, on the other hand, is stain-resistant, durable, and doesn’t retain brush stroke marks. But then, to wash it, you’d need to use a paint thinner. Alkyd paints give off strong odour and are slow to dry.
Thus, the paint type that you decide to use, will depend on the qualities you want from your paint and on whether your exterior was previously painted using alkyd or latex. Also, when choosing the paint colour to use, consider your landscaping and how the colour will complement it.
- Ready the Surface of Your Exterior
This is very important if you want the paint to adhere seamlessly to the surfaces you want to paint. This is where most of the tools you have gathered come in handy.
Start by removing dirt from the surfaces. You can use the pressure washer to do this. Then do any repairs that might hamper the effectiveness or beauty of your painting. This includes filling cracks and holes using the epoxy filler and spackle knife, and filling gaps in your wall and trim using the exterior caulk and caulk gun.
You may also need to scrape away any chipped or loose old paint (you can do this with your sanding block or pain scraper) and use stain-blocking primer and paintbrush to conceal any stains or wood knots.
- Paint Your Home’s Exterior
Before you begin painting, protect your windows, lights, and doors using plastic sheeting and painter’s tape. Once you have done that, then it’s time to put your brush and roller to work.
Although it’s said that a previously painted wall doesn’t require the application of prime before painting, the truth remains that prime enhances sheen and coverage. Therefore, you might want to apply it first.
Avoid painting under direct seething sunlight, as that can speed up the drying and make the adhesion less effective. Instead, start from the shady but dry parts of your home and move over to the exposed areas as the amount of sunlight they receive decreases reasonably. Also, paint from the higher areas of the wall and work your way down.
Use brush near the trim and the wall corners. Trying to use your roller would not work and can ruin your work. Once the paint has dried, it’s time to paint the door, window frames, and mouldings. Use a two-inch angled brush.
Do all this carefully and the exterior of your home will become a sight that appeals and makes passers-by wonder who did the painting.
