How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Mesquite needs to be refreshed, a fresh coat of exterior paint is a fast, affordable option to improve its appearance. So if your home is starting to look worn down or if you’re just ready for something different, consider painting the exterior of your house yourself or hire a professional painter to do the job for you.

Painting a home is a huge project, but it isn’t an impossible job for some homeowners. You just need to do your research to understand how to prepare the exterior surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as which brushes and paints to use.

You can partner with a painter by doing all of the prep work yourself, but then letting their team come over and do the actual painting with their tools, safety equipment and selected paint.

Whichever direction is best for you, you’ll 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. Decide which parts of the home to paint, collect the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you’re preparing to do the painting yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a plan will make the actual painting project go a lot faster once you get started. Organizing your equipment ahead of time ensures 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 edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your home is deciding the color or color combination. You’ll also need to choose the right paint finishes for each part of the house. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It’s 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 need to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are efficient options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to begin prepping the surface of your 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 high pressure water is the best way to eliminate old paint, and it also cleans the exterior of your house. Some areas of paint may peel right off as you spray over them. That’s a sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, scrape it off the house with a plastic or metal straight edge, being diligent not to dig deep into the wood. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand each surface all the way down to the bare wood. Any sections where the paint is still adhered just need to be tended to and have the edges sanded so the new paint goes on the home smooth.
5. Prime. Don’t skip the primer! Primer is a very important step because it conceals any previous paint (especially important with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smooth surface with minimal imperfections. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the first layer of paint won’t blend into 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 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, with very low humidity. This will lead to the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only does a new paint job make your home look years newer, it also adds a layer of protection to the overall structure of your house.

Paint will help prevent pests from eating or boring into your home’s exterior. It also reduces wear and tear from inclement weather. Good quality paint prevents wood from rotting and dirt won’t stick to paint the same way it does to wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious signal that it needs to be replaced. If paint is peeling on your home, you really need to go ahead and have it repainted to protect the wood beneath.

Deteriorating paint really takes a toll on your home’s exterior. If you’re worried 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 exterior color makes it stand out too much, or if the opposite is true and you really want it to stand out, a different paint color can totally update its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Mesquite

After prepping is over, you can turn the job over to a professional painter in Mesquite (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the start!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also ensures 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 knows the optimal way to do the job, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will be a lot faster.
• Companies don’t make a big mess. Their results will be neater, with no excess paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will likely last longer than if you painted yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment required to paint anything above ground level.

Depending on your DIY capabilities and interests, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most companies are prepared to handle each part of the project, from removing old paint and cleaning the exterior to actually applying the new paint.