How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in Bloomington needs to be refreshed, a fresh coat of paint is a quick, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your house is starting to look worn down or if you’re simply ready for something different, consider repainting the outside of your house yourself or hire a local painter to do the job for you.

Painting a house is a big job, but it isn’t an impossible job for most homeowners. You just have to do your research to understand how to prep the surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as what brushes and paints you need to use.

You can even team up 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 direction is best for you, you will still want to know exactly how to prepare your home for painting. Here are some of the most important things to consider.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Decide which parts of the home to paint, gather the ladders and all other safety equipment. If you’re planning to do the painting by yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will help to make the painting go a lot faster once you begin. Collecting your materials ahead of time guarantees that when you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet brush edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose the right paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your home’s exterior is deciding the color or color combination. You’ll also want to choose the right paint finishes for all parts of the house. Latex is a lot better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is a lot less messy and easier to clean. The flat surfaces require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss. You’ll want to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also time-saving options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to begin prepping the surface of the house for its brand new paint! Put time into pressure 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 eliminate old paint, and it also cleans the outside of your house. Some of the sections of paint should peel right off as you spray them. That’s a sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the original paint has been loosened, scrape it off the house with a metal or plastic straight edge, being careful not to dig into the wood. Then sand bumpy surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t necessary to sand every 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 coat of paint goes on smoothly.
5. Prime. Do not skip priming! Primer is a very important step because it conceals any prior paint (especially important with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smoother surface with less imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the first layer of paint doesn’t mix with it or leave behind a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. 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 between 75 and 85 degrees, with little humidity. This will result in the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only can a brand new paint job make your house look several years newer, it also provides a layer of protection to the overall exterior of your house.

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

Peeling paint is an obvious clue that it is time to be replaced. If your paint is peeling on your home, you need to have it repainted to protect the wood surface.

Deteriorating 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 seem to “fit in” in the neighborhood (but you want it to). If your home’s color makes it stand out too much, or if the opposite is true and you want it to stand out, a different paint color can completely change its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Bloomington

After the prepping is complete, you have the option to hand the project over to a professional painter in Bloomington (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the start!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also guarantees that the results will exceed your expectations with little effort from you.

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

• A professional painter knows the best way to do the job, which means the paint will look a lot better and the project will be a lot faster.
• Companies don’t typically make a big mess. Their results will be neater, without extra paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new paint will likely last a lot longer than if you did the job by yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment required to paint areas higher than ground level.

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