How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Greenville has to be refreshed, a fresh coat of paint is a fast, affordable option to improve its appearance. So if your house is starting to look worn down or if you are just ready for a change, consider repainting the outside of your home yourself or pay a professional painter to do it for you.

Painting a home is a huge project, but it isn’t an unreasonable job for most homeowners. You need to do your research to know how to prep the surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as which brushes and paints you need to use.

You can compromise with a professional painter by doing all of the prep work on your own, but then letting their team come over and do the actual painting with their best tools, safety equipment and selected paint.

Whichever direction is best for you, you will still need to know exactly how to prepare your home for painting. Here are some of the most important things to remember.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Choose which parts of the home to paint, gather the ladders and all other necessary safety equipment. If you’re planning to complete the painting by yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a clear plan will make the actual painting go much faster as soon as you begin. Organizing your equipment beforehand guarantees that when 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 good paint and brushes. The most fun part of painting your house is choosing the color or color combo. You will also need to pick the right paint finishes for each part of the home. 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. You’ll need synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also time-saving options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to begin prepping the exterior of the home for its beautiful new paint! Invest time into pressure washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to wash off any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure is the most effective way to remove peeling paint, and it also cleans the outside of your home. Some of the areas of paint should peel off as soon as you spray them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the original paint has been loosened, get more of it off the house with a plastic or metal straight edge, being diligent not to dig into the wood. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t necessary to sand each surface all the way down to the bare wood. Any areas where the paint is still adhered need to be tended to and have the edges sanded so the new coat of paint goes on smoothly.
5. Prime. Don’t skip the primer! Primer is a very important part of preparation because it conceals any previous paint (especially important with dark colors), results in an even color for your new coat, and a smooth exterior with less imperfections. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the original layer of paint won’t blend into it or produce a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter is able to look at the forecast and determine the most opportune day for painting a home. That’s why they’re experts! If you plan to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, with very little humidity. This will lead to the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only can a new paint job make your home look years newer, it also provides a layer of protection for the overall exterior of your home.

Paint helps prevent pests from eating or boring into your home’s exterior. It also stops wear and tear from the elements. 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 signal that it is time to be replaced. If paint is peeling, you need to go ahead and have it repainted in order to protect the wood beneath.

Aging paint takes a toll on your home’s appearance. If you’re concerned about curb appeal, painting your home is one of the simplest things you can do.

Painting is also a good idea if your home doesn’t seem to “fit in” in the neighborhood. 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 color can totally update its vibe.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Greenville

After prepping is finished, you can hand the job off to a professional painter in Greenville (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the start!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also guarantees that the results will exceed expectations with little effort from you.

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

• A professional painter will know the best way to complete the job, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will be done a lot quicker.
• Pros don’t make a mess. Their results will be neater, without excess paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Due to their skill and knowledge, your new paint will probably last longer than if you painted by yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment needed to paint anything above ground level.

Based on your DIY skills and interests, you can trust your painter to complete all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most companies are prepared to handle each part of the project, from eliminating old paint and pressure washing the exterior to actually applying the paint.