How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in Vista needs to be refreshed, a new coat of exterior paint is a quick, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your home exterior is looking worn down or if you’re just ready for a change, consider repainting the exterior of your home yourself or enlist a local painter to do it for you.

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

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

Whichever choice 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 remember.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Choose which parts to paint, collect the ladders and all other safety equipment. If you’re planning to do the painting yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a clear plan will help to make the painting project go much faster as soon as you begin. Organizing your materials ahead of time guarantees that when you start painting, you won’t have to stop and search for needed supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose the right paint and brushes. The most fun part of painting your home’s exterior is deciding the color or color combo. You will also want to choose 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 need 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.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to start prepping the exterior of the home for its beautiful new paint! Invest time into power washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure is the recommended way to eliminate peeling paint, and it cleans the exterior of your home. Some areas of paint may peel off as you spray over them. That’s a sign that the paint was deteriorating and had to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, scrape it off with a plastic or metal straight edge, being careful not to dig deep into the wood. Then sand 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 need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new paint goes on smoothly.
5. Prime. Do not skip priming! Primer is a very important step because it conceals any prior paint (especially with dark colors), results in an even color for your new paint, and a smooth exterior with minimal imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the first layer of paint doesn’t mix with it or result in a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter can look at the weather forecast and find the most opportune day for painting a home. That’s why they’re professionals! If you want to do the painting on your own, wait for a day that is somewhere 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 will a new paint job make your house look several years newer, it also adds a layer of protection for the overall structure of your home.

Paint helps prevent insects from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also prevents wear and tear from inclement weather. High quality paint stops wood from rotting and dirt doesn’t stick to paint the way it does to wood.

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

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

Painting is also a good idea if your home doesn’t to “fit in” in the neighborhood. If your home’s exterior color makes it stand out, or if it is the opposite and you want it to stand out, a different color can totally change its vibe.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Vista

After prepping is complete, you might want to hand the work off to a professional painter in Vista (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the start!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also guarantees that the results will exceed expectations with less effort on your part.

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

• A professional painter will know the optimal way to do the job, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will move a lot quicker.
• Pros don’t typically make a mess. Their results will be neater, with no extra paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Because of their skill and knowledge, your new exterior paint will last longer than if you did the job yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment necessary to paint surfaces above ground level.

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