Exterior house painting is one aspect that beautifies and revives your home’s overall appearance. Besides that, it also protects your walls against damage from adverse weather conditions. Therefore, it’s crucial to maintain it to serve you best. In time, you may want to repaint your house’s exterior because it’s outdated or customize it to meet your tastes and design. Either way, it increases the value of your home and gives it a new, stunning look. You can repaint the exterior of your home yourself or hire a professional to help you with the work.
If you’re planning to repaint your home’s exterior, here are a few pointers:
The Dos
Here are some of the things you should do before and when painting your exterior:
- Make The Necessary Preparations
Before painting your exterior, make the necessary preparations. It means researching and studying house painting because it may be more challenging than it seems. It would be best to spend enough time understanding various shades to find one that best suits your house’s exterior. Also, ensure your walls are clean before you start painting. Start by sanding the surface to ensure there’s no peeling and flaking, and watch out for lead paint, which may create hazardous lead chips and dust.
- Apply Several Coats
You can’t just paint a single coat and expect stunning results. Instead, you should apply several coats to bring out the best look. Use a high-quality paint primer as your base, especially when painting over metal and wood. The primer prevents the paint from bleeding off the wall. However, you can also use your primer towards the final coat to avoid having two finishing coats. Also, you may want to tint it with contrasting colors to highlight missed spots. Also, don’t forget that double covering of sensible areas, like painting barge boards, is vital for longevity of your exterior paint job.
- Use The Right Tools And Paint
You can paint your exterior with brushes, rollers, or airless sprayers. Whichever option you choose, make sure it is of high quality. Consider using an airless sprayer to distribute the primer or paint all over the wall, then spread it using a brush or roller. You can buy one new or rent one from a tool rental store near you. Also, ensure you use the right exterior paint for your house. Consider one that’s specifically manufactured for the external environment. This way, you can be sure your paint won’t peel off or be damaged by harsh weather conditions. Also, they are mold-resistant and dry off quickly.
- Invest In Professionals
As mentioned, you can paint your home’s exterior independently or hire a qualified painting contractor for a job well done. However, it may be much better if you hire experts because they have the necessary skills, experience, and tools. You may even save more money than you could have if you worked on the project yourself. Your painting contractor will also know how to identify lead paint and other hazardous materials that might harm your health. Research for or request referrals from friends, family, and neighbors who’ve done this before to get the best painting contractor.
- Consider The Season
Unlike your home’s interior, you can’t paint the exterior during every season because you can’t adjust the temperature and conditions to suit the painting requirements as you can with the interior. Therefore, you must wait for the perfect time or season to paint your home because your project’s success depends on weather elements or conditions.
The Don’ts
There are also various things that you must avoid when painting your house exterior for an outstanding outlook. They include the following:
- Don’t Skimp On Materials
Saving on materials per se is not a bad thing. However, settling for low-quality ones solely to save money is one of the most common painting mistakes. You may think you’re saving some coins when, in reality, you’re just adding to your future budget. Purchase top-quality paints, primers, and tools for a lasting paint job and better coverage. You wouldn’t want to repaint after only one or two months.
- Don’t Use One Color
Consider playing with harmonious colors that complement your home’s interior design and landscape when painting the exterior. Dark tones are impeccable on surfaces. However, they become too gloomy when used alone. Therefore, ensure to mix them up with a lighter color for contrast. However, consider using only one bold color; you want your home to be something other than the neighborhood’s eyesore.
- Don’t Rush The Process
Achieving the best outlook for your home requires a lot of time to clean the walls, acquire all the necessary tools, and paint. Rushing the painting process will only result in poor outcomes and paint problems, such as blisters, alligatoring, and efflorescence. As a result, it is preferable to devote a few weeks to this project rather than a few days and end up repeating the entire process.
Conclusion
Painting your home’s exterior can be an exciting yet overwhelming experience. However, with the painting knowledge, expertise, and equipment, you may get through it within a few days. Your house’s exterior is the first thing people will see when walking into your home, and you want it to make quite an impression.
