How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in Irvine has to be refreshed, a new coat of exterior paint is an easy, inexpensive way to improve its curb appeal. So if your house is starting to look shabby or if you’re just ready for a change, consider painting the exterior of your house yourself or hire a local painter to do the job for you.

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

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

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

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Choose which parts of the home to paint, collect the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you’re planning to do the painting yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will help to make the painting go much faster once you begin. Organizing your tools beforehand guarantees that once you start painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and search for needed supplies, meaning you’ll be able to maintain a wet brush edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The best part of painting your house is choosing the color or color combination. You will also need to pick the right paint finishes for each part of the house. Latex is a lot better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is a lot less messy and much easier to clean. The flat surfaces need more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss. You’ll need to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also time-saving options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to start prepping the surface of your house for its beautiful 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 is the best way to eliminate peeling paint, and it cleans the exterior of your house. Some areas of paint should peel off as you spray over them. That’s a sign that the paint was aging and had to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, get more of it off the house with a plastic or metal straight edge, being careful not to dig into the wood surface. 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 coat of paint goes on smooth.
5. Prime. Don’t skip priming! Primer is an important part of preparation because it conceals any prior paint (especially important with dark colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smooth surface with less imperfections. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the original layer of paint doesn’t mix with it or create a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter can look at the forecast and tell you the most opportune day for painting a house. That’s why they’re experts! If you plan to do the painting on your own, 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 brand new paint job make your house look several years newer, it also adds 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 prevents wear and tear from the elements. High quality paint stops wood from rotting and dirt doesn’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 on your home, you really need to have it repainted in order to protect the wood surface.

Deteriorating paint really 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 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 it is the opposite and you really want it to stand out, a different color can completely update its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Irvine

After the prepping is finished, you might want to hand the job off to a professional painter in Irvine (if you hadn’t already decided that from the start!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also guarantees that the results will exceed expectations with less effort from you.

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

• A professional painter will know the optimal way to do the job, which means the paint will look much better and the project will be a lot quicker.
• Pros don’t make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, with no excess paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will probably last a lot longer than if you painted yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment required to paint anything higher than ground level.

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