How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in Coral Springs needs to be refreshed, a fresh coat of paint is an easy, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your home is looking worn down or if you are just ready for a change, consider repainting the exterior of your home yourself or pay a local painter to do it for you.

Painting a house is a huge job, but it isn’t an impossible job for some homeowners. You have to do your research to understand how to prepare the surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as what type of brushes and paints to use.home

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

Whichever option is right for you, you’ll still need 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. Choose which parts of the home to paint, collect the ladders and 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 project go much faster once you begin. Gathering your equipment beforehand guarantees that once you start painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and search for needed supplies, meaning that you’ll have to maintain a wet edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your home is deciding the color or color combo. You’ll also need to choose the right paint finishes for all parts of the home. Latex is a lot better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It’s a lot less messy and much easier to clean up. The flat surfaces require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll need 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 exterior of the home for its brand new paint! Put time into pressure washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure water is the recommended way to remove old paint, and it also cleans the exterior of your home. Some of the sections of paint may 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 diligent not to dig deep into the wood surface. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand every surface 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 paint goes on smoothly.
5. Prime. Don’t skip the primer! Primer is an important step because it covers up any prior paint (especially important with dark colors), results in an even color for your new paint, and a smoother exterior with minimal imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the first layer of paint won’t blend into it or result in a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter is able to look at the weather forecast and tell you the most opportune day for painting a home. That’s why they’re professionals! If you want to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, with low humidity. This will lead to the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only will a brand new paint job make your house look years newer, it also creates a layer of protection to the overall structure of your home.

Paint can help prevent pests from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also stops wear and tear from inclement weather. Good quality paint prevents wood from rotting and dirt doesn’t adhere to paint the same way it does to bare wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious sign that it needs to be replaced. If paint is peeling, you need to have it repainted in order to protect the wood surface.

Worn paint takes a toll on your home’s appearance. If you’re worried 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 (but you want it to). If your home’s color makes it stand out, or if the opposite is true and you want it to stand out, a different color can change its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Coral Springs

After prepping is over, you can turn the work over to a professional painter in Coral Springs (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is affordable. 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 most efficient way to complete the job, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will be a lot faster.
• Pros don’t make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, with no extra paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new paint will probably last a lot longer than if you painted by yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment required to paint anything above ground level.

Depending on your DIY skills and desires, you can trust your painter to complete all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most services are fully prepared to take care of every part of the job, from eliminating old paint and cleaning the exterior to applying the paint.