How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Cleveland needs to be updated, a fresh coat of paint is a fast, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your home is starting to look worn down or if you are just ready for something different, consider repainting the outside of your home yourself or hire a professional painter to do it for you.

Painting a home is a big job, but it isn’t an unreasonable job for most homeowners. You just have to do your research to understand how to prepare the surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as what brushes and paints to use.

You can team up with a painter by doing all the prep work yourself, but then having their crew come in and do the actual painting with their tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.

Whichever option 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 consider.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Choose which parts to paint, gather the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you are preparing to complete the painting by yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will make the actual painting go much faster once you begin. Organizing your materials beforehand ensures that when you begin painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and search for needed supplies, meaning you’ll be able to maintain a wet brush edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose paint and brushes. The best part of painting your home’s exterior is choosing the color or color combination. You’ll 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 much easier to clean up. The flat surfaces require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll want synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also efficient options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to begin prepping the exterior of your home for its brand new paint! Put time into power washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to loosen any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure water is the recommended way to remove peeling paint, and it cleans the outside of your home. Some sections of paint may peel right 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 original paint has been loosened, scrape it off with a metal or plastic straight edge, being diligent not to dig into the wood. Then sand bumpy 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 just need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new coat of paint goes on the home smoothly.
5. Prime. Do not skip priming! Primer is an important step because it covers up any prior paint (especially with dark colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smoother exterior with minimal imperfections. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the first layer of paint doesn’t blend into it or leave behind a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter can look at the weather forecast and find the most opportune day for painting a home. That’s why they’re experts! If you want 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 will a new paint job make your home look several years newer, it also provides a layer of protection for the overall exterior of your home.

Paint will help prevent pests from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also prevents wear and tear from inclement weather. High quality paint prevents wood from rotting and dirt won’t adhere to paint the way it does to wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious indication that it needs to be replaced. If paint is peeling, you really need to have it repainted to protect the wood beneath.

Worn paint really takes a toll on your home’s exterior. 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 color makes it stand out, or if it is the opposite and you really want it to stand out, a different color can update its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Cleveland

After the prepping is over, you have the option to hand the work off to a professional painter in Cleveland (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also ensures 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 knows the best way to complete the job, which means the paint will look a lot better and the project will be done a lot faster.
• Pros don’t make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, with no extra paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new paint will last longer than if you did the job by yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment necessary to paint areas above ground level.

Depending on your DIY skills and interests, you can trust your painter to complete 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 actually applying the new paint.