Exterior Painting Tips and Tricks

Painting Tips That Will Help Every Homeowner

To give your house a maintained, clean appearance, promote friendly neighbor relations and gain instant curb appeal, exterior paint is the first thing you may want to consider. Painting the exterior of your house gives it a fresh and clean look and can add value to your home when you plan to sell. Here are some painting tips to consider before tackling the exterior of your home:

    1. Power wash your bricks or siding. You want to be sure your surface starts out clean. Old, peeling paint won’t suddenly be cured because there is fresh paint on top of it. Preparation is always key to a good paint job. You’ll have to do some scraping, but a good power wash is the best way to begin. You can rent a power washer, or hire someone to do the job for you. Be careful when you spray vinyl siding though. A direct hit of pressurized water can dislodge and even remove a well applied siding.
    2. Remove staples, nails, hooks and other excess hardware. As a painter, I am still amazed at how much I’ve seen accumulate on a house. Staples from last Christmas’ lights, nails, hooks for hanging planters and so on can accumulate over the years if not attended to regularly. Spend an hour or so and get it all cleaned up!
    3. Trim brush, bushes and other growth away from the house. A well manicured yard goes a long way for both the looks of your property and the ease of painting the exterior of your home.
    1. Make sure you have all the tools you need for painting. Ladders, brushes, drop cloths, rollers, sandpaper, scrapers, are just the beginning of the things you’ll need. There is also a painters tools checklist on this blog you can check out.
    2. Make sure you are physically able to paint your house. This painting tip sounds obvious, but just know that you will be climbing ladders, carrying 5 gallon paint buckets and doing a myriad of physical activity every day of the job. At the end of each day, there is clean up as well which takes time. You can eliminate a great deal of the labor if you hire a handyman or a day laborer to assist you. You can save hundreds of dollars in the long run just by hiring out at least some of the work.
    3. Write out your cost for painting materials and time before you begin. There is a lot more cost than just the price of paint. Spackle, sand paper, primer, power washing, caulk and other minor home exterior repair items add up. Painting the exterior of your home is a large undertaking. If you’re going to do the job yourself, it may take several weekends to get the job done.
    4. Hire out what you don’t want to or can’t do. Hiring a good and reliable handyman can make the difference between being able to, and not being able to paint your house on your own.

    The list above does not necessarily reflect a complete list of considerations, it is simply intended to be helpful.

    I’ve listed below the elements of a typical exterior painting job here in Dallas, but most homes in the US have similar construction. You can also navigate my blog to find other useful tips and lists as well.

    • Trim around windows and doors
    • Fascia
    • Gables
    • Soffits
    • Paneled siding
    • Doors
    • Decorative iron
    • Trellis
    • Fences
    • Gates

    I hope you found this article useful. Please comment! If you have questions or want to share some painting tips of your own, please do!~ Phil

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