How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in El Monte needs to be refreshed, a fresh coat of paint is a fast, affordable way to improve its appearance. So if your home is looking shabby or if you’re simply ready for a change, consider painting the exterior of your house yourself or enlist a professional painter to do the job for you.

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

You can also meet in the middle with a painter by doing all of the prep work yourself, but then having their team come to your home and do the actual painting with their tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.

Whichever choice is right for you, you’ll 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 all other necessary safety equipment. If you are planning to complete the painting yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a clear plan will help to make the actual painting project go a lot faster once you get started. Collecting your tools beforehand guarantees that once you begin painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning that you’ll be able to maintain a wet edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose the right paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your house is choosing the color or color combo. You will also need to pick the right paint finishes for all parts of the house. 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. You’ll need to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are efficient options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to begin prepping the surface of your house for its beautiful new paint! Put time into power washing your house (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure is the best way to remove peeling paint, and it cleans the exterior of your house. Some of the areas of paint should peel right off as soon 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 old paint has been loosened, scrape it off the house with a plastic or metal straight edge, being careful not to dig deep into the wood. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t necessary to sand every surface down to the bare wood. Any sections where the paint is still adhered need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new paint goes on smoothly.
5. Prime. Do not skip the primer! Primer is a very important step because it conceals any prior paint (especially with dark colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smoother surface with minimal imperfections. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the original layer of paint won’t mix with it or leave behind a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter can look at the weather forecast and tell you the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re professionals! If you plan to do the painting on your own, wait for a day that is between 75 and 85 degrees, and 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 house look years newer, it also creates a layer of protection for the overall exterior of your house.

Paint can help prevent insects from eating or boring into your home’s exterior. It also stops wear and tear from the elements. High quality paint prevents wood from rotting and dirt doesn’t stick to paint the way it does to bare wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious sign 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 beneath.

Deteriorating paint really takes a toll on your home’s exterior. If you’re concerned about curb appeal, painting your house is one of the best things you can do.

Painting is a good idea if your house doesn’t seem 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 really want it to stand out, a different color can totally change its vibe.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in El Monte

After the prepping is complete, you can turn the project over to a professional painter in El Monte (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 knows the optimal way to complete the job, meaning the paint will look a lot better and the project will go a lot faster.
• Companies don’t make a mess. Their results will be much neater, with no excess paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new paint will likely last a lot longer than if you did the job yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment needed to paint areas above ground level.

Based on your DIY abilities 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 removing old paint and cleaning the exterior to actually applying the new paint.