How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Portland has to be refreshed, a fresh coat of exterior paint is an easy, affordable option to improve its appearance. So if your home exterior is starting to look worn down or if you’re simply ready for something different, consider repainting the exterior of your house yourself or hire a local painter to do the job for you.

Painting a home is a huge project, but it isn’t an unreasonable job for most homeowners. You have to do your research to know how to prep the exterior surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as what type of brushes and paints to use.

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

Whichever choice is right for you, you’ll 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, collect the ladders and all other necessary safety equipment. If you’re preparing to complete the painting by yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a clear plan will help to make the painting go a lot faster as soon as you get started. Organizing your equipment ahead of time ensures that once you begin painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet brush edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose paint and brushes. The most fun part of painting your home’s exterior is deciding the color or color combination. You’ll also want 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’s a lot less messy and easier to clean. The flat surfaces need more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll want 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 exterior of your house for its brand new paint! Invest time into power washing your house (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure water is the recommended way to eliminate peeling paint, and it cleans the exterior of your house. Some of the sections of paint will peel off as you spray over them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was deteriorating and had to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the original paint has been loosened, get more of it off with a plastic or metal straight edge, being diligent not to dig deep into the wood surface. Then sand bumpy surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t necessary 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 the home smoothly.
5. Prime. Don’t skip the primer! Primer is a very important step because it conceals any previous paint (especially important with dark paint colors), results in an even color for your new paint, and a smooth exterior with less imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the original layer of paint won’t mix with it or produce a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter is able to look at the forecast and determine the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. 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 low humidity. This will result in the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

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

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

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

Aging paint takes a toll on your home’s exterior. If you’re worried about curb appeal, painting your house is one of the simplest things you can do.

Painting is a good idea if your house doesn’t to “fit in” in the neighborhood. If your home’s exterior color makes it stand out, or if it is the opposite and you want it to stand out, a different paint color can change its vibe.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Portland

After prepping is over, you can hand the work off to a professional painter in Portland (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 minimal 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 much better and the project will be done a lot quicker.
• Companies don’t typically make a big mess. Their results will be neater, with no extra paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Because of their skill and knowledge, your new exterior paint will last a lot longer than if you painted by yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment necessary to paint anything higher than ground level.

Depending on your DIY skills and interests, you can trust your painter to complete all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most services are prepared to handle every part of the project, from removing old paint and pressure washing the exterior to actually applying the paint.