How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in McKinney needs to be refreshed, a new coat of exterior paint is an easy, affordable option to improve its curb appeal. So if your house is starting to look shabby or if you’re just ready for something different, consider painting the exterior of your house yourself or pay a professional painter to do it for you.

Painting a house is a huge project, but it isn’t an impossible job for some homeowners. You need 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 you need to use.

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

Whichever direction is best for you, you’ll still need to know 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 safety equipment. If you’re planning to do the painting by yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will make the actual painting go a lot faster once you begin. Organizing your tools beforehand ensures that once you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and look for all of the supplies, meaning that you’ll have to maintain a wet edge the entire 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 house. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It’s less messy and easier to clean. The flat surfaces require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll need to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are time-saving options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to begin prepping the exterior of your house for its brand new paint! Put time into pressure washing your house (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to loosen any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure water is the most effective way to remove old paint, and it also cleans the exterior of your house. Some of the areas of paint will peel off as soon as you spray over them. That’s a sure 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 diligent not to dig deep 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 need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new coat of paint goes on smoothly.
5. Prime. Do not skip the primer! Primer is a very important step because it covers up any previous paint (especially important with dark colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smooth exterior with less imperfections. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the original layer of paint doesn’t mix with it or leave behind a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter can look at the 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 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 will a brand new paint job make your house look years newer, it also provides a layer of protection for the overall structure of your house.

Paint helps prevent pests from eating or boring into your home’s exterior. It also reduces wear and tear from inclement weather. Good quality paint prevents 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 your paint is peeling on your home, you need to go ahead and have it repainted to protect the wood beneath.

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

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

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in McKinney

After prepping is complete, you have the option to turn the project off to a professional painter in McKinney (if you hadn’t already decided that from the start!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also ensures that the results will exceed your expectations with less effort from you.

Hiring a local painter to paint your home has several obvious benefits:

• A professional painter knows the best way to do the job, meaning the paint will look a lot better and the project will be a lot faster.
• Pros don’t typically make a mess. Their results will be neater, without extra paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Because of their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will last longer than if you did the job by yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment necessary to paint anything higher than ground level.

Based on your DIY capabilities and desires, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most pros are prepared to take care of every part of the project, from removing old paint and cleaning the exterior to actually applying the paint.