How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in Chino has to be refreshed, a new coat of paint is an easy, inexpensive option to improve its curb appeal. So if your house is looking shabby or if you are just ready for a change, consider painting the exterior of your house yourself or hire a local painter to do it for you.

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

You can also meet in the middle with a painter by completing all the prep work on your own, but then having their team come over and do the painting with their tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.

Whichever choice is best 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, gather the ladders and other safety equipment. If you’re planning to do the painting yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a clear plan will help to make the painting project go a lot faster as soon as you get started. Collecting your equipment ahead of time ensures that once you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and look for all of the supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet brush edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The best part of painting your home’s exterior is deciding 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 is a lot less messy and much easier to clean. The flat surfaces need more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll need synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also time-saving options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to begin prepping the surface of the house for its brand new paint! Invest time into pressure washing your house (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure water is the most effective way to eliminate old paint, and it also cleans the exterior of your house. Some of the areas of paint may peel right off as soon as you spray them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the original paint has been loosened, scrape it off the house with a metal or plastic straight edge, being diligent not to dig deep into the wood surface. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t necessary to sand each 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 paint goes on smooth.
5. Prime. Don’t skip the primer! Primer is an important step because it conceals any prior paint (especially important with dark colors), results in an even color for your new paint, and a smoother surface with less imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the original layer of paint doesn’t mix with it or produce a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter is able to look at the weather forecast and tell you the most opportune day for painting a house. That’s why they’re professionals! If you plan to do the painting on your own, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, and with low humidity. This will result in the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only does a brand new paint job make your house look several years newer, it also adds 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 reduces wear and tear from inclement weather. High quality paint stops wood from rotting and dirt doesn’t adhere to paint the same way it does to wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious clue that it needs to be replaced. If paint is peeling, you need to go ahead and have it repainted in order 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 easiest things you can do.

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

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Chino

After the prepping is finished, you might want to turn the project over to a professional painter in Chino (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the start!). 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 most efficient way to do the job, meaning the paint will look a lot better and the project will be done a lot quicker.
• Pros don’t typically make a mess. Their results will be much neater, without excess paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Because of their skill and knowledge, your new paint will last a lot longer than if you painted yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment necessary to paint surfaces above ground level.

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