How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in Corona needs to be updated, a fresh coat of exterior paint is a fast, affordable way to improve its appearance. So if your home is looking shabby or if you are just ready for something different, consider painting the exterior of your house yourself or enlist a local 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 understand how to prepare the exterior surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as which brushes and paints to use.

You can meet in the middle with a professional painter by completing all of the prep work by yourself, but then having their crew come over and do the actual painting with their best tools, safety equipment and selected paint.

Whichever option is right for you, you’ll still want to know exactly how to prepare your home for painting. Here are some of the most important things to consider.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Decide which parts to paint, gather the ladders and other safety equipment. If you’re preparing to complete the painting yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will make the actual painting project go a lot faster once you get started. Gathering your equipment ahead of time ensures that when you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning that you’ll be able to maintain a wet brush edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose paint and brushes. The best part of painting your home’s exterior is deciding the color or color combination. You will 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 is a lot less messy and much easier to clean up. The flat surfaces require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll want synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also time-saving options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to begin prepping the exterior 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 extreme pressure water is the recommended way to remove peeling paint, and it simultaneously cleans the exterior of your house. Some of the areas of paint should 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 original paint has been loosened, get more of it off the house with a metal or plastic straight edge, being careful not to dig 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 sections where the paint is still adhered need to be tended to 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 important with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smoother exterior with minimal imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the original layer of paint doesn’t mix with it or create a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter is able to look at the weather forecast and find 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 between 75 and 85 degrees, with 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 to the overall exterior of your house.

Paint can help prevent insects from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also reduces wear and tear from inclement weather. High quality paint prevents wood from rotting and dirt doesn’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 on your home, you need to have it repainted to protect the wood beneath.

Worn paint takes a toll on your home’s appearance. If you’re concerned 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 seem to “fit in” in the neighborhood (but you want it to). 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 paint color can completely update its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Corona

After prepping is complete, you can turn the work over to a professional painter in Corona (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 less effort from you.

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

• A professional painter knows the best way to complete the job, which means the paint will look much better and the project will be done a lot faster.
• Companies don’t make a mess. Their results will be much neater, with no excess paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Because of their skill and knowledge, your new exterior paint will last a lot longer than if you painted yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment necessary to paint anything higher than ground level.

Based on your DIY abilities and interests, you can trust your painter to complete all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most companies are fully prepared to handle every part of the job, from eliminating old paint and cleaning the exterior to actually applying the new paint.