Starting An Exterior Painting Project
The benefits of painting your home go beyond aesthetic appeal. While exterior house painting is a big investment, doing so can protect your home from damage from the elements. If you’re looking to sell your home, investing in the exterior painting of your home can give it major curb appeal and added value. Whether you’re thinking of painting your home for the first time, a seasoned painter, or considering hiring a professional for the job, this article is a great place to start gathering information. Let’s dive in!
How Often Should You Paint Your Home?
If done properly, you should only need to paint your home every 7-10 years. Painting your home is an essential part of maintaining and protecting it. At the end of the day, your home is an investment, and protecting that investment is a critical part of owning a home and keeping it’s value intact. Keep an eye out for signs of peeling, cracking, damage to siding, or fading, as addressing these issues promptly can extend the life of your paint job and protect your home’s exterior from the elements. Ultimately, the key is to preserve the aesthetic of your home and ensure its protection against wear and tear.
Can You Paint Over Old Exterior Paint?
When giving your home’s exterior siding a fresh coat of paint, a few key considerations can make all the difference. If your current exterior paint is in good shape, you’re in luck – you can apply a new layer over it. However, if you’re dealing with flaky or deteriorating paint, it’s essential to invest the time in thoroughly scraping off the old layers before applying any new paint.
Equally important is the use of a high-quality primer. Primer is a crucial foundation for your new paint, ensuring proper adhesion and consistent surface. This step becomes particularly significant when dealing with older paint, as it helps the fresh coat adhere securely, enhancing both the durability and longevity of your paint job.
Keep in mind that an exterior paint project goes beyond just aesthetics. It also serves as a protective shield for your home, safeguarding it from the elements and preserving its structural integrity. By carefully assessing the condition of your old paint and siding, preparing the surface properly, and using the suitable primer and color, you can ensure a successful exterior paint job that enhances your home’s appearance and longevity.
Hiring a Contractor Vs. Painting Yourself
If you’re willing to put in the time, effort, and investment in materials, painting your home yourself can be a worthwhile endevor. However, hiring a trusted professional contractor can be extremely beneficial and save you a lot of time as well. If you’ve ever painted a house, you know it can be an overwhelming and time consuming project with a lot of prep work involved. In the long run, you may find that you save time and money by hiring a professional paint service to paint your home as well. The cost of tools/tool rentals add up, and you likely will not need to paint the inside and exterior of your home again for some time if done well, making the investment in tools often unnessesary. Hiring a professional ensures that the job is well done and that the results are long lasting (minus the research and time spent on your part, so you can do other things on your weekends!)
How Much Paint Will I Need?
One gallon of paint will cover about 400 square feet. Determine how many square feet cover the siding outside of your home. Multiply this number by 2 (you will need 2 coats of paint). It may be worthwhile to invest in an extra gallon of paint to keep on hand for future repairs and touch-ups (and to have a little extra just in case). Don’t forget to get an additional paint color for your trim as well.
Exterior House Painting Techniques For Durability
Exterior siding problems can manifest in various ways, such as water damage, rot, splintering, and unsightly cracks. These issues tend to rear their heads, especially after a harsh winter season with prolonged exposure to rain, wind, and snow. Detecting and addressing these problems promptly is crucial to prevent them from escalating into more significant, costlier repairs.
Tips and Tricks for Exterior Painting
There are many tips, technqies and tricks that can be very helpful when deciding to paint your house. Keeping a regular maintenance routine for the exterior of your house can also be helpful. Read more below for our tips on exterior painting.
Quality Over Speed: Make Sure To Prep Properly
The longevity and quality of your paint job is significantly influenced by how you prepare the surface of your house for painting. When your house is covered in dirt, dust, pollen, or other particles, the new paint won’t adhere properly to the surface, potentially causing premature chipping, streaking, and peeling. Once a chip forms, natural elements can exacerbate the damage, leading to a larger area of compromised paint. To ensure a lasting paint job, it’s essential to clean the exterior of your house toroughly. Use a mild detergent and a gentle power washer or other effective cleaning methods. Emphasizing this step is critical in achieving a beautiful and quality long-lasting paint finish that enhances the curb appeal of your house and has great durability for years to come.
Check The Weather
It may seem like common sense but it is easy to overlook when planning a big project. Make sure to plan ahead and look at the weather before starting a big outdoor painting project. Moisture can greatly effect the quality of your painting surfaces. You also will want to ensure the temperature is between 65-85 degrees fahrenheit. If the temperature is too cold or too hot, in can impact the drying time.
Think About Your Real Estate Value
If you’re painting your house prior to selling it, consider painting the exterior of your house in a neutral tone that compliments the homes around you. Buyers want to be able to visualize the house they’re buying through their own lens. Picking a paint color that helps them easily see the potential of the house is always a great call and helps raise your real estate value. Letting a potential buyer know the house was recently painted is always a bonus. If you’ve moved into a new house or plan to stay where you are for a while, you can have a bit more fun with color (while keeping in mind the neighborhood you live in).
Test Colors and Paint Finishes
It can seem trivial to spend money on numerous paint samples, but taking the time to swatch colors and paint finishes in order to find a top-quality paint that works for you is important. Make sure to swatch the paints and label them. Wet paint looks different than dry paint. It’s also wise to check out each color at different times of day on the siding of your home to make sure you like the color in different lighting scenarios, and against the colors you have selected for your trim and door. Use exterior paints when painting your house as they are designed to be more durable and best paint for outdoors.
Tips & Paint For Masonry Homes
When considering a coating for brick, stone, or stucco surfaces, it’s imperative to choose one that allows water vapor to pass through, ensuring the longevity and health of your masonry. Avoid oil-based finishes at all costs, as they tend to trap moisture, causing harm to mortar and leading to rapid damage to the exterior painting. Instead, opt for one of these three paints:
- Acrylic: High-quality acrylic paint permits moisture to escape, but it does require an alkali-resistant primer to shield them from the high pH of cement.
- Lime: This ancient coating formula combines slaked quicklime with mineral pigments, imparting a rich, old-world aesthetic to your home. However, be aware that its velvety finish tends to wear off over time. You will likely need to reapply every 5 years and may find this paint finish is not the most durable.
- Mineral: Mineral paints, in contrast to traditional options, utilize silicates that chemically bond with brick, forming breathable and highly durable surfaces. With just two coats, this option can last up to 50 years making it a quality paint option.
Trim Trees And Bushes
Prepwork is everything when it comes to painting. Make sure to take the time to properly trim trees and bushes, making sure that nothing is pressing against the siding of your exterior paint. This will ensure that you deal with less maintenance and get the cleanest job possible. It is important to continue to trim trees and bushes, as bushes and trees too close to the siding can cause mold and mildew, damaging your painting application.
How To Make Your Exterior Paint Last
If you’re going to designate the time and expense and effort to paint the exterior of your house, you want to be sure that the job is going to last. Here are some tips to keep in mind.
Prime
Applying a primer prior to exterior paint ensures smooth application and lasting paint results. Make sure to apply primer to the siding and trims prior to painting as well. Priming before painting also helps you to use less paint. You should only need coats but if your siding is unprimed, dry, and thirsty, it will soak up more paint and may require additional painting to avoid patchyness.
Apply Paint Dry
Applying paint to dry, primed siding is ideal and will ensure your paint dries evenly. Moisture can cause damage to your exterior paint. Make sure to choose a day to paint with appropriate weather. Avoid painting after a recent rain/ high humidity days.
Protect Paint From Moisture
Applying a water repellent every 3-5 years can help prolong the life if your painting and protect your siding from damage and wood rot.
Clean Edge Lines
When it comes to the longevity of your painting, creating clean edge is very important. A professional will know what order to paint the different elements and trims of your home, and what should be removed for a clean job. This is often where hiring a professional comes in handy and saves time. Their attention to detail is unmatched, and will save you from making costly and time consuming mistakes.
Hire A Professional
Hiring a professional painting service to paint your home is a great decision and worth the investment. While you can absolutely invest your time and energy into painting your house on your own, it is often time a time consuming detailed process. If you do decide to DIY your house painting, make sure to do your research first.
Repair Paint When Needed
Above all, keeping on top of repairs to your paint can help ensure your results last the longest. You may hire a professional to paint your home, but you can make small repairs to the siding on your own between services. Keep a gallon of your exterior paint color on hand. When you see a damage, fix it as soon as weather and time permits. The sooner you can get to a repair, the easier and smaller the repair will be.
