How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in New Braunfels has to be updated, a fresh coat of exterior paint is an easy, affordable way to improve its curb appeal. So if your home exterior is starting to look worn down or if you are simply ready for a change, consider repainting the outside of your home yourself or enlist a professional painter to do it for you.

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

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

Whichever choice is right for you, you will still need to know exactly how to prepare your home for painting. Here are the most important things to remember.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Decide which parts of the home to paint, collect the ladders and other safety equipment. If you’re preparing to do the painting yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a clear plan will make the painting go a lot faster as soon as you begin. Organizing your materials beforehand guarantees that once you begin painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and search for needed supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet brush edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose the right paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your home’s exterior is choosing the color or color combination. You’ll also need to choose the right paint finishes for each part of the home. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is less messy and much easier to clean. The flat surfaces need more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss. You’ll need to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are efficient options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to begin prepping the exterior of your home for its brand new paint! Invest time into power washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to loosen any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure water is the recommended way to remove peeling paint, and it also cleans the outside of your home. Some sections of paint should peel right off as you spray them. That’s a sign that the paint was aging and had to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the original paint has been loosened, scrape it off with a plastic or metal straight edge, being diligent not to dig into the wood. Then sand bumpy 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 tended to and have the edges sanded so the new paint goes on the home smoothly.
5. Prime. Don’t skip priming! Primer is an important part of preparation because it covers up any previous paint (especially important with dark colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smooth exterior with minimal imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the first layer of paint doesn’t blend into it or result in a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter is able to look at the forecast and determine the most opportune day for painting a home. That’s why they’re experts! If you plan to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, and with very 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 provides a layer of protection to the overall exterior of your home.

Paint will help prevent insects from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also reduces wear and tear from inclement weather. Good quality paint prevents wood from rotting and dirt cannot stick to paint the way it does to bare wood.

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

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

Painting is a good idea if your home doesn’t 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 color can change its vibe.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in New Braunfels

After the prepping is done, you can turn the job off to a professional painter in New Braunfels (if you hadn’t already decided that from the start!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also guarantees that the results will exceed your expectations with less effort on your part.

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

• A professional painter will know the optimal way to do the job, which means the paint will look much better and the project will be a lot faster.
• Companies don’t typically make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, without excess paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Because of their skill and knowledge, your new exterior paint will last longer than if you painted yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment required to paint anything above ground level.

Based on your DIY capabilities and desires, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most companies are prepared to take care of each part of the project, from eliminating old paint and pressure washing the exterior to actually applying the new paint.