How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Memphis has to be refreshed, a new coat of paint is a quick, affordable way to improve its curb appeal. So if your house is starting to look worn down or if you are simply ready for something different, consider painting the exterior of your house yourself or hire a professional painter to do the job for you.

Painting a home is a big project, but it isn’t an impossible job for some homeowners. You just have to do your research to know 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 team up with a professional painter by completing all the prep work by yourself, but then having their crew come over and do the painting with their best tools, safety equipment and selected paint.

Whichever choice is right for you, you’ll 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. Choose which parts of the home to paint, collect the ladders and all other safety equipment. If you’re planning to do the painting by yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a clear plan will help to make the painting project go a lot faster once you begin. Gathering your materials beforehand ensures that once you begin painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and look for all of the 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 house is choosing the color or color combo. You’ll 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 up. 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 also time-saving options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to begin prepping the exterior of the house for its beautiful new paint! Put time into pressure washing your house (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to loosen any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure is the recommended way to remove old paint, and it also cleans the exterior of your house. Some of the sections of paint should peel off 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 plastic or metal straight edge, being careful not to dig deep into the wood surface. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t necessary to sand every surface down to the bare wood. Any sections where the paint is still adhered just need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new coat of paint goes on smooth.
5. Prime. Don’t skip the primer! Primer is an important step because it covers up any prior paint (especially important with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smooth exterior with minimal imperfections. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the first layer of paint won’t blend into it or leave behind a rough patch.
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 want to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is between 75 and 85 degrees, with low humidity. This will lead to the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only does a brand new paint job make your home look years newer, it also creates a layer of protection for the overall structure of your house.

Paint will help prevent pests from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also stops wear and tear from the elements. High quality paint stops wood from rotting and dirt doesn’t stick to paint the way it does to wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious signal that it needs to be replaced. If paint is peeling, you need to go ahead and have it repainted to protect the wood surface.

Worn paint takes a toll on your home’s appearance. If you’re worried about curb appeal, painting your house is one of the simplest things you can do.

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

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Memphis

After the prepping is over, you have the option to hand the job off to a professional painter in Memphis (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also ensures that the results will exceed expectations with little effort from you.

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 a lot better and the project will go a lot faster.
• Companies don’t typically make a mess. Their results will be much neater, without extra paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new paint will likely last a lot longer than if you did the job by 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 do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most companies are fully prepared to handle every part of the project, from eliminating old paint and cleaning the exterior to actually applying the new paint.