How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Bethesda needs to be updated, a new coat of paint is a fast, affordable option to improve its curb appeal. So if your home exterior is looking shabby or if you are simply ready for something different, consider painting the exterior of your house yourself or hire a local painter to do the job for you.

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

You can also partner with a painter by completing all the prep work by yourself, but then having their team come in and do the actual painting with their best tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.

Whichever option 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. Choose which parts to paint, collect the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you are preparing to do the painting by yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a clear plan will make the actual painting project go a lot faster once you get started. Gathering your tools beforehand ensures that once you start painting, you won’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning you’ll be able to maintain a wet edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The best part of painting your house is choosing 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’s 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 time-saving options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to start prepping the exterior of your house for its beautiful new paint! Put time into power washing your house (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure water is the best way to eliminate peeling paint, and it cleans the exterior of your house. Some of the areas of paint should peel off as soon as you spray them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was aging 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 necessary to sand every 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. Do not skip the primer! Primer is a very important step because it conceals any previous 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 mix with it or leave behind a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter can look at the weather forecast and find 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 very little humidity. This will lead to the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only can a brand new paint job make your home look years newer, it also provides a layer of protection to the overall exterior of your house.

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

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

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

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

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Bethesda

After prepping is done, you have the option to hand the job off to a professional painter in Bethesda (if you hadn’t already decided that from the start!). Hiring a painter is affordable. 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 much better and the project will be done a lot quicker.
• Companies don’t make a mess. Their results will be much neater, without excess paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Because of their skill and knowledge, your new paint will last a lot longer than if you did the job by yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment required to paint surfaces above ground level.

Based on your DIY capabilities and interests, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most services are fully prepared to take care of every part of the project, from removing old paint and pressure washing the exterior to actually applying the paint.