Top 5 Tips to Paint the Exterior of Your House
Painting the exterior of your house can be a great way to quickly give your house a new look and feel. However, it’s a big job and can easily be intimidating, especially if you’ve never painted the exterior of a home before. Here are five reasons you might consider hiring professional painting contractors to paint the exterior of your house for you.
1. Pressure Wash Your Home First
Before painting the outside of your home, you want to make sure it’s clean first. Painting over dirt or stains may not cover them up completely and it may cause the stains to show through the paint. Or, it could cause the paint to adhere improperly, meaning that the new paint will peel or crack sooner than it should. Be sure to pressure wash your home or have it professionally done before applying paint.
2. Remove Peeling or Loose Paint
You’ll need to sand down any peeling or loose paint to create an even surface for the new paint to adhere to. If you paint over peeling or loose paint, you may have a finished product that is lumpy or bumpy where you want it to be smooth.
3. Prime Any Stubborn Stains
Some stubborn stains won’t be lifted by power washing. If this is the case, you’ll need to prime them with an exterior paint primer. If you have a number of stains that you aren’t able to remove with power washing, your best bet may be to simply prime the entire home’s exterior before you apply the new paint.
4. Protect Trim, Doors, Windows, and Lights
Just like when you paint indoors, you want to protect any trim, as well as windows, doors, and lights from the paint. Painters tape is easy to apply and remove, however, you want to be sure that you’re using exterior painter’s tape and not interior painter’s tape. Exterior painters tape has a little more adhesive, so it stays up on rough outdoor surfaces like window and door trim.
5. Paint!
Once you’ve cleaned, primed, and protected the trim of your house, you’re finally ready to paint! You can use a variety of tools to get the coverage you need, ranging from brushes and paint rollers to special paint sprayers that give you more coverage. You may need to use several of these tools on different parts of your home to achieve the best look. For example, you may want to use a paint sprayer to cover broad sides of the home and a brush to get close to the windows and door trim. Once you’re finished painting, you’ll want to seal your paint job with a clear coat, unless the brand of paint you purchased has a finishing coat built in.
When to Hire a Professional
Most times, painting the exterior of a house is a job too big for the average homeowner. With work and daily responsibilities, it can be difficult to find time to take on such a daunting task. However, you can still give your home a new look by hiring professional painting contractors. When you do, you’ll know you’ll get the best possible outcome. Contact Georgia Coatings today to learn more about our residential and commercial painting services and let us help you refresh your home’s look with little effort.
