How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Burbank needs to be updated, a fresh coat of exterior paint is a fast, inexpensive way to improve its appearance. So if your home exterior is starting to look worn down or if you’re just ready for something different, consider repainting the outside of your home yourself or enlist a local painter to do the job for you.

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

Whichever choice is right for you, you’ll still need to know exactly how to prepare your home for painting. Here are some of the most important things to consider.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Choose which parts of the home to paint, gather the ladders and other safety equipment. If you are preparing to do the painting yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a clear plan will make the painting project go much faster once you get started. Gathering your materials ahead of time guarantees that once you start painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and search for needed supplies, meaning you’ll be able to maintain a wet brush edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose paint and brushes. The best part of painting your home is choosing the color or color combo. You will 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’s less messy and much easier to clean up. The flat surfaces require 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 also efficient options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to start prepping the surface of your home for its beautiful new paint! Invest time into power washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to wash off any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure water is the best way to eliminate peeling paint, and it simultaneously cleans the outside of your home. Some sections of paint will peel right off as you spray over them. That’s a sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the original paint has been loosened, scrape it off the house with a plastic or metal straight edge, being careful not to dig deep into the wood. Then sand bumpy surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand each surface all the way down to the bare wood. Any areas where the paint is still adhered just 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 step because it covers up any previous paint (especially with dark colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smooth surface with less imperfections. 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 weather forecast and find the most opportune day for painting a home. 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, and with very low humidity. This will lead to the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only can a new paint job make your home look years newer, it also adds a layer of protection to the overall structure of your home.

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

Peeling paint is an obvious signal that it needs to be replaced. If your paint is peeling on your home, you need to have it repainted in order to protect the wood surface.

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

Painting is also a good idea if your home doesn’t seem to “fit in” in the neighborhood (but you want it to). If your home’s exterior color makes it stand out, or if the opposite is true and you want it to stand out, a different color can completely update its vibe.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Burbank

After prepping is over, you can hand the job over to a professional painter in Burbank (if you hadn’t already decided that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also guarantees that the results will exceed your expectations with minimal effort from you.

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

• A professional painter knows the best way to do the job, which means the paint will look a lot better and the project will be done a lot faster.
• Pros don’t typically make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, with no extra 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 necessary to paint surfaces higher than ground level.

Depending on your DIY abilities and interests, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most companies are prepared to handle each part of the job, from removing old paint and cleaning the exterior to actually applying the paint.