THINGS TO REMEMBER WHILE EXTERIOR PAINTING
When people go to paint the exterior of their home, they often forget that it’s quite a large task to take on and that it’s not just something a person can knock off in the course of an evening. Naturally, it helps if you have some good advice on your side when you take it on, whether you hope to do it by yourself or with the help of friends.
Plan Out The Entire Project Well Before You Begin
Though some people might go into an exterior painting project with no plan in hand, this is a bit of a mistake as you cannot possibly realize the extent to which the painting endeavor will require until you sit down and fully plan it out from the time that you will need to paint to the amount and scope of the materials that will be required
Make Sure You Get The Right Kind Of Paint
There are many sorts of paint available for purchase and not all of them are relevant to the painting of the exterior of your home.
Do Not Rely On Paint Color Swatches For Choosing Your Exterior Paint Color
It’s important to get the right color for your house — one that looks right to you. When you do this, you are going to want to go above and beyond just getting a color swatch and thinking that this alone will solve your want for choosing a color — for the color may look entirely different depending on what time of the day it is.
Cover Surfaces While Painting
When you are painting the exterior of your home, it is inevitable that there will be some dripping from your paintbrushes and rollers.
Seasons Exterior Painting Services, Things to Consider Before You Paint Your House
Is Your Home Ready To Paint?
Painting the exterior of your home may seem like an easy job. After all, you just need several cans of paint, a paint roller,and a paintbrush to do the job, right? You don’t need a pro to do it for you! Well, that’s what a good number of homeowners think until they take on the job and find out how challenging a home painting job really is.
If you’re still not convinced that this home renovation project is best left for the exterior painting services experts, here are some factors you need to consider before you decide if you are willing to try the DIY approach or let the pros do it for you.
Type and Features of the House
Not all houses require the same amount of work and/or expertise. Some houses are comparatively easier to paint while others can be a little bit more complicated. Generally, exterior painting services professionals recommend leaving older, taller and more ornate homes to the experts since they require specialized tools and the right skills to do it.
Older homes that need to be preserved also require special consideration. Not all paints are compatible with legacy building materials so you may need to do extensive research and spend time doing the prep work to avoid ruining your home. For homes built before 1978, there is a possibility that they may have used lead paint. Are you sure you can deal with it?
Prep Work
There are a number of issues that may require extensive prep work. Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and do a lot of sanding and scraping if you see signs of wood rot, mildew, and severe peeling. You may also need to do some caulking if you have cracked window panes and loose trim pieces. Do you honestly have the time and the skills to do it?
TOP PAINTING TIPS & TRICKS TO ACHIEVE A PERFECT FINISH
With a full house renovation behind us, we’ve definitely had more than our fair share of painting experience. We’ve learned so much over the last 7 years of DIYing. We’ve definitely improved our painting technique over the years so it only seems fair to share some of our best advice with you, too!
USE THE RIGHT TYPE OF PAINT
There are so many different types of paint that it can feel like an impossible task choosing the right one.
There are primers, emulsions, specialist paints for covering mould, damp, rust and all sorts of other things, acrylics, solvent-based, water-based – it’s an almost endless list. Choosing the right type of paint is vital as you’ll only ever achieve a perfect finish if you use the right product for the job.
We love water-based paints even for our woodwork but if you’re painting anything outdoors we would always recommend opting for a solvent-based paint.
Yes, it involves more pfaffing when cleaning your brushes (that’s because any solvent-based paint has to be cleaned with specialist brush cleaner or turpentine substitute) but it’s more durable than anything water-based. And, if you’re anything like us, you probably don’t want to have to spend time repainting again anytime soon.
How to Pick an Exterior Paint Colour
That’s right, you SHOULD be second-guessing yourself. Why? Because choosing an exterior paint colour is a WHOLE different ball game compared to interior colours, which is why so many people find themselves picking the wrong one. It can also be CONSIDERABLY more expensive than interior projects, which is why choosing the RIGHT colour is even more important than ever.
EXTERIOR PAINT COLOURS: It could look lighter than you’d expect
Expect your colour to look about half a tone lighter or MORE than it does on that wee little chip. Why? Well, paint tends to look lighter when exposed to natural light, especially on a large surface. Regardless of the direction your home faces, the amount of natural light it gets can make your paint look a little, or a LOT lighter!
The effect of natural light is hard to see on those wee little paint chips and even with larger paint samples (SAMPLIZE), which is why it’s VITAL that you look at your samples on ALL sides of your home and in different types of light
If you have a lot of landscaping that blocks natural light, then the colour won’t look as light as it would if it had DIRECT natural light
If you find a colour that you love and worry that it will be too light – it probably will be. If you’re worried it’s too dark – don’t jump the gun as it could look lighter once it’s on the house
With south-facing homes, the southern side will look at least one tone lighter OR MORE – until the sun starts going down obviously. At the height of the day the colour will look its most washed-out
With north-facing homes, can look a bit lighter, but not as much as a south-facing side or morning eastern/afternoon western exposure
This is important for homes that have a stippled, stucco finish – I’m not talking about general ‘texture’ – I’m talking about the popcorn style of texture that has a lot of nooks and crannies. All of this texture creates shadows which can make the paint colour look slightly darker. If you have a home that has two types of exterior finishes (siding and stippled stucco) you can paint both areas the same colour and the stucco may look slightly darker than the siding.
Exterior Paint Maintenance
There’s nothing quite like the gleaming sparkle of a freshly-completed exterior home paint job, or the pride and satisfaction that accompany it. The only problem being that with 24/7 exposure to the elements, it often doesn’t hold onto its luster for long. It still looks great, but it doesn’t quite have the special something you’d like to hang onto upon completion of a paint job.
The thing to remember is that this isn’t something that’s going to take care of itself and the conditions your home is exposed to will make a massive difference to the whole thing. Nevertheless, if you’re willing to be both proactive and indeed active from time to time, your home can and will look simply stunning for the whole year.
Quality Paints
For example, the quality of the paint used to coat the surface in the first place will make the biggest difference of all to its longevity. Not to mention, the quality of the tools used to apply it and the painting process itself. Unless you have the best hardware, products and talents when it comes to home painting, you might find the best value for money can be found in a pro paint job. Even if it costs more, you’ll be looking at results that last…and last…and last some more
Organize Touch-Ups
If you do decide to go the professional route, remember that it’s always possible to arrange for the team to come back on occasion to carry out minor touch-ups where required. Rather than having them visit you once every five years for a total overhaul, why not have them come out a little more frequently to keep topping things up and polishing things off? It’s definitely an option worth considering and discussing with your chosen painting service.
Wash and Wipe
Unfortunate as it may be, your home just isn’t going to keep itself clean without your help. It’d be great if it did, but it won’t. As such, it’s up to you to occasionally get busy with the exterior cleaning, which can be made exponentially easier if you invest in a basic pressure washer. Coupled with a soft brush attached to a long stick and a ladder to stand on, it becomes child’s play to give your home’s exterior an important wipe and rinse-down from time to time. Doing so will not only help protect and lengthen the life of the paint, but it’ll also work wonders for your home’s exterior aesthetics.