How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Melbourne has to be updated, a new coat of exterior paint is an easy, affordable option to improve its curb appeal. So if your home is starting to look worn down or if you are simply ready for something different, consider painting the outside of your home yourself or enlist a professional painter to do it for you.

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

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

Whichever choice is best 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 remember.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Choose which parts to paint, collect the ladders and all other safety equipment. If you are planning to complete the painting by yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a plan will make the actual painting project go much faster as soon as you begin. Collecting your materials ahead of time guarantees that once you start painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and look for all of the supplies, meaning that you’ll be able to maintain a wet edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose paint and brushes. The best part of painting your house is deciding the color or color combo. You’ll also need to choose the right paint finishes for all parts of the home. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is less messy and much easier to clean. The flat surfaces need more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll need synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also efficient options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to start prepping the surface of your home for its brand new paint! Put time into pressure washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure is the most effective way to remove peeling paint, and it simultaneously cleans the outside of your home. Some areas of paint should peel right off as soon as you spray over them. That’s a sign that the paint was aging and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, get more of it off with a plastic or metal straight edge, being careful not to dig deep into the wood surface. 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 sections 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 smooth.
5. Prime. Do not skip priming! Primer is an important step because it conceals any previous paint (especially with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smooth surface with less imperfections. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the original layer of paint won’t blend into it or produce a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter is able to look at the forecast and find the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re experts! If you plan to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, and with low humidity. This will result in 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 for the overall structure of your home.

Paint helps prevent insects from eating or boring into your home’s exterior. It also stops wear and tear from the elements. High quality paint stops wood from rotting and dirt cannot adhere 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, you really need to have it repainted in order to protect the wood surface.

Deteriorating paint really takes a toll on your home’s appearance. If you’re concerned 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 really want it to stand out, a different paint color can change its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Melbourne

After prepping is finished, you might want to hand the work off to a professional painter in Melbourne (if you hadn’t already decided that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also guarantees that the results will exceed your expectations with less effort from you.

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

• A professional painter will know the optimal way to complete the job, which means the paint will look a lot better and the project will be a lot faster.
• Pros don’t typically make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, with no extra paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Due to their skill and knowledge, your new exterior paint will last longer than if you did the job by yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment required to paint anything higher than ground level.

Depending on your DIY abilities and desires, you can trust your painter to complete all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most pros are fully prepared to take care of each part of the job, from removing old paint and pressure washing the exterior to actually applying the paint.