How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Fort Lauderdale has to be refreshed, a fresh coat of paint is a fast, affordable way to improve its curb appeal. So if your home is starting to look worn down or if you are just ready for a change, consider repainting the exterior of your house yourself or pay a local painter to do it for you.

Painting a home is a big project, but it isn’t an impossible job for most homeowners. You have to do your research to understand how to prep the surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as which brushes and paints to use.

You can meet in the middle with a professional painter by completing all of the prep work by yourself, but then letting their team come to your home and do the painting with their tools, safety equipment and selected paint.

Whichever choice is right for you, you will still need to know 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, gather the ladders and other safety equipment. If you’re preparing to do the painting by yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will make the painting go much faster as soon as you begin. Organizing your tools ahead of time ensures that once you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet brush edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your home’s exterior is choosing the color or color combo. You will also need to choose the right paint finishes for all parts of the house. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is less messy and much easier to clean. The flat surfaces require 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 time-saving options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to begin prepping the exterior of your house for its brand new paint! Put time into power washing your house (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to wash off any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure water is the best way to eliminate old paint, and it also cleans the exterior of your house. Some sections of paint should peel off as you spray 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 into the wood surface. 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 the home smoothly.
5. Prime. Do not skip priming! Primer is an important step because it covers up any previous paint (especially important with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smoother exterior with minimal imperfections. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the original layer of paint won’t blend into it or create a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter can look at the weather forecast and determine the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re experts! If you want to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, and with very little humidity. This will result in the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only does a brand new paint job make your home look several years newer, it also creates a layer of protection for the overall exterior of your house.

Paint will help prevent insects 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 cannot stick to paint the same way it does to 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 exterior. If you’re worried about curb appeal, painting your house is one of the simplest things you can do.

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

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Fort Lauderdale

After the prepping is done, you have the option to hand the job over to a professional painter in Fort Lauderdale (if you hadn’t already decided that from the start!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. 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 knows the best way to do the job, which means the paint will look much better and the project will move a lot quicker.
• Companies don’t typically make a big 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 likely last longer than if you painted by yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment necessary to paint anything above ground level.

Depending on your DIY skills and interests, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most pros are fully prepared to take care of every part of the project, from removing old paint and cleaning the exterior to actually applying the new paint.