How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in Overland Park needs to be refreshed, a fresh coat of paint is a fast, inexpensive way to improve its appearance. So if your home exterior is looking shabby or if you’re just ready for something different, consider painting the exterior of your home yourself or hire a professional painter to do it for you.

Painting a house is a huge job, but it isn’t an impossible job for most homeowners. You have to do your research to know how to prep the surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as what type of brushes and paints you need to use.

You can even meet in the middle with a professional painter by completing all the prep work on your own, but then letting their crew come over and do the painting with their best tools, safety equipment and selected paint.

Whichever choice is right for you, you will still need to know exactly how to prepare your home for painting. Here are the most important things to remember.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Decide which parts to paint, gather the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you’re preparing to complete the painting by yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will make the painting go much faster once you begin. Gathering your tools ahead of time guarantees that once you start painting, you won’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning that you’ll have to maintain a wet brush edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose paint and brushes. The best part of painting your home is choosing the color or color combination. You’ll also need to pick the right paint finishes for all parts of the home. Latex is a lot better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It’s a lot less messy and easier to clean. The flat surfaces require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss. You’ll need synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also time-saving options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to start prepping the exterior of your home for its brand new paint! Invest time into power washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to loosen any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure water is the most effective way to remove peeling paint, and it simultaneously cleans the exterior of your home. Some sections of paint will 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, scrape it off the house with a metal or plastic straight edge, being careful not to dig into the wood surface. Then sand bumpy surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand every surface all the way down to the bare wood. Any sections where the paint is still adhered need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new paint goes on smoothly.
5. Prime. Do not skip the primer! Primer is a very important part of preparation because it conceals any previous paint (especially with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smoother exterior with less imperfections. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the first layer of paint won’t blend into it or create a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter can look at the weather forecast and tell you the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re professionals! 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 lead to the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

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

Paint can help prevent pests from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also reduces wear and tear from the elements. High quality paint stops wood from rotting and dirt won’t stick to paint the same way it does to wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious indication that it needs to be replaced. If your paint is peeling, you really need to go ahead and have it repainted to protect the wood beneath.

Worn 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. If your home’s color makes it stand out, or if the opposite is true and you really want it to stand out, a different paint color can completely change its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Overland Park

After the prepping is done, you have the option to turn the job over to a professional painter in Overland Park (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also guarantees that the results will exceed your expectations with minimal effort on your part.

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

• A professional painter knows the best way to complete the job, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will go a lot faster.
• Companies don’t make a mess. Their results will be neater, with no extra paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Because of their skill and knowledge, your new paint will probably last a lot longer than if you did the job by yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment required to paint surfaces higher than ground level.

Based on your DIY capabilities and interests, you can trust your painter to complete all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most services are prepared to handle every part of the job, from eliminating old paint and pressure washing the exterior to applying the new paint.