How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Fort Worth needs to be updated, a fresh coat of paint is an easy, affordable option to improve its appearance. So if your house is starting to look worn down or if you’re just ready for a change, consider painting the exterior of your home yourself or pay a professional painter to do it for you.

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

You can even partner with a professional painter by completing all of 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 option is right for you, you will still want 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 to paint, collect the ladders and all other necessary safety equipment. If you are planning to do the painting yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a plan will make the actual painting project go a lot faster once you get started. Collecting your equipment ahead of time ensures that once you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and search for needed supplies, meaning that you’ll have to maintain a wet edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose the right paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your home is choosing the color or color combination. You will also want to pick the right paint finishes for each part of the home. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is less messy and easier to clean up. The flat surfaces need more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss. You’ll want synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are time-saving options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to begin prepping the exterior of your home for its brand new paint! Invest time into pressure washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to wash off any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure water is the most effective way to eliminate old paint, and it simultaneously cleans the exterior of your home. Some of the areas of paint should peel off as soon as you spray them. That’s a sign that the paint was deteriorating and had to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, scrape it off 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 each surface all the way down to the bare wood. Any areas where the paint is still adhered just need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new coat of paint goes on smooth.
5. Prime. Don’t skip priming! Primer is an important part of preparation because it covers up any prior paint (especially 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 first layer of paint won’t blend into it or leave behind a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter is able to look at the weather forecast and determine the most opportune day for painting a home. 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, with very little humidity. This will result in the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

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

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

Peeling paint is an obvious clue that it is time to be replaced. If paint is peeling, you really need to have it repainted in order to protect the wood surface.

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

Painting is 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 totally update its vibe.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Fort Worth

After the prepping is done, you might want to turn the work over to a professional painter in Fort Worth (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is affordable. 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 will know the optimal way to do the job, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will go a lot quicker.
• Companies don’t make a mess. Their results will be neater, without excess paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Because of their skill and knowledge, your new paint will last longer than if you painted yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment required to paint surfaces higher than ground level.

Depending on your DIY skills and desires, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most pros are prepared to handle each part of the project, from eliminating old paint and pressure washing the exterior to applying the paint.