How to Prepare Your Home for Painting
If your home in Santa Ana has to be refreshed, a fresh coat of paint is a quick, affordable option to improve its curb appeal. So if your home exterior is starting to look shabby or if you’re simply ready for a change, consider painting the exterior of your house yourself or hire a local 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 you need to use.
You can also partner with a professional painter by doing all of the prep work on your own, but then having their crew come over and do the actual painting with their best tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.
Whichever choice is best for you, you will 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
- Decide which parts of the home to paint, collect the ladders and all other safety equipment. If you are preparing to do the painting yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will help to make the actual painting project go much faster once you begin. Collecting your tools beforehand guarantees that once you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and search for needed supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet edge the entire time you are painting.
- Choose the right paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your home’s exterior is choosing the color or color combo. You’ll also need to pick 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 easier to clean up. The flat surfaces need more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss. You’ll need synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are efficient options if possible.
- Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to begin prepping the surface of the house for its brand new paint! Put time into power washing your house (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to loosen any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure water is the recommended way to eliminate peeling paint, and it simultaneously cleans the exterior of your house. Some areas of paint will peel right off as you spray over them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was deteriorating and had to be replaced!
- Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, scrape it off with a plastic or metal straight edge, being diligent not to dig into the wood surface. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand each surface all the way down to the bare wood. Any areas 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 smoothly.
- Prime. Don’t skip the primer! Primer is an important part of preparation because it conceals any previous paint (especially important with dark colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smooth surface with minimal imperfections. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the original layer of paint won’t blend into it or produce a rough patch on the surface.
- Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter is able to look at the weather forecast and tell you the most opportune day for painting a house. 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, with very low humidity. This will lead to the best adhesion.
Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea
Not only can a brand new paint job make your home look several years newer, it also provides a layer of protection for the overall structure of your house.
Paint will help prevent insects from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also stops 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 bare wood.
Peeling paint is an obvious signal that it is time to be replaced. If paint is peeling, you really need to have it repainted in order to protect the wood beneath.
Aging paint really takes a toll on your home’s appearance. If you’re concerned about curb appeal, painting your house is one of the best things you can do.
Painting is a good idea if your house doesn’t to “fit in” in the neighborhood. If your home’s color makes it stand out, or if it is the opposite and you really want it to stand out, a different color can totally update its look.
Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Santa Ana
After the prepping is complete, you have the option to hand the job over to a professional painter in Santa Ana (if you hadn’t already decided that from the start!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also guarantees that the results will exceed expectations with minimal effort on your part.
Hiring a local painter to paint your home has several obvious benefits:
- A professional painter knows the optimal way to do the job, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will go a lot faster.
- Pros don’t typically make a big mess. Their results will be neater, with no excess paint splattered or spilled on your home.
- Because of their skill and experience, your new paint will probably last longer than if you did the job yourself.
- A professional painter will already have the safety equipment required to paint areas above ground level.
Depending on your DIY skills and interests, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most services are fully prepared to take care of each part of the project, from eliminating old paint and pressure washing the exterior to applying the new paint.