Exterior painting gives a new and fresh look to your house. If done with right tools, exterior painting is quite an easy job. It is very important to have exterior of your house painted. Exterior painting lends a well maintained look to your house and it also protects walls from various weather conditions. |
Before commencing exterior painting, you should consider few aspects. Preparation of the surface: This step is one of the most important steps. Well prepared surface lets the paint adhere to the wall firmly. For preparation, you need to clean the surface of any dirt, debris. The wall should be dry otherwise paint will not stick to it. Use a heavy scraper to remove the falling chips and flakes of the old paint. Clean your walls properly to get a well finished wall. Weather conditions are important If the weather is bad, do not paint at all. Once it rains, your paint is likely to wash away soon and your house will look like a mottled mess. Selecting Paint First check out which paint is done on your house, latex or oil based. Same product sticks easily to itself. Do not apply one over another as it will peel off soon. To find out the type of paint, take a sand paper and rub it on small area. If paint peels off in the form of balls, it is latex paint. If it is dusty, then it is oil based. Choosing the tools Brush is a better option than a roller. It gives more even coat and can reach into cervices. To paint any trim work, brush is an obvious choice. If you have stucco or brick surface, roller is better to work with. Drop Cloth You are working outside the home and you are not going to spoil your carpet or sofa. Still then, you can spill paint over grass or walkway. This is a good idea to use drop cloth and save you from unnecessary cleaning. Painting Start painting from left to right and top to bottom. Try to make many lighter coats rather than one heavy coat. By this method you can get even and neat paint. While painting larger, exterior areas, sprays offer more effective coverage. Make sure to roll back after spraying. While working for exterior painting, keep your things like brush or roller covered by a plastic sheet to prevent them from drying. Clean Ups Before you start your exterior painting job, collect all the supplies for a clean-up. Like, while working with oil-based paints, keep a can of mineral spirit with you. You have to keep cleaning the spills instantly otherwise it would be hard to clean them later. Clean your brushes at the end of the day to keep them in perfect condition. In most cases a ladder will not be good enough to reach all the exterior areas of your house which require painting. Therefore scaffolding will need to be raised. Do not try to paint your house exterior by yourself. It may be too dangerous. Hire professionals who are trained, skilled and experienced performing such tasks. And you may stay calmly at home. By Joanna Harris |