How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in Laguna Niguel has to be updated, a new coat of paint is a quick, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your home exterior is starting to look shabby or if you’re just ready for a change, consider repainting the exterior of your home yourself or pay a professional painter to do it for you.

Painting a house is a huge job, but it isn’t an unreasonable job for some homeowners. You just have to do your research to understand how to prepare 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 doing all the prep work on your own, but then letting their crew come over and do the painting with their tools, safety equipment and selected paint.

Whichever option is best for you, you will still need to know exactly how to prepare your home for painting. Here are the most important things to consider.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Choose which parts to paint, gather the ladders and all other necessary safety equipment. If you’re preparing to do the painting yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a plan will help to make the painting go much faster once you begin. Gathering your tools beforehand guarantees that when you begin painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and look for needed supplies, meaning you’ll be able to maintain a wet brush edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The best part of painting your house is choosing the color or color combo. You will also need to choose the right paint finishes for all parts of the home. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It’s less messy and much easier to clean up. 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.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to begin prepping the exterior of your home for its beautiful new paint! Put time into pressure washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure is the most effective way to remove old paint, and it simultaneously cleans the exterior of your home. Some areas of paint should peel off as you spray over 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 metal or plastic straight edge, being careful not to dig into the wood. Then sand bumpy surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand each surface 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. Do not skip priming! Primer is a very important step because it covers up any previous paint (especially with dark colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smooth 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 on the best day. A professional painter can look at the forecast and tell you the most opportune day for painting a home. That’s why they’re professionals! If you want to do the painting on your own, wait for a day that is 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 will a new paint job make your house look several years newer, it also creates a layer of protection for the overall exterior of your home.

Paint will 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 bare wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious indication that it is time to be replaced. If your paint is peeling, you need to have it repainted to protect the wood surface.

Worn paint takes a toll on your home’s exterior. 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 to “fit in” in the neighborhood (but you want it to). If your home’s color makes it stand out, or if the opposite is true and you want it to stand out, a different color can totally update its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Laguna Niguel

After the prepping is done, you can hand the project off to a professional painter in Laguna Niguel (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the start!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also guarantees that the results will exceed your expectations with minimal effort from you.

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 quicker.
• Pros don’t make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, with no 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 yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment required to paint areas higher than ground level.

Depending on your DIY capabilities and desires, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most services are prepared to handle each part of the job, from eliminating old paint and cleaning the exterior to actually applying the new paint.