Painting Your Home’s Exterior

Painting Your Home’s ExteriorIs exterior home painting on your to-do list this summer? There’s nothing that spruces up the exterior more than a fresh coat of paint, especially if you’re getting ready to sell. To get the best results, it’s recommended to hire commercial painting professionals to do the job.

Prepare the surface

Just like painting interior walls, it’s essential that you prepare the exterior before painting, go to this page to learn more. Your finish will not look as good or adhere as well if you don’t take this critical step. Check for areas with mold or mildew and kill it with a bleach solution. Check for chipping or peeling paint and pressure-wash the entire outside. You want to make sure you remove all the dirt and loose debris before you begin.

Make repairs

Even though you’ve prepped the surface, you’re not ready to grab the paintbrush just yet. Now is the time to repair any issues that you find. Seal cracks around windows, doors, and molding with caulk. Patch holes in stucco with new stucco and give it ample time to cure. Replace rotted wood and sand wood surfaces that you’ll be painting. Cover windows with plastic sheeting.

Start with a prime coat

After making all the needed repairs and giving everything time to dry and cure, it’s time to add a coat of primer. Primer gives you a nice clean surface to begin with and will make your final coats look much better. If you’re painting vinyl or wood siding, choose a latex primer. If the exterior is chalky, then choose a sealer that will seal in the dust.

Move to the finishing coats

When choosing an exterior paint, you’ll want one that is 100 percent acrylic latex in the color of your choosing. Ideally, you’ll need two people when it comes time to apply the finishing coats. The first person will quickly spread paint over the surfaces with a sprayer. The second person will then use a roller to smooth out the paint that has been sprayed. This will give you a smooth, even finish. Once the first coat has dried, apply a second coat. That second coat will give you the professional look that you’re after, and ensure your paint job lasts for years to come.

Final touches

The last step when painting the exterior of your home is to paint all the details. This includes trim, shutters, molding, doors and other decorative elements. This is probably the most time-consuming part of the job. You’ll need to use a paintbrush and take your time to get the best results. But what a difference it can make! Once the paint has dried, remove plastic from the windows and clean.

Using three colors is a general rule of thumb for selecting an exterior color scheme. Most homeowners assume those hues have to be distinctly different, but this monochromatic house proves otherwise. Here, light gray is the dominant color, while a medium tone accents the wood archway over the front door. To create a subtler contrast, choose an exterior trim color that’s a few shades lighter or darker than your siding color. Combining shades from the same color family highlights your home’s architectural details without going too bold.

Painting your home, office or commercial space is a big job. It’s not just the painting that takes time and effort – it’s all of the prep work too! You have to move furniture, cover up surfaces you don’t want paint on, tape off areas with masking tape…the list goes on. That is why you need experienced commercial painters who will do all of this for you that will come out to your house or business and get started right away.

What to expect

Once you’ve completed your new paint job, you can expect it to last up to ten years. Taking time to do the proper preparations, using quality paints, and applying at least two coats of paint will help your hard work last longer and hold up to wear and tear.

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