How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Ontario needs to be refreshed, a fresh coat of exterior paint is an easy, affordable option to improve its curb appeal. So if your house is looking worn down or if you are simply ready for a change, consider repainting the outside of your home yourself or enlist a professional painter to do it for you.

Painting a home is a big job, but it isn’t an impossible job for most homeowners. You need to do your research to understand how to prepare the exterior surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as what type of brushes and paints you need to use.

You can compromise with a painter by completing all the prep work by yourself, but then having their crew come in and do the actual painting with their best tools, safety equipment and selected paint.

Whichever choice is best for you, you’ll still want to know 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 of the home to paint, gather the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you are planning to complete the painting by yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will help to make the actual painting project go a lot faster as soon as you get started. Collecting your equipment beforehand guarantees that once you begin painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet brush edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The best part of painting your house is deciding the color or color combo. You will also want to pick the right paint finishes for all parts of the home. Latex is a lot better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is a lot less messy and much easier to clean. The flat surfaces need more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll want to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are also efficient options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it is time to begin prepping the exterior of your home for its brand new paint! Put time into pressure washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to wash off any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure is the best way to eliminate old paint, and it simultaneously cleans the outside of your home. Some of the areas of paint may peel right off as soon as you spray them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was deteriorating and had to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the original paint has been loosened, scrape it off the house with a plastic or metal straight edge, being diligent not to dig into the wood. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t necessary to sand every surface all the way down to the bare wood. Any sections where the paint is still adhered need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new paint goes on smooth.
5. Prime. Do not skip priming! Primer is an important step because it covers up any prior paint (especially with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smoother exterior with minimal imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the first layer of paint won’t mix with it or create a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter can look at the weather forecast and determine the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re experts! If you plan to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is between 75 and 85 degrees, with little humidity. This will result in the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

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

Paint helps prevent pests from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also stops wear and tear from inclement weather. Good quality paint stops wood from rotting and dirt cannot stick to paint the way it does to wood.

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

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

Painting is also a good idea if your home doesn’t seem to “fit in” in the neighborhood. If your home’s exterior color makes it stand out too much, or if the opposite is true and you want it to stand out, a different paint color can totally change its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Ontario

After prepping is complete, you might want to turn the work off to a professional painter in Ontario (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also guarantees that the results will exceed expectations with minimal effort from you.

Hiring a local painter to paint your home has several obvious benefits:

• A professional painter knows the best way to complete the job, meaning the paint will look a lot better and the project will be a lot faster.
• Companies don’t typically make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, with no extra paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Due to their skill and knowledge, your new exterior paint will likely last a lot longer than if you did the job by yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment required to paint anything higher than ground level.

Based on your DIY skills and desires, you can trust your painter to complete all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most companies are fully prepared to take care of every part of the job, from eliminating old paint and cleaning the exterior to applying the new paint.