Every eight to ten years, the exterior of a home needs to be painted.  A house requires paint for a variety of reasons.  One reason can be aesthetics.  The old paint job is simply looking shabby, making the home look old, rundown and as if it is not being properly cared for.

But there is also another reason for painting: paint protects a home.  Wood and other materials need a coat of paint to protect them from the damaging aspects of the elements.  With regular and proper painting, a home can last for hundreds of years.

Painting a home is a big job that most homeowners would rather give to qualified professionals, but knowing how the process works can aid in the decision-making process.  The following outdoor painting tips are intended to make the homeowner’s job easier, smoother, and more long-lasting.

1. Start by investing in top-quality equipment. This means spending the extra few cents for top-of-the-line rollers and paint brushes.  Use high grade paint as well. Using high grade supplies and tools will result in a faster and better job. Remember, a workman is only as good as his tools.  A homeowner cannot expect to get superior results using inferior tools or supplies.
2. Spring or fall are usually the best times of the year for outdoor painting. Do not paint if temperatures are below 40 degrees Fahrenheit or above 80 degrees. Try not to paint in high wind or in direct sunlight if possible. Too much direct sun can cause paint to dry too quickly, which can cause wrinkling and even cracking and flaking. If possible, plan paint jobs to “follow the shade.”
3. Don’t skimp on time. Painting even a medium-size house is a huge undertaking – perhaps several weeks or even months. And keep in mind that the painting itself is actually less than half the job. Most of the homeowner’s time will be spent preparing the house to be painted. Preparation is the key.
4. Wash the house. Use a power washer if possible, but the homeowner needs to take his or her time and clean the house of all dirt, oil, grease, grime and mildew. This should include a detergent and hand scrubbing (using a nylon brush) of any stubborn areas. Plants should be protected from detergents and soaps by plastic drop-cloths.
5. Repair areas that have become damaged in any way. If possible, discern the reason for the damage and solve the underlying problem, or the damage may simply repeat itself in a short time. Scrape and/or use a wire brush on any spots where old paint is flaking, blistering or peeling. A wire brush attachment for an electric drill can speed this process considerably. Sand areas that are peeling or flaking, getting down to raw wood whenever possible. As much old paint as possible, particularly lose old paint, must be removed before applying new paint.
6. Lay in a supply of blue painter’s tape. This is the tape the homeowner applies to both certain parts of the woodwork as well as to the edges of windows and other areas on which the homeowner does not want the primary color of paint applied. When the blue tape is removed, following the final coat of the primary color, the area under the tape is paint-free and the special blue painter’s tape does not leave adhesive behind on the unpainted surfaces.While a homeowner may wish to choose an oil-based paint under some circumstances, most homeowners opt instead for a good grade latex paint. Latex protects as well as oil-based paints but latex paints go on smoother and easier and clean up with soap and water.
7. Homeowners should always use the best quality paint that is consistent with their budget. The reason is simple. Lower-quality paints almost always take more coats to provide the same level of protection. The last thing a homeowner wants is for an undercoat to bleed through the final coat of a new color.
8. Bleed through can be averted by painting a primer coat before apply the final color. A primer is a light-colored (often white) lesser-quality paint designed to cover the old color, at least primarily. It is acceptable for the old color to show through the primer to some extent, since the final paint will be applied over the primer coat.  Applying a primer coat requires the home to be prepped first and entails a large amount of work, time and expense.

However, applying a primer coat can be worth the time and the expense, especially when radically changing the color of a house and there is the possibility that the old paint will show through the new paint. It is less expensive to apply a coat of primer and then a coat of the more expensive paint, and it is also cost effective to put on one primer coat and two additional coats of more expensive paint as opposed to three coats of the more expensive paint.

As alluded to earlier, quality tools make all the difference. When painting a home’s exterior the homeowner should purchases the following, at a minimum:

• Nylon/polyester brushes if using latex paint – natural bristle brushes if using oil-based paint. At a minimum, a homeowner should purchase a 4-inch brush and a 2-and-a-half-inch brush. Never dip a brush all the way into paint. Load a brush only half way with paint and then scrape the brush on the side of the paint can to remove excess paint before applying paint in a long, slow stroke. Practice will allow the homeowner to apply an even coat of paint without visible brush strokes.
• Two different-sized rollers, one 7-inch roller and one 4-in roller should allow for the fast application of paint in any area. The smaller roller is often useful in applying paint to siding.
• “Cutting in” refers to using a paint brush to paint an area about 4-inches wide around corners and anywhere a roller cannot paint. Only cut in a relatively small area before covering the rest of an area with a roller as it is best to roller over cut-in paint that is still wet.

These basic tips help to give a sense of all that is required to repaint the exterior of a home. Homeowners who decide that painting a home is beyond their skill level, or for homeowners who simply wish to have a professional do the job, the qualified staff at United Home Experts have years of experience. They can paint a home quickly and they clean up after themselves completely, do everything quickly and also provide a written guarantee.

Repainting a home not only enhances the home’s appearance and increases its value, a new-looking home also gives a homeowner a sense of pride of ownership which few other things in this world can match.

First-time homeowners should not attempt to paint the exterior of their homes by themselves. For more detailed information and free estimates, contact the United Home Experts. For our main painting page, click here!

Preparing a surface for paint makes the difference between a quality, lasting exterior and a shoddy one.  The result of an unattractive, short-lived painted exterior is not the fault of the paint itself but rather the failure of the paint to adhere to the surface.  The paint had no chance of adhesion because it was applied over a dirty, greasy, peeling surface.

Before starting preparation, a major consideration in preparing and painting an exterior surface is when the work should be done.  When painting an exterior, the temperature of the surface to be painted should be greater than 50°F and less than 90°F.  This means that homeowners in areas of the country such as New England have a rather slim window of opportunity to carry out the exterior paint preparation and repainting project.

Preparing the Environment for Exterior Paint Preparation

Surrounding landscape plantings, barbecue grills and other nearby objects must be protected from paint chips and spatters as well as the chemicals in cleaning solutions and paint strippers:

1. Turn off all electrical power and gas fuel suppliers that connect to outside objects.
2. Cover them with canvas.
3. Pull any tall bushes near the home away from the structure with ties.   Stake the ties so that the foliage does not touch any exterior surface.
4. Remove exterior fixtures such as lighting, mailboxes and shutters.
5. Patch, repair and repaint any trim that is to be reaffixed to the home’s exterior when the new paint is dry.

Removing Loose Paint

This chore will always include hand scraping and sanding.  A power washer can also be used, but should only be operated by an experienced operator, as this tool can cause serious damage to an exterior if misused.

 On a dry surface, beginning with the loosest part of the peeling paint, scrape it off using one tool or a combination of a paint scraper, putty knife, heat gun, sandpaper and sanding block.  On wood siding in particular, careful attention must be paid when scraping with any tool to avoid gouging the wood.

Sanding the Surface

Once all loose paint is gone, the surface must be sanded wherever the paint was removed, blending the harder edges with the sandpaper to make the surface as smooth as possible.

Cleaning the Surface

Now that all the scraping, sanding and environmental protection has taken place, it is time to thoroughly wash the exterior.

Remove screens, storm doors and windows and whatever is not to be painted.

With a solution of TSP and water, thoroughly wash the exterior with either a power washer set to the lowest pressure or a hose with a car wash brush attachment. Work from the top down.  Rinse each cleansed section as completed with clean water.

At this point, homeowners residing in the New England states with the short span of weather conditions conducive to the proper paint preparation and repainting might want to consider getting help for this extensive project.  The professional, experienced home remodeling team at United Home Experts has been doing quality work in the New England area to the satisfaction of many homeowners.

The Final Paint Preparation Stage:  Drying and Caulking

• If the paint to be applied is latex, allow the exterior to dry at least a day.
• If it is an oil-based paint, allow at least a week before painting.
• Caulk any gaps around windows, doors, between siding, moldings; anywhere moisture can seep in.

With completion of these steps in paint preparation, the exterior paint that is finally applied will have a smooth, attractive appearance and will keep that look for many years with minimal maintenance.