Tips for exterior home painting
Grab your paint brushes and rollers to give your home exteriors a new look this festive season. A fresh new layer for your exterior walls can change your home’s appearance. However, painting your home exterior is quite different from painting your home interiors. The following ideas will help you in the process.
How do you begin painting home exteriors?
Start by clearing all the plants, garden accessories, air conditioning units and other objects around your home. Trees and shrubs leaning against the exterior walls should be fastened together while painting your home exteriors. You can cover the plants and other objects using plastic sheets, tarpaulins or drop clothes protecting them from the paint. Remove all the outdoor fixtures like lights, mailboxes, furniture and so on.
Upgrade holes and cracks in the walls by filling them with putty and sanding them down. Clean and scrub away the debris on the window trims and other surfaces which are to be painted. Scrape off the old painting and wash the surface with mild soap and water. A pressure sprayer can be used to wash the walls, but ensure that the excess pressure does not dig the surface. You can also use sandpaper or a paint scraper to get rid of loose, cracked, chipping or blistered paint. Hire a professional if the walls need to be sandblasted. Make use of a heat gun to remove the hard paint and scrape the softening paint with a putty knife.
If your home has a masonry surface with brick or stucco, you should apply a primer coat. For wood and bare siding, use oil based primer. Do not forget to check the weather conditions before you paint your exteriors and ensure that there is enough time for the paint to dry. Avoid painting on wet surfaces or surfaces with moss and lichens.
The primer coats should be applied as per the wall condition. Start painting your home exteriors from top to bottom beginning at the eaves after stirring the paint well. The walls should be painted in horizontal strokes. Remember to read the manufacturer’s complete instructions. The paint brush should be dipped no more than half of the bristles. Lift the paint brush by wiping the underside of the brush to the can rim. Have appropriate sized brushes as per the surfaces like the edge of the corner, window and door trims. Do not forget to paint with a back-and-forth motion.
Paint the surface with 3-4 coats until the surface is neatly painted. It is mandatory that you let each coat dry for eight hours before applying the next coat.
