Painting your house exterior is one of the best ways to transform your home in less time and less money than any other project. That little bit of resin and pigment is good for this, and it can last up to 15 years. Here, we’ll talk you through how to do this, and how you can apply this, and what to do with the surface before you begin.
Wash it Down!
First and foremost, wash it down. This will help remove the dirt and the paint that’s there in order to keep the coats fresh and helps to get rid of the mildew that grows there. Most clean with pressure washers, but you can usually get a hose, pump sprayer, and a scrub brush to do this easier. Before you do it, do protect the plants that are there by misting their leaves and saturating with water, pulling them from the house, and put them in fabric drop cloths. Lay these down and from there, collect any falling debris around the walls. You should wet them down before they’re scrubbed, and then washed with water mixed with chlorine bleach and then a cup of either concentrated cleaner or a TSP substitute. Work from the bottom to the top, and then rinse them before the solution dries. You should then wait about a day or two before you begin to paint as long as the weather is dry.
If you have paint that needs to be taken off, especially if peeled, blistered or bubble,d do that now. But, if lead is present, you should make sure that you find out what is in it, and you can send it to a lab for a definite answer. From here, you will need to take extra precautions before you sand, using more than a dust mask and google, probably adding a respirator and ways to protect your eyes and mouth.
From here, you scrap, and you need to do it from every direction, but it’s the least damaging way to remove your old layers, and you can speed this up by using a heat gun to soften this.
Sand it down
Once it’s there, you will then want to make sure that you get any extra pieces off with 50 or 80-grit sandpaper. You will want to consider a pad sander to walls that are there should be done with small, feathered touches so that it doesn’t hurt the area. You may then follow it off with a 100 or 120-grip rubdown for the rest of the stragglers.
If less than half of this is left, it might be worth stripping it all off, and you can use shrouded grinders, infrared paint strippers, and the rest to help take it off.
Patch and Fill
From there, you should fill the minor cracks and dents, repair anything that’s there, and repair it with either epoxy or even wholesale replacement. You should be careful about this.
Prime it up
Next, you got to prime. This is used to penetrate, seal, and give a good surface for this. Use this on bare wood, spackle, epoxy, or paint it with chalky, deteriorated surface. Acrylic primers can be used on most surfaces, and usually, it will work on anything but cedar and redwood.
They often tint the primer with the top coat, but, it is sometimes good to use a contrasting color, and if you notice the color coming through, you can use more paint.
You can always spray the exposed nail head with a rust to prevent it from bleeding through.
You may also need to caulk all of the small joints on the trim and sidings, and you should use siliconized acrylics, since it won’t’ stick to the straight silicones, but you may want to get the more expensive urethane acrylics for more longevity and flexibility, but you should make sure that you never skimp out on this.
Paint Time!
Finally, you can paint. You can use acrylic latexes in these oil-based paints, and they offer better performances, don’t mildew as much, and emit fewer VOCs while still complying to air regulations, and they work well on both oil and water primers. You should make sure that you take your time with this, and use oil on high-traffic areas.
Remember as well that better quality paints means you need to do less, so always consider that option when you’re doing this.
Finally, when painting your house, you may use a paint sprayer, but you should make sure that you get one that is meticulous and one that will cover it. You should advise against using too many additives, including mildewcides since this can cause the paint to wear away more with time.
With these helpful steps, you can give your house the paint job that it deserves.
