Painting Outside Of Home, Steps, Tips, DIY

One of biggest maintenance plans protecting a homes' exterior is outside painting. Outlining proper steps, giving you tips for do-it-yourself, or as a paint reference knowing what you hire out to house painters, and their contractors.

This comes easy for me to prepare for you, as we've painting 10's of 1000's of exterior homes over last 40+ years. Having proper steps to take will make entire painting process go as smooth as paint being applied.

With outside painting tips at your disposal will ensure you are doing this like the pros, who do these daily, coming second nature, doing daily.

Steps Before You Start Painting Outside Home

Know Your Paint Colors

Several items you should have near by, also areas to think about, before starting painting process of your bode.

Before picking up a paint brush, you need to know which color scheme plan using. If haven't decided yet, several resources are available to you today. Those include paint color apps working free on your android, or iPhone, giving you millions of color choices.  Seeing how they will look on your home, before you start painting.

Other sources are paint color brochures available at most paint stores. When viewing them, and 3 chips are together, it is recommended larger paint chip for body, or siding. Next paint chip painting trim, with third color used for accent, painting shutters, front doors, and any ornaments attached to home.

Choosing Paint Colors

BEHR™, Benjamin-Moore™, Sherwin-Williams™, all have spent millions each year with paint color research, knowing what works well, having them in respective brochures, all free of charge.

Another thought would be driving in own subdivision, seeing what you may like also. If you find one, can't hurt knocking on a door, asking if they know paint color numbers. If not, using a large color deck, holding it up next to neighborhood's home, matching as close as you can.

Besides keeping a quality roof over your head, windows shutting properly, to gutters draining water away from your exterior, having quality external paint protection will maintain expensive siding a life-time.

Having Best Painting Tools & Equipment

Most paint tools, also equipment can be found at any local paint or box store. Of course using & caring for high quality paint brushes, buckets, grids, extension poles, ladders, rollers, razor knives, masking tape, brown paper, caulk, exterior spackle, solvents, plastic sheathing, film, sanding blocks, rags, also special spraying equipment. Using spray equipment, you'll need proper spray tips, hoses, wrenches, electrical cords, and/or gasoline.

Seeing how many tools you'll need, this is why most hire qualified professional painting contractors , bringing out team of exterior painters, to paint homes in your immediate areas.

Purchasing Exterior Paint

OK, you've narrowed down paint colors, but need to buy exterior paint. Measuring amounts of paint comes second nature to us, but simply stating, every gallon of paint usually covers 225 square feet, one coat. Of course second coat, which is recommended, covers a bit better, like 250 square feet, even putting on same amount of mil thickness.

A typical 2000 square foot under roof home requires fifteen gallons of body, field, or siding, and three to five gallons of trim paint. Rarely do you need more than one gallon of accent paint. You can always start out buying part of this, seeing how far it's covering, going back getting more as you need it.

Now Time To Start Preparing Home For Outside Paint

• Choosing paint colors
• Best paint tools & equipment
• Purchasing exterior paint
• Cleaning exterior w/high pressure washer
• Scraping loose paint mils
• Sanding paint edges
• Caulking joints exposing wood
• Priming bare wood
• Masking areas not receiving paint

Cleaning Exterior Surfaces

After you have purchased exterior paints, you need to start preparing your home, cleaning the outside, for exterior paint. You can prepare external area before buying paint, however just do not want paint made up too early, before using, as paints will need shaken, stirred, mixed up once again. Normally using paints within a week once being made up does not require re-shaken, but check your paint, making sure properly mixed.

That's enough about shaking paint, needing to shake up all those critters, wasps, bugs, spiders, bird poop, dust, and grim off the outside. This is down using a high pressure power washer. First in actual outside prep, cleaning exterior, giving you a clean canvas to work with. When using power washer, be careful not to get too close to surface, as high pressure water can harm surfaces.

Ideally, cleaning out gutters before painting outside of home, doing this while power washing.

As you can see, painting an exterior home is a monumental task, if doing this yourself. Saving much time, headache, and money. Most decide hiring a paint contractor, getting this done, just like those who do not wish getting hands dirty changing brake pads, taking cars to a mechanic.

Allowing water to dry normally 24-48hrs depending where you live, how much humidity you may have. Making sure all moisture has dried in cracks, crevices, exterior totally dry.

If it rains during drying process, do not rush applying paint, cause you should only do this one time, so don't get in a hurry.

Scraping, Caulking, Priming, Masking Exterior Surfaces

Scraping Outside Surfaces

Scraping any bubbling, loose, cracking, peeling, blistering paint is on the agenda after surfaces have dried. Depending on how much you have, is exactly how much you need to remove. Sanding mil thicknesses to a feather edge, filling in larger areas with exterior Spackle, sanding that also, will leave surfaces smooth before paint coating is applied.

Caulking Typical Exterior Surfaces

Removing any loose, aged caulk, replacing with a high quality latex paint-able caulk, sealing corners, trim boards, window edges, fascia, soffits, also where water can penetrate your substrate. This process can be quite a long time process, depending how much old caulk needs to be removed.

Priming Bare Wood

All bare wood surfaces best served, having a high bonding primer applied first. Allowing to properly dry, typically overnight, before exterior finish coats covering. Exterior paints bonds to primer far better than to bare wood. Today, many exterior life-time paints have primers built in, saving this step, lasting much longer. If you chose not using life-time paints, highly recommend using an Extreme Bond Primer first.

Masking Areas Not To Receive Exterior Paint

This is where depending how exterior paint is applied, how you will mask surfaces. Normally, exteriors are sprayed, brushed, & rolled, in that combination, doing all three. If this is your paint plan, you'll need to cover all window surfaces, all areas of concrete, roof, plants, also vegetation near the home.

Better to mask if unsure, cause you can always apply paint at a later time.

Paint preparations are about sixty percent of painting exteriors, because applying the paint goes fairly quicker, depending how you plan to apply.

Actually Painting Outside Of Home

• Spraying field area, cross-hatch pattern
• Remove masking paper, plastic
• Brushing, rolling trim, windows, doors

Now you've done all important steps preparing external surfaces to receive paint coatings, it's time to start painting your home. If you have an airless sprayer available, spraying main field, body, or siding first. You'll want to start at the top, working down.

If soffits same color, spray those first, coming down to siding. Spraying using a cross-hatch pattern, this way, an even coat is achieved. Keeping spray gun approx. fifteen inches away from surface, spraying a water borne, exterior latex paint.

After all spraying has been achieved, it's time to start unmasking, containing all debris, best using large black construction trash bags. Depend how much masking, you'll need several of these.

Typically, after masking material has been removed also contained, it's time painting trim. This is where your artisan qualities shine, brushing & rolling. Most like to cut-in with brush, following with a paint roller.

Painting trim boards around windows, corner boards, fascia, gutters, handrails, also accent colored areas. Accent areas include shutters, front doors, also any ornaments like diamonds, and/or vents.

If you forgot to clean gutters while power washing, you can do this before putting ladders up. Just lean ladder at least one foot above resting spot, removing debris that has collected from roof above.

Painting an exterior requires many tools, planning, & equipment to pull it off like a pro, not to mention time, also money.

I know several paint contractors who do not paint their own homes themselves, even though they know how to do it.

Many paint contractors started out as a painter earlier in life, only a few continue this industry, building a paint company in local communities, helping others, painting outside of homes.

That is exactly me in a nutshell, started painting over 40 years ago, providing qualified painters painting homes & business interiors, exteriors in Denver, CO. area. Have completed 10's of 1000's of happy customers, in our local community.

If you decide doing this yourself, hope this paint resource helps in a monumental task before you. Or, if you decide hiring a paint contractor, you'll know what to expect, having tips with your home painted outside. Heck, you can be a paint supervisor with all of this info. j/k.

Actually, this is just a tip of an iceberg, with exterior painting tips, as even after painting homes well over 40 years, I still learn something new each day. Reading is very good, getting firsthand information regarding a subject, this being getting your house painted outside. Really though, having on the job experience painting exteriors is actually better in my opinion.

Putting together as much direct content related, many still wish locating an exterior paint contractor, painting the outside your home.

Hiring the right exterior painting contractor painting outside of home, will save you much headache, time, also money. In many areas, good weather is only so long, so is your time is limited. Painting outside your home is what an exterior painting contractor does best.

Hope you've enjoyed, helping with you, painting outside of your home. If so, please like, share, and/or comment below!