Deciding to give the exterior of your house a facelift with an updated paint job is exciting. It can also be daunting and a little overwhelming. Knowing where to start with an exterior painting job will help.
There are a few things that you can do as the homeowner to prepare your house’s exterior for a paint job. While these are simple things, some of them are time-consuming so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to prep.
If you’re hiring a professional painting company to do the painting job, these five tips will actually help save you money on the project.
1. Power Wash Your House
One of the most important things that you need to do to prepare your house is to make sure it is clean. Power Washing is the fastest, easiest, and most thorough way to prepare for an exterior painting job.
If you don’t have a power washer you can rent or borrow one from a friend or family member.
Do keep in mind that power washers are powerful. They can do a lot of damage if you get too close to windows or if there are weak spots in the wood of the house. We’ve had clients who have power washed their homes only to uncovered rotten wood on the facial boards. This will increase your repair and painting timeline.
Keep a mental note of what you find as you power wash to prepare for the exterior painting job.
2. Make Sure the Exterior is Dry
It is a good idea to power wash your house a few days, at least, before the painters arrive. You want the exterior to be completely dry.
If there are any damp spots at all on the exterior the paint will not stick properly. This will give you a less than amazing paint job. Plus it could cost you more if the painters have to add extra coats or do extra work.
If it happens to rain the night before painting is supposed to happen, it may be best to reschedule.
3. Scrape Any Peeling Paint
Power washing should take care of this step but if it doesn’t you will need to scrape any peeling or cracked paint by hand. This will ensure that you have a smooth and even paint job.
You can leave this for your painters but this may increase their labor time if they are charging you by the house. If they are, then you’ll want to get this part done on your own.
If you power washed the exterior effectively then there shouldn’t be that much left to remove.
4. Cover Your Plants
Some homeowners don’t think about this but it is a great tip for preparing your home for exterior painting.
No matter how good your painters are, drips are inevitable. If you have beloved plants around your home that you don’t want to be painted, you will want to get a light tarp or sheet to cover them with.
Most professional painters will arrive prepared for this, but just in case they do not, be prepared to protect your plants with a cover.
5. Make Necessary Repairs
This last tip may require a handyman if you don’t have those DIY skills. If you have found any repairs that need to be done on the exterior of the home you will need to have those fixed prior to the exterior painting job.
This will help to ensure you don’t have to do any extra painting or redo something that has been done. Some painting companies, such as ours, provide patching and repairs in our estimates. This allows our clients the option of having everything done for them by one company.
Not all painting companies offers these services, be sure to ask questions about this when you request a quote.
See our post on questions to ask when hiring a painter in Toronto for more tips.