Exterior Painting Done Right: A Simple Guide to Painting Your Home

One of the most cost-effective ways to both protect your home from the elements and spruce up the overall look of your property is to paint the exterior on a regular basis. By ensuring that the exterior walls of your property are regularly painted, you are providing an extra layer of security to its underlying ability to stay weather proof. Whilst painting the exterior of your house may seem a little daunting to undertake, this simple guide will show you the tips of the trade and the mistakes never to make.

The first thing you will need to do is fully inspect all exterior walls for defects, damage and paint chipping or blistering. Ensuring that 1all surfaces are damage free will save you time and money later on when you find that the paint you have applied starts to chip and crack due to the underlying damage.

Firstly sand down the previous layer of paint and ensure that any rough surfaces are smooth in texture to aid with the application of the new layer. Professional exterior painters and contractors like to use a pressure hose to clean the surfaces after sanding and scraping to ensure no dirt or grime remain.

Depending on the structure you are trying to paint and the materials used in its construction, a base layer of paint might be needed to aid in adhesion, as well as covering up a different colour make sure to use a waterproof caulk such as latex caulk to fill any areas around doors, windows and frames where you may find water damage or holes and cracks. Filling in these areas will ensure that the layer of paint you will apply lasts longer and doesn’t allow any damp into your house.

Choosing the right type of paint will allow you to take advantage of its particular benefits. There are two main exterior paint types available, one which is water-based latex paint and the other is the oil-based alkyd paint. The two types of paint differ in that the latex paint allows for easier application and helps to protect the exterior walls of your home due to its rubbery latex consistency it is less likely to crack and blister. The latex-based paint also dries quickly, has less odour and the best latex paints contain 100% acrylic resins.

The oil-based alkyd paint on the other hand is more popular amongst professional painting contractors for its easy application. It is also a more durable paint that dries smoothly and takes fewer brush strokes to cover large areas. The oil-based alkyd paint tends to have a strong odour and has to be cleaned up with paint thinner, whilst taking much longer to dry. It is important to note that if you wish to apply a latex-based paint over the top of oil-based alkyd paint, you need to apply a primer to ensure the new layer adheres to the surface correctly.

With a properly painted house, you will bring a fresh new look to your property to give it a new lease of life. Many professional exterior painters and contractors offer great prices for exterior painting, no matter what type of building you have, so finding the right painters to spruce up your home is an easy task. When done professionally, the exterior paint on your home will last from anything up to 15 years, help protect your home from the elements, and offer you possibly the cheapest and best makeover your house could benefit from.