Should I paint my house myself?

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As a homeowner, you want your home to look its best, inside, and out. If your home has wood siding or wood trim, house painting and repair are needed periodically. Or maybe you’re considering painting the brick, or whatever siding your home has, because you want a different color. House painting isn’t something you can do in a hurry, it takes time.

There is a fun part though when painting your house: looking at house painting ideas of colors and color combinations. , getting house painting tips, and then there is the prep work. You can’t grab any can of paint either, house painting exterior takes a paint designed for exterior use.

When painting a house where do you start?

It would be nice if you could just start painting by slapping paint on, but unfortunately, if you want to it right, and why wouldn’t you? You need to prepare the walls, make repairs as needed, and the main thing, choose the right color!

How do I prepare my house for painting?

Here the steps professionals use:

• Step One: Bathe the Walls
  • To ensure your painting efforts get the best coverage, give the walls a bath first. Using a pressure washer, start at the top and work down as you go around the house. Remove the dirt and dust buildup thoroughly, overlapping the pressure washer strokes by 6 to 8 inches.
• Step Two: Repair Any Damaged Surfaces
  • Walk around the exterior of your house and any damaged surfaces, make necessary repairs. Using epoxy filler for cracks and holes in wood, re-attach or replace any metal pieces or siding, patch any masonry or stucco. Allow the repair to dry thoroughly then sand lightly with a medium-grit sandpaper block so as your painting over the area, it blends with the rest of the house.
• Step Three: Remove All Loose Paint
  • After the exterior has been bathed and repairs made, allow it to thoroughly dry. Take another walk around the exterior and remove or sand over chipped and loose paint with a medium-grit sandpaper block or paint scrapper.
• Step Four: Caulk the Trim
  • Using an exterior caulk, fill in gaps where the trim doesn’t meet the house at doors and windows. If there is brick on the house, caulk where the brick and wood trim meet. You want a blended, smooth connection when you begin painting.
• Step Five: Time to Prime Stains
  • As you take another walk around the exterior, if there are any visible stains or wood knots, apply one coat of primer with stain-blocking.
• Step Six: Protect Doors, Lights, and Windows Lights
  • Protect the doors, lights, and windows by covering them with plastic tarps and painter’s tape.
• Step Seven: Time to Paint!
  • Finally! It is time to start painting!  No need to apply a primer if the new pain is similar to the existing color. If you’re going lighter or darker, apply a primer coat to assure the final coat has proper coverage. Start at the top, work toward the bottom using controlled strokes that overlap each other by 6 to 8 inches.
• Step Eight: Paint Doors and Trim
  • Remove all the protective plastic sheeting from the doors, lights, and windows. Then with a quality brush, hand paint two coats of to all the doors and woodwork, using an exterior semigloss paint.
• Step Nine: Remove the drop cloths, clean up the brushes and admire your work!

Can you spray paint a house?

Yes, and there are many advantages and benefits when spray painting the exterior of your house. A paint sprayer is powerful, it covers more area and better than a brush or roller. Save physical pain and a lot of time!

Just as we reviewed above, you need to prepare the walls by bathing the house, making repairs, priming stains or knot holes, etc.  When spray painting, you also need to move  outdoor décor, furniture, grill, plants, and today out and away from the house. Anything that can’t be moved, and you don’t want painted, cover with a tarp and secure it, because there  will be overspray.

Any surface that you don’t want painted, make sure they are well covered and use plenty of masking tape to hold down traps and cover things up. This is a tedious step, but necessary, keep your goal in mind as you’re working: A beautiful exterior with aesthetic beauty with the stark contrast between the painted areas and the things that shouldn’t be painted.

Is it better to brush or spray paint a house?

There is no doubt about it, when it comes to painting a house, an airless sprayer is the fastest way. It takes minutes compared to hours when brushing or rolling paint. However, quality and speed are not always partnering when it comes to painting, meaning, while airless spray painting has benefits:

The Benefits

• Incredibly fast
• One coat
• Smooth finish
• Hard to reach areas are covered

There are also some drawback to airless spray painting:

Negatives

• Prep and clean up time longer
• Uneven coverage
• Uses two to three times more paint than brushing
• Doesn’t always have a good adhesion
• Windy days can halt the project

Airless spray painting is particularly challenging for a novice. It takes a lot of practice to get it even and smooth without drips and overspray. If it is your first time to use a sprayer, experts recommend to practice. A lot.

Is it worth paying someone to paint your house?

Yes!  Once you have done it, you will agree.  Paying somebody else to do the painting is easier on your physically, you’ll have the time to other things, and it will come with a guarantee. If you notice a missed area, or the paint is washing off in an area, you call them back and they make it right.