Prepping the Exterior of Your Home Before Painting

The benefits of properly preparing your exterior surfaces before painting extend far beyond the purely aesthetic. Making sure to follow certain guidelines before painting your home’s exterior can add both value to your property and years to the life of your new paint job. Since most paint failures result from inadequate surface preparation, don’t skimp on this crucial step just because it takes extra time and effort! Preparation procedures vary depending on the type of project and the surface/s to be painted. Here, we’ll detail the best practices for preparing the exterior of a standard Ohio, wood-sided home prior to painting.

1.) First things first—clean it up!

Before you can even begin to give your house a thorough inspection, it needs to be washed. Plus, paint won’t adhere well to dirty, grimy exterior walls, so uncovering a clean surface is the first step in preparing to paint. If you’ve got the time and energy, you can clean by hand-applying a solution of water and a phosphate free cleanser containing mildew killer. However, if endless trips up and down a ladder don't sound like your idea of a pleasant weekend, hiring a professional to pressure wash can be an excellent idea. If you don’t have experience, it’s not recommended to try pressure washing on your own, as an amateur can damage the siding by pushing water underneath boards. Whether you do it on your own or enlist expert help, make sure this crucial step is done well!

2.) Scrape and sand failing paint.

Most of the time, the reason a homeowner decides to paint their property’s exterior is because they’re starting to see peeling paint. The pressure washing step will have removed most of the loosest paint, but any amount of peeling paint left on the home before the new paint is applied will result in paint failure. In order to make sure you can access all the tight corners and areas of peeling paint, we suggest you pick up a painter’s multitool, sometimes known as a “5-in-1.” Also, a long handled pull scraper will speed up the process of removing peeling paint; just be conscientious as you work with them, since they are liable to gouge into your siding if you become reckless or aggressive with your work. After you have fully scraped an area and before moving on to the next, finish that section by sanding out the rough spots with 80-grit sandpaper (typically) for wood siding.

3.) Fill and repair or replace boards.

Once you’ve pressure washed, scraped, and sanded your siding, you’ll be able to step back and take a good look at what imperfections remain. Seams, holes, dings, and chips all need to be filled with a patching putty, caulk, or compound. Loose boards should be properly reattached if their structural integrity hasn’t been compromised. However, rotted boards should be replaced or professionally “prepped out,” which refers to when painters use fillers and sealants to seal the board and protect it from new water damage.

4.) Prime bare wood.

Some people think it’s necessary to evenly prime your entire house before applying paint, but that’s not necessarily true. Unless you’re starting with unfinished natural wood all over, you’ll only need to prime bare wood areas or boards that have undergone a lot of wear and tear. Additionally, pay close attention to areas where snow might collect. Finally, don’t move on to painting until you’ve primed the bottom few boards of the house along with the boards up by the roofline. This ensures the appearance of a consistent paint color from top to bottom.

Once you’ve cleaned, scraped and sanded, filled and repaired, and primed, there’s only one step left—applying the paint! Having read this blog, it may seem like the prep work is going to take longer than the painting itself. The truth is that you may be right. But, the undeniable fact is that painting the exterior of your home is a project that can consume quite a bit of time, energy, and money. It's one that you don’t want to have to undertake more often than is absolutely necessary. Properly preparing your home’s exterior before painting is the best way to ensure that your paint job will look beautiful for years to come. That and of course ensuring you have selected the perfect color for your homes exterior! For help making that decision, check out the top color combinations for a gorgeous exterior revamp. If you’re thinking that this might be more work than you can (or want to) handle on your own, the professional painters at PaintPositive in NE Ohio would be glad to put their years of experience to work for you! Call us at 330-860-4508 or visit us online to schedule your free estimate today.