As of 2015, there were more than 300,000 people working as commercial painters or commercial painting contractors in the United States. If the outside of your home is in desperate need of a makeover but you don’t have the budget to hire contractors, it’s important to do the job right the first time.
Painting pros shared three of their top tips for painting the exterior of your home right:
- Use The Right Equipment: Are you using the right equipment for the right job? For example, stucco walls cannot be painted properly with rollers, they must be sprayed. Most pros use five gallon buckets with a roller grid rather than a roller pan. They not only hold more paint, they are also harder to accidentally tip over. When painting drywall or wooden surfaces, like doors and cabinets, commercial painters use extenders.
- Keep An Eye On The Thermometer: If possible, try to paint outdoors when the temperature is between 60 and 90 degrees. Anything colder or hoter will affect the time it takes the paint to dry correctly.
- Preparation, Preparation, Preparation: Painting the exterior of your home requires careful prep work, otherwise you’ll end up with a sloppy coat. You may need to remove chipped or flaking paint and apply primer before you begin. Tinted primer is more effective at covering eisting coats than plain primer, so the final effect will be more vibrant and even require less coats overall.
- Choose The Right Paint: Many homeowners spend weeks agonizing over the perfect shade of white to paint their walls, but color shouldn’t be the only factor. For instance, glossier paints are not only more stain resistant, but also easier to clean.
Painting a house can give it the fresh look it needs to draw the eye instead of attracting only side eye from judgy neighbors. And of course, be careful up on those ladders!