Here are five important things to consider before painting the exterior of your home yourself.
(1) Proper preparation of all surfaces to be painted is paramount. Improper preparation is the leading cause of paint failure and/or reduced finish life. Surface preparation can take as little as a few hours, while some require days to complete properly. All this time and work and you still have to open your first can of paint! For some, the time required and knowledge required for this step was all they had to hear before calling us, but not for everyone. Others who completed projects on their own were happy with the result for the first few years after painting. It wasn’t until the eventual premature failure along with the thought of how much time and money they had spent repainting on their own that they finally decided to leave it to the professionals the second time around.
(2) It’s not that tall… or it is. The height of your house can be a bit tricky from the ground, and let’s not forget to try and safely attach a ladder to a garage ceiling to paint the side of the second story. Proper equipment, such as the correct ladders and stair leveling tools needed to safely prep and paint large areas, can be very expensive. Aside from these costs, if you have a fear of heights, painting a two-story house may not be the best option.
(3) Painting is not always painting, as some would say. Using a good quality paint is very important for a number of reasons, but let’s look at the two most important to our current and past customers. First and foremost, using a high-grade paint versus a low-grade paint will increase the time between painting your home, saving you time and money down the road. Second, and possibly just as important to many do-it-yourself house painters, higher grade paints provide better coverage per coat, reducing the time it takes to apply additional material to the surfaces being painted. Time and money always seems to come down to these two things. Every paint manufacturer has a good, better, and better line of paint in their coatings arsenal. My recommendation is that it would be best to stay away from lower grade paint options as they will not meet most people’s expectations. While it may save you a few bucks today, at some point in the near future, you’ll pay the price in both dollars and time spent repainting before you have to.
(4) Let’s not forget the physical aspect of this type of project. Applying paint to the exterior of your home can be hard on your body. 100% of all homes to be repainted will require physical activity. Of this 100%, 100% of these houses will require extended periods of time on stairs (of course, I’m not counting any of the dog houses that will be painted!). And more, 100% will also require you to stretch and bend your body in ways you may not have known were possible. While you may be in good shape, the repetitive nature of painting, stretching, and going up and down stairs will take a toll on you physically. Be honest with yourself when considering your fitness level before committing to completing such an important project on your own.
(5) So the information above hasn’t changed your mind and you’ve decided to go it alone and skip the services of a professional painting contractor. I applaud your determination and I hope everything goes very well for you. So one last friendly piece of advice. All those cans of paint you just bought, please, please, please… don’t use them one at a time. While you may have bought them all at the same time, if you have like most you decided on a different color than what the manufacturer originally put on the tin, it doesn’t match! Buy a few empty five-gallon buckets and place the material in a “box” to make sure the paint matches once it’s applied to the surface. “Boxing” paint is for mixing it all up. Pour the gallons into a five gallon bucket and then five to five until all the paint has been thoroughly mixed. This will blend the slight color variations from one can to the next and produce a more consistent color for the topcoat.
For more information on exterior painting, visit RedRock Finishes http://www.redrockfinishes.com/exterior-painting/