Exterior House Painting Trends
Little things in life have such a huge transformation as a new coat of paint on a house. Too bad it isn’t this easy for other things! Adding a new coat of paint on to the outside of your home can make the house look newer, brighter and cleaner than ever before. It’s a neat and easy way to transform your home, which especially might be important if you are trying to sell it. It’s a pretty easy project depending on which options you choose, and it can be quite cheap. Paint on a house deals with a lot of abuse over the years from the sun beating down on it, to rain and wind hitting against it, to snow and everything else, so your home SHOULD be painted every few years to keep it looking new. But, paint also has another benefit; it’s a great way to get rid of the old paint which may have fungus or mold on it, seal the outside of the house, and repaint it again to get rid of the old and replace it with a new fresh look and feel. If you are thinking about exterior house painting in NJ, here are a few things you need to consider.
Washing the House
Yes, just like how you wash your car, you will need to wash your house. It’s one of the pre-paint things you need to do, especially if you have scraped off all the old paint. Before you re-paint the house, you need to make sure you get all the old paint off as well as paint dust and the dirt, grime, dust and any fungus or mold that might be on the home. You can wash your house several different ways, but most people recommend and like using a power washer. Power washers are high powered hoses with packs usually connected to the hose. The water will come out MUCH stronger than if you were to use a regular old garden hose. Make sure that if you don’t know how to use one of these that you hire someone to do it for you, because you can shatter windows, break the equipment or even gouge wood with these power washers if you don’t know how to use them.
Scrape the Paint
You should probably wash the house twice, once before the scraping and once after. Either way, when you scrape away paint you are doing so to create a nice smooth and even base for the new paint and sealant. This is a good idea if you have peeling, cracked or blistered paint. Make sure that if your house was painted before 1978 that you hire a special company to scrape the paint off because your paint might have lead in it. Scraping and sanding might also be better left it the professionals, but it depends on how bad the house really is. Using equipment or special tools to remove paint is a better option than doing it by hand. It’s going to take a lot of elbow grease to remove one layer of paint let alone three or four. When possible, try to rent equipment or get someone to do all of the work for you. Some painting businesses that do exterior house painting will do this tough job for you.
Sanding
After you wash, sand and scrape away all the paint, you can then begin to fill any holes. This means that you will have to examine the entire house and look for rot, dents, cracks and any holes. If you have a lot of rot in your walls, you might need to remove any panels or areas and re-build the wall. One option to consider for holes and cracks is something called Ready Patch. This is a product that dries fast and smooth and it also stays very flexible. It’s a great option for smaller or shallow dents or holes, but for more serious issues, you will need to use an epoxy rather than Ready Patch. Using ready patch on big issue is like putting a band aid on a bullet wound. It might help for now, but chances are down the line, it will create an even bigger mess.
Priming the House
Primer are used to create a seal, but they also make the paint stick to the house better. You can use primer over bare wood, epoxy, spackle or most other chalky surfaces. Priming should be done after the sanding and scraping but before the paint job obviously since this is what helps keep the paint on the house.
Washing the House
Yes, just like how you wash your car, you will need to wash your house. It’s one of the pre-paint things you need to do, especially if you have scraped off all the old paint. Before you re-paint the house, you need to make sure you get all the old paint off as well as paint dust and the dirt, grime, dust and any fungus or mold that might be on the home. You can wash your house several different ways, but most people recommend and like using a power washer. Power washers are high powered hoses with packs usually connected to the hose. The water will come out MUCH stronger than if you were to use a regular old garden hose. Make sure that if you don’t know how to use one of these that you hire someone to do it for you, because you can shatter windows, break the equipment or even gouge wood with these power washers if you don’t know how to use them.
Scrape the Paint
You should probably wash the house twice, once before the scraping and once after. Either way, when you scrape away paint you are doing so to create a nice smooth and even base for the new paint and sealant. This is a good idea if you have peeling, cracked or blistered paint. Make sure that if your house was painted before 1978 that you hire a special company to scrape the paint off because your paint might have lead in it. Scraping and sanding might also be better left it the professionals, but it depends on how bad the house really is. Using equipment or special tools to remove paint is a better option than doing it by hand. It’s going to take a lot of elbow grease to remove one layer of paint let alone three or four. When possible, try to rent equipment or get someone to do all of the work for you. Some painting businesses that do exterior house painting will do this tough job for you.
Sanding
After you wash, sand and scrape away all the paint, you can then begin to fill any holes. This means that you will have to examine the entire house and look for rot, dents, cracks and any holes. If you have a lot of rot in your walls, you might need to remove any panels or areas and re-build the wall. One option to consider for holes and cracks is something called Ready Patch. This is a product that dries fast and smooth and it also stays very flexible. It’s a great option for smaller or shallow dents or holes, but for more serious issues, you will need to use an epoxy rather than Ready Patch. Using ready patch on big issue is like putting a band aid on a bullet wound. It might help for now, but chances are down the line, it will create an even bigger mess.
Priming the House
Primer are used to create a seal, but they also make the paint stick to the house better. You can use primer over bare wood, epoxy, spackle or most other chalky surfaces. Priming should be done after the sanding and scraping but before the paint job obviously since this is what helps keep the paint on the house.