Prep is key to painting a house, inside or out – Part 2

For exteriors, if you decide to paint it yourself, know you’re going to be on a ladder a lot (especially for two-story homes). You’ll need to pressure wash to start with a clean surface, but hand scrub around the windows and other delicate areas. You’ll need to check the condition of the wood and siding to know whether there are spots that need to be replaced.

You’ll fill in holes and caulk around the trim, windows and doors.

Many professionals use paint sprayers for the exteriors, but you have to be careful. Spray can go everywhere and be influenced by the direction of the wind. You’ll also lose some paint to overspray. Cover with tape and paper 3 feet to 4 feet around the brick and cover the windows and doors.

While you can paint indoors any time of the year, painting outside is a different story. Avoid days that are excessively humid or raining or looks like a downpour is imminent.

Cold is an issue with painting, as it is when it’s excessively hot, make sure you’re using paint designed for exteriors.

With trim and cabinets, you want this paint job to last because it’s not the kind of job you’re going to do often. Choose the best quality paint you can afford, in the older days you’d use oil-based paint, which has powerful fumes. Now however, water based-latex paints have come a long way in rivaling the results of the old oil based paints. Oil-based paints are becoming increasingly difficult to find and are being phased out of circulation.

So, if you’ve decided to do the interior walls yourself, first move everything you can to the center of the room so you have space to work. Remove electrical and light switch covers.

Take time to place tape carefully in a straight line around the windows, doors, baseboards and crown molding. Some professionals use brown paper trim rolls in addition to tape to cover crown molding and baseboards.

There are a lot of tapes to choose from, and what’s important is the release time. If you’re able to complete the job in a day or two, you can pick a three-day release tape. But for bigger jobs, such as faux finishing or more detail work, choose a 14- to 60-day-release tape. You might like to run a line of white caulk between the wall and the baseboard to get a clean line.

Make sure to tape down the drop cloth or the brown paper you are using to cover the floors to avoid leaks from between the wall and the floor. Never use plastic to cover the floor. It won’t absorb paint and if you step in a drop of paint, you’ll spread it everywhere.

When you’re ready to remove the tape, run a utility knife between the wall and the tape to make sure you have broken the seal. You’ll avoid ripping some of the paint off the wall.

Burk’s Custom Painting is fully licensed, insured and bonded.  If you need help with your painting project, call us at 714-402-3132 or fill out the form below.