Did you know that falls are the most common cause of household injuries? Nobody wants to get seriously injured in their own home. And while falling at home and getting injured can happen at any time, you’re more likely to do so when painting the exterior of your home.
Exterior home painting is a serious project. If you’re not comfortable on a ladder, or if you don’t know how to paint well, going the DIY route isn’t recommend.
With that being said, if you think you can handle the job yourself, there are some tips and tricks that you need to know before you go out and buy a ton of paint. In this article, we’ll tell you 6 things that you need to know to paint the exterior of your home the right way.
That way you can do the job safely, and smartly, without having to repeat the process in a few short years.
1. Make Safety Your Top Priority
We get it. You need to have your house painted, and if you do it yourself, you can reduce the cost to paint exterior of home. And while painting home exterior yourself is possible, you need to make sure that, above all else, you make safety your top priority.
Again, falls are the most common cause of household injuries. All falls are bad, but none can be more dangerous than falling off a ladder.
Our advice? Don’t paint your house yourself if you’re not comfortable on a ladder. And if you do go the DIY route, make sure that you have someone with you to help hold the ladder steady so you can be better protected.
2. Clean Your Surface Areas Well Beforehand
Once you’re ready to paint your home, it’s time to start preparing your surface level. The first thing that you need to do is to clean your home’s surface level, usually with a pressure washer, before you can paint it.
This process can be pretty physically demanding and also require the use of a ladder. Again, we recommend that you have some help here if only to make sure that your ladder doesn’t move any while you’re using it.
Depending on your home’s surface type, you may have to primer it before you paint it again. Do some research to determine if this step is necessary or not for your home. If it is, be sure not to skip it, as doing so will lead to you needing to paint your home again in a few years.
3. Pick the Perfect Weather for Painting
When you’re painting the exterior of your home, there are a few variables that you have to consider that are out of your control. None of those variables are bigger, or more important, than the weather outside.
From picking the perfect temperature for painting your home to making sure it’s not too windy, you need to keep a close eye on the weather. Remember, your home needs to dry, too, so picking a day where it’s almost guaranteed not to rain is a good idea.
Depending on where you live, this could be easier said than done. Regardless, your weather app on your phone is going to be your best friend during this entire process.
4. Be Sure to Purchase Exterior Paint
Shopping for paint for your home? Notice that exterior paint is way more expensive than interior paint? That’s for a good reason, as exterior paint is designed to last longer, especially with outdoor elements taking a toll overtime.
If you think you can get by with interior paint, to save some extra cash, think again. Your paint will wash off of your home after your first big rainstorm, which of course isn’t an issue you want to deal with.
Not only is exterior paint a must-have, but some quality exterior paint is recommended, too. Anything that you can do to ensure that you won’t have to paint your home again in 5 years is worth doing, to say the least.
5. Invest in All the Right Materials
Once it’s finally time to start painting your home, make sure that you have all of the materials needed to do so properly. Sure, exterior paint is a given. But there are tons of other supplies that you need to be able to paint your home the right way.
Below we’ve broken down everything you need to paint the exterior of your home. That way you can take this list to your local hardware store with you to ensure you’ve got everything.
- Caulk gun
- Drop cloths
- Epoxy filler
- Exterior caulking
- Exterior paint
- Ladder
- Medium-grit sanding block
- Paint scraper
- Paint sprayer
- Paintbrushes and rollers
- Painter’s tape
- Plastic sheeting
- Pressure washer
- Primer
- Putty knife
6. Don’t Be Afraid to Call a Professional
If you notice that all of this sounds like a project that is just too big for you to handle, it’s not a bad idea to go ahead and call a professional painter. Avoiding injury is more than enough reason to outsource the project completely.
But if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can end up with results that you aren’t happy with, meaning you wasted both your time and your money.
Need More Help With the Exterior Home Painting Process?
As you can see, a lot goes into the exterior home painting process. If you’re handy and have done some painting before, it’s possible to handle the job yourself.
But if you aren’t, outsourcing the job to a professional is very much recommended.
Looking for more tips and tricks on how to turn your dream home into a reality? Check back with our blog often for more useful ideas and information.
