Preparing For An Exterior Home Painting Project
Are you planning to have the exterior of your home painted this year? If so, you're probably looking for ways to cut the costs of the project and tips for reaching the best possible outcome. Here, you'll learn a few things that you can do to prepare for the project and ensure that everything goes perfectly.
Pre-Painting Prep Work
Doing some of the prep work yourself will help to reduce the overall cost of the project. Before the house can be painted, things must be prepped. If you do it on your own, you can reduce the number of hours that the painting crew spends at your house – this means a lower labor cost for the project.
Scrape Away Loose/Peeling Paint – Get a putty knife and begin scraping away any loose or peeling paint. Finish with some sandpaper to create a smooth finish.
Find Rotted Wood – Inspect the exterior of the home as you're scraping away the loose paint. Look for wood that is dark or soft. Push a nail into the wood – if the nail goes into the wood, it needs to be repaired – dig out the soft wood and repair it with high-quality wood-filler. If the wood is gray, sand it so that the paint will adhere to it.
Clean the Surface – During the days leading up to the date of the paint-work to be completed, work to get the surface of the home cleaned. This can be done with a pressure washer. Just don't pressure wash the house too far in advance or dirt will resettle on it. If you wait too long, the cracks and crevices could still be wet when the paint is applied. The surface must be clean and dry for the fresh paint to adhere and dry with a smooth finish.
Protect Plant Life
The day before the painting crew is set to arrive, it's time to get busy protecting the plant life around the home. It can be difficult for even the most skilled crews to keep track of where their feet are being placed as they work to paint the house.
Cover small plants with buckets, bins, or boxes – anything that will protect them from accidentally being trampled on or having paint coat the leaves.
Large bushes or trees can be wrapped with cheap tarps picked up from your local hardware store. Just wrap the tree or bush entirely and strap the tarp in place. This will make the painting process easier for the workers and prevent the limbs from brushing up against the fresh paint.
You can learn more about exterior painting at a website like http://stetsonpainting.com. Talk with your local painting crew to learn more about what you can do to prepare your home for an exterior paint job.
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