Preparing for Exterior House Painting

by Jon Ferris Citywide decorators and Painters

Painting an entire house is not merely about having a paintbrush and getting started, but requires thorough planning. You need to get all your tools and paint-scraping kit ready and more importantly, prepare the to-be-painted surface beforehand. All this preparation work plays an important, decisive role in making your painting project successful.

If you are not sure you can properly prepare a surface, consider asking help from a professional painter in Auckland.

And if you look to do it all by yourself and need some help, here are some handy tips.

Tools and Material You’ll Need

§ A power washer

§ A heat-gun paint remover

§ A paint scraper

§ A sanding block or sandpaper

§ A putty knife

§ A stiff paint brush

Preparations around the House

It is important to prepare around your house before you start working on your house. First of all, you need to make sure nothing gets spoiled due to paint everywhere. You’ll also have to protect appliances and all delicate things from getting damaged in the hurry.

1. Preventing Damage

Since you’ll be busy packing and adjusting things hastily, they may get damaged. Protect cover your air conditioning system, landscape paintings, BBQ grills and other delicate things and solid equipment so that they don’t get spoiled because of paint splatters and cleaning agents.

2. Covering Exterior Appliances

You can use canvas clothes to cover all your exterior appliances including foundation plantings that are highly prone to damage. Avoid using plastic tarps for they don’t allow the plantings to breathe, and this might cause them to swelter.

Also:

§ If there are bushes around the house, push them away from the walls using a cord

§ Remove all the light fixtures and other decorative units

§ Ensure turning off the power to the AC unit and don’t forget to cut gas supply to appliances including BBQ grill

Preparing the Paint Surface

Power Wash

You’ll have to start with removing all the loose paint and the best option is power washing. Take time learning to handle it properly and once you’re done, it will help you remove the paint quite quickly.

Power washing takes most of the loose paint off the walls, but you’ll have to scrape the surface to make it clean. When scraping:

§ Make sure the paint is dry

§ Use a sandpaper or putty knife as your paint removing tool

§ Since it is important to remove maximum loose paint, you can slightly chip and dig it

Smoothening the Surface

Try to minimize all hard edges left on the surface after the powerwash and scraping. Fill in all gouges and holes with epoxy filler and let it dry. You can begin to sand the surface once the cracks are filled and loose paint is scraped. Take a sanding block of 80 grit and feather the surface to reduce hard edges.

You can wash the entire exterior of the house after the surface is ready and the surroundings are covered. This will help the primer and the paint to stick to the surface for a longer period of time.

Author Bio

The Author, Jon Ferris runs his own Painting and Cleaning Services in Auckland. He likes to share his experiences and expert views on roof cleaning and painting through blog writing.