Painting Your Exterior: the Steps

When a homeowner hires painting experts to paint their home exterior, there are a series of steps which ensure the paint job will be professional and last as long as possible. Today, we’re going to talk about some of those steps, to give the reader some idea of what they can expect during the painting process.

Paint colors

Before the nuts-and-bolts painting action takes place, the homeowner needs to sit down and decide on color options for the various aspects of the job. Interior and exterior paints are different. Interior paints are made for hands-on situations, such as sticky fingerprints and removing them! Exterior paints are formulated for weather and UV resistance. Also, knowing what the HOA demands before choosing is always helpful.

Inspection

Prior to painting, the painter will walk around and inspect the exterior. He is looking for damage, such as damaged wood, chipping paint, mold, termite and rodent damage, soffit or fascia damage, and anything which is splintered, warped, or otherwise compromised. Those items which need to be cleaned or repaired have to be completed prior to applying the coats. Some plants or trees may need to be trimmed away from the house, as well.

Clean and protect

The next couple of steps are somewhat flexible in their order depending on the outcome of the inspection, but if there is cleaning such as power washing, scraping, etc., the plant material, pool, and walkways or patios beneath the house need to be protected with drop cloths or plastic. Anything which isn’t going to be painted will have to be taped off

Repairs

At the same time, any portion of the structure which are deemed unfit for painting need to be repaired. An example of this would be a warped patio door. Rodent damage and heavily weathered fascia, are other examples of damage which needs to be repaired prior to painting.

Caulking

We will check the windows or doors and exterior siding to see what needs to be caulked. While caulking is form of weatherproofing, the outcome of a professional painting project depends heavily on quality caulking.

Primer

In some cases, a primer is necessary to get the best possible cohesion of paint. This is particularly true in the case of newly repaired sections where the wood has never been painted, in areas which had to be heavily scraped, and in a few other applications. In most circumstances if repairs or heavy scraping wasn’t necessary a primer won’t be needed.

Painting

After everything is inspected, cleaned,  repaired, caulked, and primed, the home can be painted.  As you can see, painting truly is a myriad of details and extras which make the final steps stand out. Each section is painted its assigned color. In some of the newer developments, there can be several shades of a color assigned to various areas of the exterior. For example, the trim and doors might be a different color than the main part of the house.

In order to have the best possible painting outcome, none of the steps should be minimalized, skipped, or poorly executed. In the long run, quality preparation is a key element of a quality paint job.

Patterson Construction Company installs and repairs residential roofs of all kinds, skylights, roof ventilation, fascia and underlayment on Phoenix-area homes. Call 602-825-3638 for a free quote today!