What You Need To Know Before You Paint Your Home's Exterior
Painting the exterior of a home can be a big job to tackle. It's something that takes a lot of work and effort, and several steps need to be taken before you can actually get to painting your home. Before you attempt to tackle this project, there are some things you should know. Read on for some of the steps that need to be taken before you paint your exterior.
Watch The Weather
First and foremost, you need to pay close attention to the weather that you are going to be dealing with. This is a major job to take on, and the last thing you want is a random rainstorm to come through and hamper all of your efforts. Rain, wind, and even heat can all be detrimental to your paint job, so be sure to keep a close eye on the weather and pay attention to the forecast. You need to allow enough time for your paint to dry before you end up with rain, as it could wash away some of the paint, or it could damage the paint job if it wasn't dry. Heat can be difficult as well, as it can cause your paint to gum up, or the heat itself can be detrimental to your health.
Clean Your Siding
Do not even attempt to paint your siding if you haven't cleaned it. If your siding is filthy and you are painting over the dirt and debris, you aren't going to be left with a nice paint job, you will still have dirty siding, but now with new paint. Clean your siding and remove stains from the siding as well. Stains may show through the new paint, so you need to be sure you attempt to get rid of the stains. Any stains you are not able to paint over should be covered with a primer to help prevent them from showing through.
Make Necessary Repairs
Don't paint over cracked siding or siding that is damaged in some way. The paint will only enhance the damage, rather than cover it. You need to make repairs to the siding before you paint over it. Whether this is with a new piece of siding in its place that you then paint over or fill in the holes/cracks with a paintable caulk or wood fill.
If your home's exterior is attracting the wrong type of attention, it may be time to paint it. You can do the work yourself, or you can hire an exterior painter to do the prep work and the painting for you.
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