Essence of Home Improvement

Posts Tagged ‘exterior painting’

Many people like painting their own houses without hiring a painter from outside. This is an interesting move but if you are inexperienced in painting, it can ruin the aesthetic appeal of you interiors. But that doesn’t mean you should not try painting your home. You can do it well just like a professional painter, if you try and learn the basics of painting. Lot of information is available on painting in the internet. All you need to do is invest some time in reading.

Mostly you will find generalized articles on painting, but if you search for the right keywords, you will find technical ones too. Do not search for help in a painting company’s website or portals, they won’t be offering you any detailed information. Your best bet is getting hold of experts in painting. You can post your queries in forums dealing with interior designing and house remodeling. There you will get some real professional advice. The best part is you can learn some interesting ideas tried and tested by people like you. The tips you get from such social groups and forums can be really valuable. This can help you in making interesting changes in your painting plans, adopt newer tactics and styles.

The exterior painting for residential homes is more than just painting the home itself. It is about painting all the little details like the shutters, house numbers, outdoor furniture, mailboxes, planters, light fixtures and the porches. The most important part of painting these items is proper preparation before painting.

The same kind of preparations you use for painting the exterior of your home should be used when you paint the other parts of your exterior decor. Drop cloths should be use in the areas where you are painting to protect things that you do not want painted or damaged. Any surface that you plan to paint should be free of cracks, holes, nail heads that may be exposed and the surface should be smooth and free of dirt. Any nails that protrude can be countersunk and the hole filled with wood putty. If there are places where there is old caulk this needs to be removed and new applied. Any really shiny or glossy places can be sanded lightly with fine sandpaper so the paint will adhere easier. New siding will have some mill glaze that needs to be sanded away so the paint will adhere properly.