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.

Once you start learning more about exterior and interior painting through online sources, you will come across different trends prevalent in different corners of the world. There are certain hidden facts about colors that can truly grab your interest. It is believed by several societies that colors used for painting interiors can affect the mood and temperament of the people living in there. It is said that different colors have different vibrations that can intermingle with our mind and senses.

The more you share with real people the more you can learn about house interiors and different makeover techniques that can enhance the beauty and safety of your house and property. The best part is you will get an unbiased opinion about products and tools used for painting and other forms of interior makeover. You don’t have to base your buying decisions on what they show in TV commercials. You don’t have to blindly follow the suggestions of an interior designer or a painter appointed by your painting company. By sharing the experiences of real customers, you can learn about various brands and their distinguished advantages as well as disadvantages.

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.

Salt residue may have gathered under the eaves and this will need to be removed before painting. Also any places where there is mildew this will also need to be removed. After all the preparations are completed, the surfaces need to be cleaned with a soft brush of clean cloth with water so that all the dirt and dust has been removed. Then it is time to do priming. Any areas you are painting that have peeled, worn thin or blistered will need to have a coat of primer. Be sure to let this dry thoroughly before continuing.

Some items that you will be painting, like previously painted downspouts and gutters, will need to have peeling paint and rust that needs to be removed by using a wire brush or scraper. This will leave edges where the old paint was removed so the edges will need to be sanded to make the surface smooth. The garden hose with a strong stream can be used to clean under eaves. After all surfaces are clean and very dry, a primer for metal and wood should be applied. Sometimes galvanized downspouts and gutters were coated with fabricating oil when they were new so this will need to be removed before they can be painted. This will require using a grease and oil emulsifier to remove the oil and then a latex primer has to be applied.

If you have a masonry or brick surface that needs to be painted any efflorescence that has accumulated can be removed with your scraper or wire brush before painting. If the surface has been streaked, there is a problem causing this that needs to be corrected or the problem will return after the new paint is applied. If you are planning to paint stucco or block that is newly constructed you will need to wait a month or two before priming and applying your paint.

Painting your porch floor is an opportunity in incorporate a decorative touch to the look of your exterior by painting the floor in a checkerboard type design. This has been a technique used for years and the look carries timeless appeal. The paint that you apply to porches, steps and patios can be made safer by creating a surface that prevents slipping by adding a small amount of fine and clean granular sand into the each gallon of paint that you apply.