Exterior House Painting: Everything You Need to Know

House painting is a huge part of moving to a new home or sprucing up your house. A fresh coat of paint can easily improve the ambiance of your home… as much as it can downgrade it.

So you should make a careful call on whether you’re doing it yourself or purchasing professional painting services in Northwest Florida. Take into consideration your budget, the scale of the project, and your time frame.

Your Options: DIY vs. Hiring a Professional

The choice comes down to how extensive the work is. It’s one thing to paint one wall by yourself. But you should consider hiring professionals if you’re giving your home a full makeover.

For instance, it would take so long to prep your house if it has rough surfaces. Trust us, sanding and scraping for hours is not a fun DIY moment.

Aside from assessing the current state of your house paint, you should also consider factors like hard-to-reach areas and unfavorable weather conditions. It’s best to hire professionals under those circumstances, especially if you’re on a tight schedule.

In the next sections, we’ll discuss the processes for exterior house painting. It will give you a better view of what really goes on in home painting projects.

Exterior House Painting

Here’s the basic step-by-step process of painting your home’s exterior. Make sure to take note of our tips to achieve the best results for your painting project if you’re planning on doing it yourself.

1. Pick the right time

Professional painting contractors in Northwest Florida strongly advise that you wait for warm weather. Late June through early September will yield great results.

If you’re using oil-based paint, it’s best applied when the temperature is between 40°- 90° F. For latex, it should be 50°-85° F. For the best drying results, relative humidity should be between 40% and 70%

2. Remove old paint

Peeling loose or old paint requires a quick power wash. Once that’s done, that’s when you use the paint scraper, putty knife, or wire brush to smoothen the surface.

3. Cover areas not meant to be painted

You don’t want to accidentally put paint where it shouldn’t go—light fixtures, appliances, windows, doors, etc. So tape those surfaces off and cover them securely.

4. Prime the surface

After the scraping and the sanding, you need to prime the surface. It improves adhesion and paint durability, and adds protection to the surface. Most surfaces are treated with acrylic primer while cedar or redwood use oil-based primers.

5. Caulk

Caulk stops air and moisture from getting into the walls of your home. You either scrape an old broken caulk on your trim then add more or use a paintable exterior one to fill any gap or crack.

6. Paint

Paint from the top down. Then do it out of the sun’s glare. If the paint dries too fast, it will create bumps. Brush from one wet surface to another to avoid marks

7. Apply a second coat

House painting professionals agree that a second coat of paint ensures that it holds up long and that its true color comes out. If you’re considering hiring a professional painter, ask if two coats of paint are included in the pricing estimate.

8. Clean up

Don’t leave any paint residue or tapes on any surface of your home. Those would only ruin your exterior makeover.

Professional House Painting Services in Northwest Florida

CertaPro Painters of Northwest Florida offers a range of custom exterior painting services. We take care of all the steps mentioned above and ensure that you achieve your exterior paint goals. Get a free estimate here.