7 Tips for Painting a Home’s Exterior

Seven years ago we purchased a 45 year old home. When we moved into the home it had it’s original white siding which had aged terribly over the years. It had faded, turned gray in areas and even worse…we found areas that had green mold! It was terrible and totally out-dated the look of our home.

We decided to repaint the exterior of our home and had actually considered hiring a professional to do it. Instead, we read up on the subject online and decided to do it ourselves. While it did take us quite some time to complete, we saved ourselves over $700.00 in labor costs.

Now that it has been completed, I wanted to share some things with all of you that we learned along the way. Before you get started, you want to make sure that the paint you’re using is specifically made for the exterior of the home.

7 Tips for Painting a Home’s Exterior

1. Clean the exterior of your home really well before updating it with a new coat of paint. In our case, we had 30 year old siding and used primarily a pressure washer to clean off all of the dirt, debris and mold. For areas that needed a little bit more of a cleaning, we used a product called Krud Kutter. Clean around your windows and window shutters too. Let it completely dry for at least 24 hours.

2. When it comes to painting…you’ll only want to do this on nice weather days. Check out your forecast and make sure it will be warm weather with no rain in the forecast for at least 48 hours. You’ll want to avoid days that are breezy or windy, you don’t want particles & debris blowing onto the wet paint. We also recommend picking days when the humidity isn’t sky-high.

3. Samples! Paint looks a lot differently in the store and on those free paint chip swatches. We used the swatches to narrow down our colors and then went and picked up small sample cans of the paint colors that interested us. We found a small area on the back of our house and tested out all of the paint colors on there, until we found the shade that we wanted. When testing them, it’s best to look at them in the shade and in bright sunlight, because sunlight can change the appearance of the color.

4. You’ll need a lot of painting supplies and it’s important to buy them before starting your project. You’ll need to pick up: paint brushes in a variety of sizes, rollers, trays, drop cloths, a ladder, painter’s tape, brush cleaner, etc. You’ll need multiple brushes and roller heads, so make sure you pick up a few! You should also wear old clothing  and shoes when working on this project.

5. When painting, you’ll want to start at the top (near the roof) and work your way down. By starting at the top, you are able to smooth out any drips/runs of paint that you’ll find as you work your way down. No matter how careful you are…you will get drips from time to time. When you find them, buff them out until smooth and then keep moving on.

6. If you need to do several coats of paint, you’ll want to wait at least 24 hours between each coat (according to professionals), but we found it best to wait 48 hours. By allowing the extra time, we were ensuring that the previous coat was completely dry.

7. After each painting session, you’ll want to thoroughly clean out your brushes and rollers. You’ll want to clean them outside and by using your garden hose. (If you don’t have access to a garden hose, clean them inside, but make sure you clean out your sink once finished). Once clean, stand the brushes upright in a glass jar to let them air dry. Never store brushes with the bristles facing down!

Repainting the exterior of your home is a lot easier than you think. While hiring a professional to do the job will save you time…it won’t save you money! By following these 7 Tips for Painting a Home’s Exterior, you can get the job done yourself.