Repainting your home’s exterior after four to six years is necessary if you want to keep that excellent curb appeal. In fact, you need not wait for four years for a new home exterior paint job. Once the flaking becomes noticeable, you need to start addressing the problem ASAP or it’s going to make your house look old and dingy.
So, if your home’s exterior requires a new paint job, then start scheduling it because spring is just around the corner. In case you didn’t know, spring is the ideal time to do exterior house painting. This season provides the right temperature level for paint to dry properly. Furthermore, as compared to summer, temperatures during spring are mild, so working outdoors is not that difficult.
How Do You Prepare for Exterior House Painting?
First, decide on whether you are doing this task on your own or you are enlisting the services of a company offering home exterior painting services. If you are going the DIY route, be prepared for the demands of the job. This is not an easy task. Aside from working under the sun for hours, you also need to have a flexible schedule since weather conditions can change anytime. Also, be ready to redo your work if unexpected showers happen in the middle of the task.
Unless you can keep up with the demands of this task, it is best to hire a trusted house painting company. Professional painters have the skills and the equipment to finish exterior painting projects on schedule and produce an aesthetically-appealing paint job. Just make sure you get in touch with a reputable painting company early because spring is a peak season for them.
Once you’ve decided on who’s going to do the job, the next step is to decide on the colour scheme. You need three hues for the three major house parts to be painted, namely the siding, the trims and the accents. Your siding and trims should have contrasting colours, while your accents and trims should have complementing hues.
How do you decide on your home’s exterior paint colours? Get some ideas from your neighbours. Generally, the recommendation is to pick a colour that’s going to blend well with the houses next door. You can also draw inspiration from the landscapes surrounding your property. If you have hardscapes like stonework, grey, slate blue and white are good colours to work with. Meanwhile, if your house is nestled in a verdant area with trees and shrubs, consider earthy colours for your siding.
When choosing paint colours, do not just rely on how the paint chip looked in the store. Take it outside and check how it appears at different times of the day and under different weather conditions. Alternatively, you can paint a test patch for a more accurate assessment. Remember, paint colours look lighter and brighter outdoors which is why it’s always good to go one shade darker than what you prefer.
Before the work begins, make sure that you inform your neighbours about the painting project, especially if your houses are close to each other. This is a good way of setting their expectations about possible noises coming from your property. It also enables them to make the necessary adjustments or precautions so that valuable belongings outdoors are safe from paint drips or splatters.
If you decide to go the DIY route, make sure you have all the necessary tools and right type of paint before you start painting. It is also essential that you do prep work before you apply the paint. Power wash the walls, repair damages like holes or cracks and scrape off loose paint. Keep in mind, doing good prep work is integral in achieving high quality paint job.
Need help with exterior house painting this spring? Call us at 086 608 1817 / 085 139 0233 and talk to our professional residential painters today!
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Image Attribution: Photograph © Ron Cogswell [CC-BY 2.0] , via Flickr
Image Resource: https://www.flickr.com/photos/22711505@N05/
