Making The Choice To Paint My Home

Posted on: 6 February 2018

Exterior paint can help revive the look of your home. It can make it look brighter, cleaner, and more inviting and increase curb appeal. If you are looking to save some money, you may be considering painting the exterior of your home yourself. Those who paint their home's exterior themselves often make mistakes which can affect the lifespan of the paint and how the finished product looks. Here are three common mistakes that are made when painting the exterior of a home and how you can avoid them. 

Skipping Primer

One of the mistakes that many homeowners make when painting the exterior of their home themselves is skipping primer. Before you can paint your home, you have to remove paint that is bubbling, peeling or chipping. After doing that, those areas need to be primed again. If you fail to do that and try to paint over the bare wood, the paint color and application may be uneven, as the wood soaks in the paint. Taking the time to prime these areas creates a solid foundation upon which new paint can be applied. 

Using Cheap Paint

Another mistake that homeowners make when painting the exterior of their home is using cheap paint. If you are trying to paint the exterior of your home on a budget, you may pick up cheap paint. However, this can be a huge mistake. Cheaper paint tends to fade over time and may require more coats of paint to be applied. As such, it is always important to select a quality paint, rather than a cheap paint, when picking out exterior paint for your home. 

Painting Damaged Wood

The last common mistake that homeowners make when painting the exterior of their home themselves is ignoring damaged wood and painting right over it. Wood can be damaged in a number of different ways. It can split, crack, warp, rot, or be damaged by pests. Painting over the damaged wood does not fix the wood, and in most cases, it won't even conceal the issue. The issue will still be noticeable, even with a coat of paint covering it. To protect the structure of your house and to help ensure the paint properly adheres to the wood and looks great, replace any damaged pieces of wood before you begin your painting project.

Using primer, using quality paint and replacing any split, cracked, rotted, or damaged wood before you paint the exterior of your home can help improve the look of the home when you are done painting. In addition to this, hiring an exterior painting company can help to ensure that your home is properly painted and that it looks as good as possible. Check out websites like http://stetsonpainting.com for more information.