Planning To Paint Your Home's Exterior Yourself? Maybe You Shouldn't

Painting the exterior of your home can seem like child's play compared to other renovation projects. However, it is not as simple as it looks. There are a lot of factors that could influence just how great your paint job turns out. Here are some of the mistakes other homeowners have made with their exterior painting jobs and how you can avoid those.  

Skipping the Prep 

One of the biggest misconceptions about painting the exterior of a home is that there is no prep work involved. For some homeowners, prep is limited to rinsing the home with a garden hose. Unfortunately, failing to properly prep your home's exterior could have disastrous results.  

The exterior of your home has been through it all. It has been exposed to everything from the sun to animals. Environmental elements can sometimes leave the surface with bruising that will be very noticeable once you apply a fresh coat of paint.  

Take the time to walk your home's perimeter and look for surface problems. Those problems need to be fixed before you can start to paint. For instance, rotted wood will need to be removed and replaced with fresh wood. You also need to scrape away the old paint and sand to get a smoother paint job.  

Failing to Sample the Colors 

When you choose the wrong colors for a room in your home, you can likely live with it. Only visitors who have access to that room will see it. However, the wrong color on the exterior of your home will be noticeable. If you do not take the time to properly sample your paint choices before you start, you could reach the end of your project and discover your home's beauty has been ruined by a bad choice.  

It can be difficult to ascertain how a paint color will look on your home's surface with just a swatch. You need to actually paint the color onto the home. Choose an inconspicuous area of the home for the sample.  

Allow it to dry for a day before assessing it. You should also look at it at various times of day to see how well it looks with different lighting.  

To avoid any of the many other mistakes that could result from painting the exterior of your home yourself, consider hiring a professional. He or she can help with everything from choosing the right paint to applying it.