Looking to sell your home? Hiring an expert in home styling might be the best way of making sure that your interior looks its most appealing, but don’t forget the importance of a beautiful exterior too!
One of the easiest ways to instantly spruce up the exterior of your home is with a fresh coat of paint. If you’re a DIY sort of person and wanting to carry out the job yourself, follow these top tips below for a job that will be done properly, look good and last longer than an otherwise less than professional approach.
Start with the preparation
This is key to a good paint job and it is a step that you cannot miss out, so do factor in time to prep the exterior of your home. This means cleaning down all the dirt, mildew, cobwebs and stains that will ruin the overall look of the paint work. Use a stiff bristled brush or do a power wash (make sure the exterior is dry before you start on the painting) to clean the walls, windowsills and other trimmings that you are aiming to paint.
If your house is clad with boarding, ensure that all nail heads don’t protrude above the boards, hammering down those that are, fill the holes with exterior putty and, when dry, sand them back to a smooth finish.
For masonry and other materials, ensure all cracks and holes are filled and sanded back, and also rub down and sand off any cracked, flaking paint, so you offer up a solid surface for the paint to adhere to during the drying process. If you have any new, bare wood to paint, then you will have to use a primer first on this surface before putting on a topcoat.
Use the correct paint
This might be stating the obvious, but do read the labels on the tins and make sure that you are using the correct external paint for masonry or wood or whatever material with which your external walls are constructed.
There are two types of external paint: oil based alkyd and water based latex. Alkyd paint is stain resistant and durable, and flows very smoothly when you use it, while latex is equally good, drying quickly with low odour and with a slight flexibility for longer, meaning it is less likely to crack.
Begin from the top down on the shaded side
Always start painting from the top of the house and work downwards, beginning with the walls that are in the shade. This is because painting in full sun causes the paint to dry very quickly, which does mean the possibility of premature cracking and blistering.
Allowing the paint to dry at its natural pace means its adhesion to the surface of the wall will be of top quality, so try to paint in shade or on an overcast day. If the wall is damp, then wipe off excess moisture and ensure it is dry before beginning to paint.
Use both brushes and rollers
For a neat, streamlined finish to trims such as doorways and windowsills, brush the paint onto these narrow surfaces, and save the roller for large surfaces. To minimise overlap marks between brush strokes, always brush from a wet paint surface towards a dry one.
Finally but most important, do remember your ladder safety if you are painting from heights, so don’t reach over to paint walls but always keep your body aligned with the width of the ladder.
Once everything is completed, stand back and congratulate yourself on a job well done, because a properly executed exterior paint job is one that will stand the test of time, and hopefully, help to maximise the sale price of your home too!