How To Prep Your House Interior And Exterior For Painting

Find Out How To Get The Best House Painting Experience For Your Ann Arbor Home

Whether you’re DIYing it or hiring professional house painters, learning how to prep your house for painting can make a huge difference in how it turns out.

Find the steps and their importance below-

How To Prep For House Painting

Are you thinking about painting your house? Are you wondering what steps you should take before starting the painting process? Painting a home can be an overwhelming task for anyone, so it’s important to take the proper steps to make sure all of your hard work pays off.

Here are some simple and effective tips on how to prepare for house painting in order to help ensure a beautiful end result. Read on to learn more about what you need to do before starting this major project!

How To Prepare For Exterior House Painting

Painting the exterior of your home can be an intimidating task, but with careful preparation, it doesn’t have to be. Whether you’re having a painting professional come in and paint one of the popular exterior colors for homes in Ann Arbor, or tackling it yourself as a DIY project, there are several steps you need to take to prepare for a home painting.

Keep reading below for our top tips on preparing your space for outdoor house painters.

How To Prepare Your House Exterior For Residential Painting

• Wash the house: Make sure that you wash the entire exterior of your house–this eliminates dirt, dust, and residue so your paint will adhere properly.

• Scrape off any loose paint: Once the surface is dry, inspect it for any loose or flaking paint and if you find any, scrape it away with a paint scraper or putty knife.

• Make any repairs: After the loose paint removal is done, look for areas on which repairs may be needed, such as patches in wood or holes in stucco/masonry surfaces; then take the necessary steps to fix them.

• Sand: Sanding off old paint gives the surface an even finish.

• Re-caulk if needed: To ensure a tight seal, fill any gaps or cracks between the house and trim around doors and windows with exterior caulk. If there are contrasting surfaces such as siding on one side and brick on the other, make sure to add caulk along their juncture for added protection against external elements.

• Apply painter’s tape to doors and windows: After everything dries up it’s crucial to apply painter’s tape around doors and windows. This prevents any potential messes from getting onto your trim or frames.

• Put down dropcloths: This will help keep any excess paint from finding its way elsewhere–such as on your shrubs or lawn!

• Prime if needed: If you’re using a new color over an old one, bear in mind that priming can increase durability–talk to an expert if unsure how best to proceed!

DIY vs Professional Home Painting

If you are painting your house yourself, you will need to do all of the steps listed above. However, if you are hiring a professional painter to complete the job, they will likely handle all of the prep work. That being said, there are still several things every homeowner should do before the painters show up! Prep tasks include:

• Make sure the exterior water spigot is on: Professional painters may need access to water for rinsing tools and other tasks

• Close all the windows: This will keep paint from entering your home and help keep the smell of the paint from overwhelming people in the house

• Put any outdoor furniture cushions away: You don’t want paint getting on your patio furniture

• Trim back any close trees or bushes: Professional painters will cover your plants with drop cloths. That being said, it will be easier to cover the plants if they are trimmed back. And any plants touching the home’s exterior should definitely be pruned. This will prevent damage to the plants and give the painters clear access to the sides of your house.

If you don’t do the tasks outlined above, most professional painters will do them for you. However, it could raise the cost to paint a house exterior.

Now that you know how to prepare your home’s exterior for painting, let’s go over the steps you should take to prepare your home’s interior. Taking the time to properly prepare your home’s interior before painting is the key to getting a professional, lasting paint job.

How To Prepare Your House Interior For Painting

• Remove smaller objects: To prep the area well, start by removing any smaller items such as furniture and décor that may obstruct the surfaces. The smaller objects also include wall hangings, curtains, and stuff inside the larger objects.

• Move larger objects out or to the room’s center: Larger items like furniture need to be moved away or to the center of the room, so they stay out of harm’s way. Throw a covering over any large objects in the room’s center.

• Unscrew the outlet and light switch covers: Any outlet and light switch covers should be taken off and set aside in a safe place until you are ready to begin painting.

• Put painter’s tape around windows, doors, and baseboards: Painter’s tape, also known as blue tape, is a good tool to guard against paint seepage. It has a low-stick adhesive that adheres firmly but not permanently. It is easy to remove and won’t peel existing paint or primer when it comes off. Even though it may be costly at first glance, its use on borders–such as between walls and ceilings–is a wise investment that will reap dividends in the long run.

• Lay down drop cloths: It’s always wise to lay down drop cloths to protect flooring areas from excess paint drips. Experienced painters will likely have fewer drips than DIYers but any paint drip on your floor, no matter how small, is not something a homeowner wants!
• Don’t remove picture hangers: Leave the nails on the wall if you want to hang art and such in the same place

• Prep the ceiling fan and light fixtures: Don’t forget about your ceiling when prepping a house interior for painting! Ceiling fans and lights need to be taken care of too. Take off the fan blades and cover the fixture with plastic.

• Protect your recessed lighting: For recessed lights, remove the bulb and pull the fixture’s trim down a bit. Release the cover and tape plastic over it.

Pro tip #1: Outlets have small parts. They get lost easily so tape them to the back of the outlets or put them in separate baggies.

Pro tip #2: Are you looking for a secret tool that the pros use? Look no further than masking film! This thin plastic sheet, available in rolls or folded-up squares, is ideal for DIY painters who may not know about it. Due to its thinness, this type of covering sticks easily onto flat surfaces without needing tape. The static electricity present holds the masking film immovably in place–all you need to do is bring it close to the painted edges and let nature take over!

Pro tip #3: Buy some latex or nitrile gloves. Keep your hands pristine while painting with the assistance of latex gloves. While water-based interior latex paint comes off easily, oil and enamel paints can present a hassle when cleaning up. If you’re sensitive to or dislike wearing latex gloves, try nitrile instead–it offers the same protective benefits without compromising comfortability.

If you are going the DIY route, you will definitely want to do all the above tasks yourself. If you are hiring a professional painter, they will handle these tasks for you. However, they may charge a little bit more if you haven’t done any prep work at all (such as moving furniture).

No matter if you are painting the interior or exterior of your house, there are certain preparations that need to be made beforehand. These include things like cleaning the surface, fixing cracks or holes, and removing any loose paint. DIYers can usually handle these steps on their own, but sometimes it is best to leave it to the professionals. That’s where Tribble Painting Company comes in. We have years of experience with both interior and exterior home painting and would be happy to help you prep your home for its new paint job.

Tribble Painting Company Can Handle All Your Home Painting Needs

No matter what kind of painting services you need for your home, the interior or exterior, Tribble Painting Company can help. We’re experts in all things paint and will make sure the job is done right. Call us or fill out our contact form today to get started on transforming your house into the home of your dreams.

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