8 Exterior Painting Tips

With warm and often dry weather, summer is the perfect time of year to refresh the exterior of your home with a fresh coat of paint and a new color theme! It’s a project that often takes several days to complete, but following these tips will help you save time, money, and effort!

1. Buy high quality paint. It will go on easier, cover the old paint better, and last longer. Family Handyman recommends choosing exterior paint with a slight sheen– it will resist fading and is easier to clean. If you’re painting bare wood, Andrew D’Amato, owner of Andrews Painting, tells This Old House that coating it with paintable water-repellent preservative makes the paint last longer. 
2. Read the label! Popular Mechanics suggests reading the paint can labels to learn important information about surface prep and what temperatures.  
3. Work with, not against, the weather. You may already know not to paint right after or before a rainstorm. However, painting in direct sunlight or on a windy day cause other problems. The paint can dry too fast, leaving streaks. Too much sunlight can cause blistering and peeling, while wind can blow dirt into your wet paint! Also, be careful not to paint in temperatures under 50 degrees fahrenheit unless your paint is designed for the cold. 
4. Sand and wash. DIY Network recommends creating a flat, even surface by washing the area your about to paint, letting it dry, and then sanding away old chipped and peeling paint. This will create a smooth surface to which the paint can adhere.
5. Skip the rot. Painting over rotten wood and siding won’t stop their deterioration. So be sure to tend to those areas before slapping on new paint.
6. Box the paint. Mix several cans of paint in a large bucket. Doing so makes the color more consistent over the large surface area of your house.
7. Protect the landscape! Just like you would cover furniture and flooring when painting indoors, be sure to cover bushes, statues, and flowers to protect them from drips, spills, and splatters.
8. Work from the top down. This prevents streaks and helps you spot drips before they dry.