Five Steps to Perfect House Painting

by Wet & Forget

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A fresh coat of paint can make all the difference in the look of your home. A new paint job not only adds curb appeal to your house. Tackling the job yourself can save you a lot of cash. Home improvement guru Danny Lipford from Today's Homeowner has 5 tips you won't want to miss! Read on to get the 5 steps to perfect house painting.

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Safety First:If your house was built before 1979 and painting will require scraping or sanding, test the paint first for lead. Test kits are available at home centers, or you can send a sample to a lab for testing. If the old paint contains lead, consider having the job done by an EPA lead-safe certified contractor.

Step Cleaning

The first and most important step in painting your house is cleaning and preparing the surface so the paint job will last. A pressure washer works great for this, but be careful not to overdo it and cause damage. After scrubbing, rinse the cleaner off, and allow the siding to dry thoroughly.

Step Painting Prep

Use a paint scraper and wire brush to remove any peeling paint or loose caulking, and feather out sharp edges around bare spots with 80-grit sandpaper to keep the paint job from having a patched look.Use a paintable, exterior latex caulk to fill any cracks and nail holes.

Step Priming

Start by priming bare spots with a quality exterior primer. It doesn't hurt to prime the entire house, but it's usually not necessary except when painting over oil-based paint with latex.

Step Painting

While a sprayer can be used for painting the outside of a house, most painting is done with a synthetic bristle paintbrush.Start painting at the top of the house with the gutters and eaves, then work your way down the wall. Paint in four- to six-board-wide sections of siding all the way across to prevent lap marks. Paint the trim last if it's a different color from the siding.

Step Clean-Up

Clean paintbrushes used for latex paint in warm water with a bit of dishwashing soap, then rinse the brushes thoroughly under a garden hose. Run a wire brush through the bristles to remove as much of the dried paint as possible.

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