It has come time for me to paint my house, but unfortunately I have no experience doing this and I need help!
Anyone have any recommendations on where to go for information on how to do this? I’m really clueless and the last thing I want is to mess up my house. I don’t mind asking stupid questions, but I’d feel bad taking an hour of someone’s time at a paint or hardware store.
This is what I’ve concluded so far:
The first thing I’ll do is power wash it.
I’ll need to scrape any peeling or bubbled paint, although I don’t see much (if any) of that. When do I need to apply primer?
My plan is to rent a power sprayer instead of trying to use a roller or brush, but I don’t really know if that is a good idea or not.
My house is relatively small, at around 1300 sq feet and is a very basic design. How long should I estimate this to take from start to finish? My guess would be about 3 weekends (50 hours) worth, but that is just a guess.
What is your house made of? I mean, are the walls stucco, wood siding, hardboard siding, clapboards, or…? What about soffit and facia?
If you have shrubbery or trees next to or touching the walls you should trim or tie back and cover them before you start. Do not leave clear plastic over plants for long if the sun is out; you can damage or kill them. If possible, dig or pull sand or sod away from the walls so you can paint a couple inches below ground level.
Pressure washing is a good start. Be careful around windows and screens as the high-pressure spray can cause damage. It can also damage wood if held too close. If your paint is in bad shape the chips will fly everywhere.
After a day of drying, check the walls. There’s probably still going to be flaking paint which will have to be sanded off. If you have smooth walls and lots of layers of paint you may have to feather edge the paint edges to get a smooth look. Then prime any bare wood and caulk cracks. Fill any nail holes with exterior spackle. If you have rough stucco the pressure wash should be enough.
You can spray the walls with an airless sprayer but if the walls are very rough stucco you should back-roll after spraying to make sure you get all the nooks and crannies covered. If you don’t want to roll then at least spray the wall vertically then go back and spray horizontally. Whether you spray or roll, you should roll a strip around windows, doors, screens so you don’t get tons of overspray on them; the diff. between rolling and spraying might show up after things dry, though. If you spray you will get overspray on things so be careful. If it’s windy you might also spray your car, your neighbor’s house and car downwind.
You will probably have to cut in the top and bottom of each wall with a brush. Also any window and door trim. Be careful if you use a ladder and watch out for your electrical service it it’s on a gable-end wall.
Use a brush for doors. Use latex paint for walls and doors. It dries much quicker. If you prime bare wood use an alkyd primer. Follow directions of the products you use.
I’m sure there’s lots I’ve forgotten. It’s been a few years since I painted houses.
After following all of the above instructions, now it’s time to paint. Get a helper. Rent a masking machine. It’s a set of rollers which applies the tape to the paper as you pull the paper off. It has a cutter similar to a wax paper roll which cuts off the paper with the tape attached. Mask the windows and doors. If the siding is lap type, start from the top and work down, spraying upwards toward the joint under each lap, holding the nozzle about a foot or so from the surface. Always point the nozzle toward the surface at 90 degrees horizontally, but slightly upwards. (don’t stand in one spot and reach, thereby pointing the paint at an angle to the surface.) Don’t apply so heavy as to allow the paint to run. When you get near the bottom, have your helper insert a piece of thin plywood or some other material under the bottom row so not to get any paint on the foundation.
If the siding is t-111, aim the nozzle at the groove at an angle and move vertically. Concentrate the spray at the groove. Then go for the groove from the opposite side. The overspray will take care of the flat surface between the grooves. Practice as you go. Remember, whatever type of siding, aim for the groove and let the rest take care of itself.
Remove the masking as soon as possible or the sun will bake it onto the window frame in a very short time.
Including the pressure washing, the whole job should be done in a weekend except the trim and touch-up on a 1300 sqft house.
If you’ve never used an airless paint sprayer before, I would recommend brush and roll.
Two reasons:
1: you won’t get paint on your shingles using brush and roller
2: You’ll cover it better using brush and roller.
There is a technique to spraying that one learns from experience.
Besides, when you factor in all the masking time and areas you would have to double coat to avoid runs, you can brush and roll a house in about the same amount of time as spraying.
ftr, my comments about using airless sprayers applies to the inexperienced DIYers, not to professional painters.
But, if you really think you want to spray it…
practice technique somewhere
just because you’re spraying doesn’t mean you can do it from a distance. you still need to be right on top of what you’re painting. because you need to stay the same distance from the surface you’re painting all the way through the stroke. (The tip, pressure, and material determine the distance the gun should be from the surface.)
This is something that I’ve noticed about many DIYers, thinking spraying is somehow easier. It isn’t. And you can get into a real mess if you’re not careful.
I would scrape the power wash to get all the dust off
If you have spots where paint has been removed down to bare wood then prime those places
ditch the idea of spray painting, you won’t get even coverage and in a couple years it will be obvious where. Also it will probably take about as long spraying as it does to use a good brush.
Both
Get a long nap roller cover (1 1/4" should do) That’ll get you into most siding crevasses. Be sure you load up the roller with paint often Dry rolling doesn’t do a thing for you. get a poll, too. And a roller screen with a 5 gallon bucket, instead of a tray or pan. (Ask the paint store guys)
Brush for where the roller can’t get. Like cutting in edges, around the roofline, in the cracks and dips and seams that the roller didn’t get.
A 2 1/2" sash brush is pretty easy to handle.
The latex exterior primers are fairly good. Oil primers sometimes flash. (Even thogh I prefer oil for interior, the latex exterior primers work well.)
Make sure you get EXTERIOR paint. A low sheen (or even flat) would probably work well. Too high of a sheen and it’ll look funny after it weathers differently on different parts of the house.
Personally, though, I like a fairly high sheen on front doors.
Pads do work well on smooth surfaces. And they don’t leave roller or brush marks. Good call, Handy
Whatever you use, remember: Don’t dry brush/roll/pad. Get some paint on it and do a small area, then get some paint on it again. Can’t emphasize that enough.