Exterior house painting is an important part of properly maintaining your home. Regularly repainting the outside of your house can protect it from weather damage, improve curb appeal, and add value when it comes time to sell. This comprehensive guide covers key considerations when planning an exterior house painting project.
Benefits of Exterior House Painting
There are many advantages to repainting the exterior of your home on a regular basis:
- Protects Against Weather Damage: Fading, cracking, peeling paint allows moisture penetration that can lead to costly repairs of siding, trim, windows, doors, etc. A fresh coat protects your investment.
- Enhances Curb Appeal: With a newly painted exterior, your home looks clean, crisp, and well-cared for. This can increase resale value.
- Boosts Property Value: An accelerated repainting schedule shows buyers that you have invested in top-notch maintenance.
- Expands Color Options: Tired of your existing exterior color scheme? Repainting allows you to redo your home’s look.
- Covers Up Imperfections: A new coat of paint can conceal flaws in wood, stucco, brick, and other materials.
Elements to Consider Painting
As you plan your exterior house painting project, determine which architectural elements you want to paint. This typically includes:
- Siding: The exterior wall material, typically wood, vinyl, stucco etc. that forms the main visual surface area. Properly painting siding protects it from moisture and sun damage.
- Trim: Decorative wood pieces that outline windows, doors, corners, eaves and other exterior structures. Painting trim covers existing flaws and gives a fresh decorative look.
- Shutters: Decorative covers on the sides of windows that can be actual functioning or just visual landscaping. Painting shutters is relatively quick and provides big visual impact.
- Entry doors: The main doors used to access the home, typically at the front and back. Painting doors refreshes their look and maintains protection.
- Garage doors: Large access doors for vehicles, workshops, storage. Painting transforms big visual surface area.
- Gutters: Channels along roof line that catch and divert rain water. Important to keep paint in good shape.
- Downspouts: Vertical drain pipes carrying water from gutters away from the house. Paint maintains.
- Window boxes: Boxes affixed below windows that hold decorative plants. Painting ties them to color scheme.
- Porch ceilings: Ceilings of covered porches exposed to weather. Paint protects decorative elements.
- Foundations: The below ground and ground level walls that structurally support the home. Painting provides water protection.
Focus first on painting elements directly exposed to weathering such as siding, trim, entry doors, window frames, etc.
Types of Paint for Exteriors
When choosing exterior paint, consider climate and the surfaces you’re painting. Common options include:
- Latex
- Best For – Wood, stucco, masonry
- Features – Durable, breathable finish; fast drying; low odor
- Oil-based
- Best For – Wood trim, metals
- Features – Glossy, protective finish; durable
- Elastomeric
- Best For – Stucco, masonry, wood
- Features – Flexible; bridges cracks; resists water
- Primer/sealer
- Best For – Bare wood, previously painted surfaces, masonry
- Features – Ensures topcoat adhesion; blocks stains
A high quality 100% acrylic latex formulation is a good general choice suitable for most exterior house painting projects.
Estimating Paint Quantity Needed
Don’t underestimate how much paint your project requires. An undersized volume leads to a mismatched color if you have to get more paint later. To determine how many gallons you’ll need:
- Measure the square footage of each exterior surface being painted using width x height for rectangular sections.
- Add up the totals for each surface.
- Divide the total square footage by the coverage area per gallon listed on the paint can.
This gives you the number of gallons needed for one coat. Multiply as needed for additional coats. Remember to get all paint from the same production batch for color consistency.
Hiring an Exterior House Painter
While a skilled DIY-er can handle exterior painting, professional exterior house painters bring experience that allows them to:
- Evaluate surfaces and recommend paints/primers
- Have commercial sprayers for faster application
- Employ techniques for greater durability
- Access tall/high areas more safely
When comparing local exterior painters, get several written bids and ask questions like:
- How long have you been an exterior painter?
- Are you licensed and insured?
- What type of paint do you recommend for my home’s surfaces?
- Do you offer paint manufacturer’s warranties?
- Will you spray, brush, or roll the paint application?
- How will you protect landscaping, windows, etc?
- What is included in your prep work?
- How many coats are in your bid? What is the drying time between coats?
Checking references can help verify the quality of work performed by prospective exterior home painting companies.
Hiring Professional Exterior Painters in Temecula or Murrieta, California
Here is highly rated, licensed/insured exterior painting contractor serving homes in Temecula, Murrieta, and nearby cities:
Wall Works
Tel: 951-695-5588
Service Areas: Temecula, Murrieta and Menifee
These professional painters in Temecula and painters in Murrieta deliver high quality exterior house painting services backed by strong local references. Their experience painting the many custom homes in this region ensures your satisfaction.
A Fresh New Exterior Paint Job: Your Home’s Protective Shield
Regularly applying fresh coats of quality exterior paint serves as an important protective force field from weather damage for your most valuable investment – your home. Properly prepped and painted siding, trim, doors, garage surfaces and other exterior elements gain extended longevity while radiating visual vibrancy with colors and textures that enhance curb appeal.
Though skilled do-it-yourselfers can certainly take great pride in beautifying their castle’s with their own brushes and rollers, for homes with challenging access aspects or owners simply lacking ample spare time for intensive projects, professional painters in Temecula and Murrieta bring conscientious, reliable service backed by years of regional exterior repainting expertise. Their efficiency using top-of-the-line commercial spraying equipment also enables faster completion so you can unveil your home’s fresh facade to appreciate and showoff sooner.
Use the actionable details in this complete exterior house painting reference to confidently discuss projects with contractors and make smart plans that keep surfaces protected plus looking their best inside and out! Here’s to a new year and a newly radiant exterior color scheme!