Top 10 House Painting Tips

Listed below are my top 10 house painting tips for making your home painting project go a little smoother.

1) Prepare the painting area appropriately. This includes removing items and obstructions from the room or work area, such as curtains, furniture, and mechanical hardware wherever possible. Also make sure the room is well ventilated if you are working on an interior home painting project. In addition, fill all holes or cracks with spackling and tape all items that you do not want to paint and cannot remove from the walls. Also, it is advisable to wipe down wall surface areas with a damp cloth prior to applying paint. You would be surprised how much dust clings to wall surfaces.

Finally, if you are tackling an interior paint project remove all outlet and switch face plate covers prior to painting. You will waste more time cutting around them and inevitably leave paint marks on some of them.

Make no mistake, no time is more wasted in a house painting project than shuffling articles around the room, removing outlet covers at the last minute, and cycling between taping and painting. When the preparation work is all complete, then pull out the paint brush and rollers.

2) If the old paint on the exterior of the home is chipped and flaking scrape the exterior of the home prior to applying new paint. Warning, prior to scraping make sure the paint has been tested to confirm that it is free from lead. There are strict federal and state procedures for removing lead based paint products. Lead is a hazardous material to humans and should not be removed by a non-licensed professional. Also, it is wise to power wash the exterior of a home prior to painting. Mold and mildew, as well as dirt, rust and other foreign materials can collect on the walls. If not removed the paint adhesion could be compromised.

3) In the event you are using a paint sprayer, e.g. for painting the exterior of your home, use newspaper and masking tape to cover windows and other large non-desired painting surfaces.

4) Use plenty of drop cloths and have a damp rag in your pocket at all times when painting. Attempting to not drip is a time consuming chore in itself. Unless you want to have a contest while painting to see who drips the least paint, use copious amounts of drop cloths. Having the damp rag in your pocket will save time when you make that minor mistake with the cutting brush.

5) Have a sufficient number of ladders with the appropriate height requirements. Running up and down ladders and constantly readjusting them is time consuming and tiring. Using the wrong ladder can also be dangerous to your personal well being. 6) If the walls have never seen paint, e.g. bare sheetrock, prime them first. You will save money on high priced paint absorption and you will get a much better finish. 7) Cut first with a small angled paint brush and then pull out your paint rollers. By rolling paint after you cut the corners and wall/ceiling transitions, you can hide the brush marks and achieve a nicer finish.

8) Make sure weather conditions are right for painting. Hold off painting the exterior of a home until you are sure the siding is completely dry and free of moisture. Also make sure the weather forecast is free of rain and fog, and the temperature is above 50o Fahrenheit. Even if you are tackling an interior home painting project, it is best to paint on a dry and low humidity day. Dry, humid free days will allow for quick drying times.

9) If you are using latex paint make sure to clean your brushes thoroughly after use. If you are using an oil based paint use mineral spirits to clean your brushes. Nothing can be more frustrating to go out the second day on your paint project and find your brushes hard and unusable.

10) Finally, have a radio or Ipod player nearby. Nothing helps to soothe the soul more, when undertaking a mundane home painting project, than listening to your favorite music while you paint.

Happy House Painting!!