Painting a house is something you should never rush into; before you paint a house, you need to consider a lot of things, do your own surveys on other buildings and seek professional help if needed.
Questions you must ask yourself:
- Are you going to paint the building yourself or are you going to employ the service of a professional. If you choose to employ a professional, do you have the money to pay for the full service? Because if you don’t and you start, you might end up with a building that has painting on only one side.
- What are you painting the house for? Do you plan to sell it or are you just doing it because you love a pretty house. The reason you are painting will help you decide on the color of paint to buy.
- Do you want to change the color of your house there by giving it a new look?
All these questions you must answer before you proceed to paint.
There are different reasons why some people choose to paint their houses themselves. Some paint themselves because they like to. They love to be the ones that give their building that look they’ve always dreamed of. Some paint themselves because they don’t have the funds to employ a professional painter. Whatever you reason might be; there are things you must consider.
- Size of the house: if your house is a small one, you can choose to paint yourself but if your house is big, 2 stories or more; painting yourself might not be possible. Even if you succeed, there is a high chance you won’t do it well.
- Are you painting a fresh house or repainting an old one: this is a question you must ask yourself. Painting a new building is always easier than painting an old one because you won’t have old paint in your way. When painting an already painted house, it is not uncommon for paint to start falling off. When it does, if makes the work a lot more difficult, so if you are painting an old house I advise you get a professional to do it.
- What part of the house are you painting; outside or inside: painting the inside of a house is always easier than painting the exterior because there is a lower chance of being distributed by the elements and sustaining injuries. This means that you can choose to paint yourself if you are painting the interiors but if you are painting the exterior, I advise you get a professional.
Painting is a whole lot of work; even if you choose to hire a painter, there are still things you have to do. First you need to cost the whole project and see if you can foot the bill. If you can, then you need to do a background check on the painter you are hiring to see if he or she is as good as he/she advertises. When you have done this, you can proceed to the next step which is; purchasing the required materials.
Materials needed to paint a house:
- Paint
- Tape
- Primer
- Caulk
Choosing what paint to buy
There are two types of paint; latex paint and oil paint. What type you choose should be dependent on which part of the house you wish to paint. If you are painting the exteriors, I advise you use latex paint. This paint is water based and is very resistant to the elements. But of you are painting the wet regions of the house like the bathrooms and toilets, I advise you use an Oil paint. This paint is water resistant and very tough.
After you’ve chosen what paint to use, the next step is deciding on what color to buy. This step is quite tricky. Please don’t ever guess a color will be great and buy it; always check already painted buildings around you to see what color fits best.
If you are going to employ a painter then the next stage is not for you but if you want to paint your house yourself, you may find what I am going to show you very helpful.
Every year has seasons and some of these season support painting while some don’t. A true painter knows that painting during the rainy or windy seasons is not wise especially if the part of the house you are painting is the exterior.
After you’ve planned out when to paint you can proceed
Steps in painting a house
- If it is an old building, the first thing to do is; peal off all loose paint. This can be done with a scalpel or knife.
- The next step is to cover up the windows and doors of the house with something; you don’t want paint entering wrong places.
- When you are done, use a primer to smoothen up the wall; this is necessary if it is an old building and you scrapped off some old paint.
- After you’ve done this, check if there are holes or cracks on the house. If there are, use a caulk to fill them up.
- The next step is the painting proper: When you do this, try to do more than one coat because one is usually not enough.
Painting a house is like a woman wearing a make up that doesn’t wash off. It is one of the things that brings out the beauty of a house and make it a building with class. No one wants to buy a poorly painted building so, if you have plans to sell your house at a good price then you better get some good paint on it.