Exterior Painting-Do’s and Don’ts

Correctly painted wood siding and the painting of exterior wood accents on your home provide for an enhanced curb appeal as opposed to vinyl or aluminum siding. Are you looking for painting tips for your home or business? Painting of exterior...

Correctly painted wood siding and the painting of exterior wood accents on your home provide for an enhanced curb appeal as opposed to vinyl or aluminum siding. Are you looking for painting tips for your home or business? Painting of exterior wood is a time involved process, if you don’t fully understand what goes into correctly painting exterior surfaces.

It is often said that painting is 90% prep work and 10% actually painting. This is truly the case in exterior painting. The first step to correctly paint an exterior surface is to thoroughly clean the previously painted surface. We suggest scrubbing applicable surfaces with a cleaning agent, we prefer Tri-Sodium-Phosphate and warm water. Once all dirt, grime and pollen are removed, a wash down with a power-washer will remove grime from hard to reach surfaces and disrupt any stubborn dirt and pollen. For harder to remove entities such as mold spores, we suggest an outdoor bleach product-diluted with warm water.

After washing and cleaning applicable surfaces, we wait till the wood dries. If the surface is dry and the wood contains a high water content, painting at this point will yield unsatisfactory results. We suggest waiting at least 48 hrs for the wood surfaces to fully dry-out. The next step involves scrapping loose flaking old-paint off the siding and exterior surfaces. Sanding for a smooth transition between layers of old paint will produce a seamless/smoother finish than merely scraping old/peeling paint. Any exposed wood is primed with an exterior primer at this point to protect the wood.

After setting and sealing any holes, nails or screws on the surfaces and sealing any cracks with silicon sealant, it’s time to start painting. Depending on the surface and type of structure we will paint by hand and brush or by spray application. All projects differ, as well as the design requirements of each project, so we make the best determination as to the application method.

For a free estimate and color consultation, contact us to schedule an estimate.