How to Prepare the Outside of Your House for Painting

This article will help you in learning how to properly prepare the outside of your house for painting. Preparation is extremely important for getting the best results from the paint as well as the longevity of the paint holding up through the extreme elements of hot summers and icy cold winters.

The paint used for exteriors differs from that of interior paint for it must hold up against the outdoor elements as well as ultraviolet rays (UV) rays from the sun. There are usually parts of the house that seem to deteriorate more than others because the exposure to the sun is more than other sides. For better results as well the house should be painted every 5 years or less depending on exposure. It is possible that the one area that gets the most exposure should be painted every 3 years and the rest of the house every 5 years ( and the area with the most exposure might as well be painted at that time as well) The idea is to catch it before the peeling and splitting of caulk happens, because once the wood has been exposed and caulk has split damage begins to happen in the form of rotting wood. Once rotting has occurred the structure inside is at risk of being damaged and may result in extremely expensive repairs.

So you have decided to paint the outside of your house or your hiring a contractor and you want to know how to prepare the outside or exterior of your house for painting. Maybe you just want to know so you make sure the contractor is doing things correctly or maybe you are going to do the work. First we must understand there are a few different ways to prepare the outside of your house for painting. There are some that are exclusively to yourself and not a contractor. Let me explain: There are heat plates that can remove all the paint to bare wood which obviously would be the very best thing for the final finish would be like brand spanking new and looking very even, smooth and beautiful. However, that is time consuming and you cannot expect a professional painter to do that unless you have an awful lot of money to spend on painting your home. So if that is the finish you are looking for then you must do the job yourself or fork up some serious cash.

This is the method of preparation I do on all homes:

First the home must be power washed to remove any dirt of paint powder that forms over time. These will interfere with the bonding of the new layer of paint. When power washing you can buy a power washer for around 500 dollars or rent one for 75 dollars a day. Power washing should take 1 to 2 days. Buying the machine is a great investment. They are great investment for cleaning your walk ways, driveways, garage floors, vinyl and aluminum siding, your vehicles and much more. There is a way to add cleaning solutions and bleach to the wash which aids in cleaning and getting rid of molds.

There are numerous tips to use which you will need to get familiar with. Getting too close with a smaller tip can cut your wood. You must be careful. They make a soaking tip which you can use to soak the house while you have cleaning solutions going through the machine. Once an area has been soaked with the cleaning solution you can remove the cleaning solution and put the proper tip on to remove dirt, looses paint chips, and the powdery film from older paint. Sometimes the peeling and cracked paint does not come off easy and if you get to close with the stripping tip you run the risk of damaging your wood siding by cutting it. Loose paint must come off however, or when you paint it will come right off which defeats the purpose of you painting your home. There are two options you may take, one is scraping it after power washing or they make a special tip for the power washer that spins and does an awesome quick job of stripping those troublesome spots that normally will not come off with a regular power washer tip. This tip can be easily manipulated to not damage your wood by cutting it, yet still stip paint very good. Even scraping can sometimes not get these troubled spots. The reason why is the paint is in place and just has a crack but behind it is air and it is not really adhered to the wood.

Once the house has been power washed it must dry completely before scraping and sanding can occur. When paint peels, blown or scraped off there is usually an indentation where the paint chip was. If you paint directly over it it will be easily seen and your house can be very pocketed with these and not be very appealing to the eye. So once you have made sure all peeling or loose paint has been removed you can get an orbital sander to feather the edges to be a bit smother. There is an even better tool called a paint eater which is more like a grinder. This tool is great and with ease you can smooth out these areas. Just have to use light pressure when finishing so you do not see circular marks on the wood.

once you have power washed and then removed all loose paint and feathered all your edges it is time to spot prime any bare areas where wood is showing. You can use a brush or even a roller - Brushes provide a nicer finish unless it is a flat surface such as the ceiling under porch roofs. Using a slow dry oil based primer is best. This is a pretty straight forward process.

Once you have finished spot priming and 24 hours have passed you are now ready for painting which can be rolled, brushed or sprayed. Brushing and spraying produce the nicest finishes. Spraying can get into areas a brush does not get into well and can speed the job up.

I want to mention one other product you can use to fill in those paint spots that have peeled. They make an exterior Spackle that can be sanded down after filling in the area. Again a contractor will most likely never use this product. Now you know how to prepare the outside of your house for painting. It is hard work and it must be done right which is why there are painting professionals. However this is not rocket science and for the ambitious home owner wanting to save lots of money this is a fairly easy project to undertake.

What does it cost to paint a room

What does it cost to paint a room? Well there are many variables to figure in. What size is the room to be painted? How much trim and decorative wood work. Are the windows going to need to be painted? Are there closets? Are the ceilings high? The variables are endless. One for sure way is to call at least three contractors to get an estimate on what the room will cost to paint. We can discuss some important factors to consider and give some rough estimates.

A normal bedroom from the size of 10 ft x 10 ft to 15 ft x 15 ft will average between 300 dollars to 500 dollars for labor. This would be painting the ceiling, walls and trim. Also would include a couple of windows a door and two doors at the closet. Now if there are other decorative moldings or you are doing more than on wall color add about a hundred dollars to two hundred dollars. Using all of one color for ceiling and walls can reduce the price by a hundred dollars possibly and so would one coat if you are using the same color and just freshening the room up. Remember adding a second coat is quick its the set up and tedious wood work that takes all the time. Also not included in any of this is the material. A gallon of paint is 30 to 50 dollars. Rooms of this size will require 2 gallons for the wall, 1 for the ceiling and 1 for wood work. So lets have a look at an estimate. Also repairs can add to the cost as well.

ESTIMATE:

Room 1

Paint ceiling 2 coats
Paint Walls 2 coats
Paint trim and base board 2 coats
Paint 3 doors 2 coats
Paint 2 windows 2 coats

Labor 350 dollars

2 gallons of wall paint
1 gallon of ceiling paint
1 gallon of Wood paint

200 dollars

Repairs couple of cracks and few nail pops

100 dollars

1 wall different color

50 dollars plus 50 dollars for gallon of paint

Crown molding detailed plus chair rail

150 dollars

Total 850 dollars.

Foyers with high ceilings can cost 800 to 1500 dollars and up if there is repairs and moldings.

Great rooms can cost 800 to 2000 dollars depending on repairs moldings and windows.

Most normal rooms can be between 300 dollars and 600 dollars.

A tree thousand square ft house can cost between 5,000 and 10,000 dollars to get painted.

It all depends you have got to get those estimates and be sure to check references and do not just go with the cheapest bid. Beware of ridiculous low pricing as well.

Epoxy Your Garage Floor

It's warm out and you are sick of that dingy floor in your garage and decide it is time you want to Epoxy your garage floor. There are some preparations you will need to take care of before your will be ready. Also the Epoxy is not cheap by any means. It may run as much as a hundred dollars or more. If you are ready there are some tests that you will need to do to know if you actually can epoxy your garage floor.

What you must do is tape some plastic to the floor, a square piece of plastic wrap about 6 inches will suffice. This is to see if moisture is coming through the floor.If it is then you may not proceed. If all is good you will be ready to move ob to the next phase of preparing your garage floor to be epoxied.

You must remove any loose paint that may already be on the floor or better yet remove all of it even if you must apply chemicals to remove the paint. If there is no paint and you have a sealed floor the sealant must be removed or pitted. If you have a high polished cement floor you must use some acid wash to etch the floor. The floor should be etched with an acid wash no matter what. All debris and dirt needs to be washed off the floor. Powerwashing the floor may work well.

Once the garage floor is ready and all dirt has been removed and it has been etched you may begin to epoxy the floor. The best way to epoxy your garage floor is with a two part epoxy. The parts a and b are mixed together. Once mixed you have about two hours working time.

Epoxy is toxic and a chemical respirator should be worn.. First cut your edges out with a brush and then roll the epoxy onto the garage floor. Only one coat is necessary. Usually you can walk on it in twelve hours and after 72 hours you can park your car on the floor. They do make additives that are like little chips that you may add to the epoxy. These chips act to prevent slipping on the floor. I find the best product to use comes from Sherwin Williams .

The product comes in many colors but a favorite color is called pewter. Enjoy your epoxied garage floor for a long time. It will be easy to clean up and will look a whole lot better.

Termite Infestation

Sometimes when painting a home the discovery of termite infestation is discovered,  When termites are discovered it is time to call in a pest control company so they can rid the home of them. Damage assessment must take place to see the extent of damage that may have occured. Damage can not be seen easily because it happens behind wall where you cannot see. This is the problem with termites, they silently eat your house up from the inside. Termites literally eat wood at which point the wood begins to weaken and decay and the structure of the home becomes compromised and begins to fail, They like to eat wood that is already decaying and wet as well so as a prevention of termites it is important to keep all of the wood on the house dry and replace any rotting wood.Also keep firewood and debris far away from the house.  Insurance companies will usually refuse cover the damage caused by termite infestation.

Unfortunately, unlike most pest infestation that are easily noticeable, termites are not until it is usually too late. If you should see finely  shopped  wood bits on the floor in corners of the home it is safe to say there are termites. In order to determine what, if any, damage the termite infestation may have caused, and what must be done to rid of them there are steps that must be taken.

Drilling small holes, removing Sheetrock and pieces of wood may be necessary in order to see how far in they have gone and what damage they may have caused. Any damaged wood will need to be replaced.. Getting rid of the termite infestation can be tricky and requires some knowledge of termites and how they exist. Calling in a professional may be the way to go since they are experienced in getting rid of these pests and have a good understanding of how termites live.Getting rid of termites is really not a do-it-yourself type of job.

Termites usually commute to the wood they eat up. If they have colonized they will have created tunnels to where they actually live up to your home. The problem with this is you may get rid of the termites in the home but they will return through the tunnels they have created. Usually a tent is placed over the home and a chemical and or heating the home up to 120 degrees is used to kill all of termites existing in the home.Once this has been done dealing with the tunnels and homes of the termite colonies has to be dealt with..Usually a toxin is injected into the ground to destroy them. There are other methods as well. Talking with a couple of pest control professionals about the best methods to get rid of the termite infestation is very important. also discussing prevention methods is very important, Good luck in exterinating any termites you may have.

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