What tip to use for exterior paint?

These Tips Can Make The Difference Between Having A Difficult Or Easy Time Painting Your Boston Home.

You can make painting your house exterior less of a pain. These exterior house painting tips, which include techniques, can make a huge difference. It could be like discovering a whole new way to paint a house.

You can find more tips like this one below – Tip #1: plan around the weather.

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Exterior House Paint Overview

Painting the exterior of your house is a huge job. But the rewards are great, too. With a minimum investment in tools and materials, you’ll save thousands of dollars, extend the life of your siding and trim and increase the value of your home. Best of all, you’ll make it look like new again.

While you may spend a substantial amount on tools and paint, the same job done by a pro could easily cost many times more. The savings come at a cost, though. A good paint job requires many hours of careful exterior paint preparation. Plan to devote an entire summer to prepare and paint even a medium-size house.

In this article, we’ll walk you through some general advice, troubleshoot common mistakes, then show you how to apply the final coats of paint (we used acrylic latex) for a durable, professional-looking finish. Preparation is a separate topic covered in other articles.

Completing a top-quality exterior paint job requires more than patience and perseverance. You’ll need a sharp eye, steady hand and a little practice to paint crisp, straight lines. In addition, you’ll need the strength to move and set up tall ladders, and the confidence to work from them.

If you’ve taken the time to properly clean and prepare the surfaces, and carefully primed, caulked and painted with top-quality materials, your paint job should last at least 10 years. According to painting pros we talked to, annual maintenance is the best way to extend the life of your paint job and protect the structure.

Inspect your house every year. Use binoculars if you have to. Then scrape, sand, prime, caulk and touch up any areas where paint is peeling or cracking. The new paint may not match exactly, but at least you’ll prevent further damage and push off that major paint job several more years.

Paint Like a Pro With These Techniques

You can improve your painting skills by understanding the strategy pros use. They break down the painting process into two steps.

The goal of the first step, called “laying on,” is to get the paint onto the surface in the quickest, most efficient way possible. Don’t worry about smoothing it out yet (Photo 2). Use a brush, roller or sprayer for this step and apply enough paint to cover the surface without creating runs.

Cover an area just large enough to allow you to go back and smooth it before the paint starts to dry. Since heat, humidity and the type of paint all influence drying time, you’ll have to experiment as you start to paint to get a feel for how large an area you can safely cover before returning to smooth it out.

The most common mistake beginning painters make is spending too much time and effort laying on the paint. A few quick strokes is all that’s needed. Then reload the brush and cover the next area.

Once you’ve got a small area covered, you’re ready for Step Two, laying off the paint (Photo 3).

First, use your brush to spread the paint evenly over the surface and then finish up with long, continuous brush strokes. The goal is to completely cover (but not necessarily hide) the previous layer of paint or primer with a smooth, even layer of paint. This step must be done immediately after the paint is laid on and before it starts to dry.

You may be wondering how to tell if you’re applying enough paint. Unfortunately, there’s no exact formula.

In general, you’ll have better success applying two thin coats than struggling to cover the primer with one thick coat of paint. Thin coats dry more thoroughly and don’t cause problems like runs, sags and buildup associated with heavy layers of paint. Your goal is to get enough paint on the surface to allow the brush to glide smoothly, but not leave so much that it runs or sags.