7 Things You Should Know Before Exterior Painting in Arlington, VA
Painting projects, when it comes to remodeling and updating the look of your home (and not the kind that leads to portraits and landscapes that hang on the wall) can be complicated matters that take quite a long time to complete.
It’s fundamentally important that you go into such a project having some base knowledge of what you will be doing and not just jumping into it blind.
With that being the case, here are seven things you should know before exterior painting in Arlington, VA.
1. Make Sure You Plan The Project First
With a painting project as large as an exterior painting project, you will need to make sure that you have the whole thing planned out from beginning to end.
This is necessary because there are a number of steps that must be carefully followed such that your house is properly painted, and it’s good to do things like taking proper measurements of your home exterior.
Having such measurements is important because you will know how much paint you will need and a primer based on these dimensions.
2. It’s Important To Protect The Area Around The House
The area around your home needs to be well protected — the process of painting the exterior of your home brings with it the possibility of paint both dripping and maybe even spilling from time to time.
That being the case, you should take measures to make sure that the paint that spills and drips does not find its way to the ground, your flower bed, or even the walkway leading up to your home.
Far better to protect these areas with a tarp and the like — but you have to see that if it is lightweight, it has to be weighed down, so it doesn’t get blown away and defeat the point of being there.
3. Use The Right Paint
Though many paints would be perfectly suitable for just about any job in the house, you need to look for exterior paint when it comes to painting the exterior of your home.
Exterior paint is good because it has protective properties that indoor paint does not, and in many cases, it will have even things like protection against bad weather and even the sun.
The kind of exterior paint you use should depend on the climate in the area you live in.
4. Clean Before Painting
Painting an exterior surface without first cleaning, it is an exercise that will only lead to paint problems and possibly have you back to painting the exterior of your home.
It behooves you to clean the exterior of your home because you will find all kinds of dirt and dust, and when you do, you must remove it as it will impede the painting process.
Of course, once you remove this mess from the surface of your home, you will need to allow time for the exterior to dry.
5. Handle Mold And Mildew With Care
Among the things you will possibly find on the outside of your home, mildew and mold are among those you have to be careful because it is a bit more difficult to remove.
You will need to make sure that mold is fully removed from the surface and not just partial — unless you fully remove it, it will come back even after you paint the surface of the home, and then you will only need to clean it all up and have to paint once more.
6. Take Care Of Your Four-Legged Friends
When you are painting the outside of your home, you need to be careful not to allow your pets to get outside.
The reason that this is the case is that they could easily cause a disastrous mess that would be quite difficult to clean
7. Allow Adequate Time To Dry
Lastly, remember that there will always be a need to allow the exterior of your home to dry — there is the time for the exterior to dry after you thoroughly clean it and the primer and each coat of paint, should you apply more than one painting.
Failing to allow time to dry will lead to massive paint issues that will have to be corrected, and the problem areas repainted entirely.
Image Painting is a professional full-service residential & commercial painting contractor based in Falls Church, Virginia. We have served the Washington DC metropolitan area since 2003. You can click below to request an estimate.
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