Painting a House Exterior

[HawkinsHollow]

Well it is time to paint my house. I got a couple quotes came in about $4000-$4500 for our 1800 sqft single story house and the 650 sq ft garage. Seems kind of steep to me and I am out of money after our big addition and renovation, so I think I am going to do it myself. I have never painted a house before. I have caulked everything, I am fixing some minor window trim rot, scrape, then I am going to lightly pressure wash the whole house, and finally paint. I bought an airless sprayer from Harbor Fright and one of those big metal drywall knife things to block the paint spray. I have quite a bit of experience with spraying smaller items with an HVLP sprayer system, so I feel like those skills will cross over to house painting well. What am I missing? Tips, warning, advice is all appreciated.

 

[duffer]

Sounds like you've nailed the prep.
The one suggestion I have is "follow the sun". Try to always paint in the shade. Might take you 2-3 days instead of 1, but you'll feel better and the paint will cure better.
And don't skimp on the quality of the paint. You don't want to do this again in 2-3 years...

 

[2manyrocks]

Important to prep so the new paint will adhere to the old finish. Glossy surfaces may need deglossing and or primer to avoid peeling later.

 

[chim]

What material are you painting? You mentioned pressure washing. The advice I'm familiar with is to make certain all dampness is gone.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

What material are you painting? You mentioned pressure washing. The advice I'm familiar with is to make certain all dampness is gone.

The addition is 7 month old primed Hardie, the original house is 70 year old asbestos siding (I am assuming it is original, house built in 1955).

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Sounds like you've nailed the prep.
The one suggestion I have is "follow the sun". Try to always paint in the shade. Might take you 2-3 days instead of 1, but you'll feel better and the paint will cure better.
And don't skimp on the quality of the paint. You don't want to do this again in 2-3 years...

I will be going with a nice Sherwin-WIlliams exterior paint. I DO NOT want to do this in 2 or 3 years and I will be saving money by doing it myself so why not splurge on paint?

The follow the sun tip is golden!! Thanks!

 

[BackRoad]

Watch a few YouTube videos!

And if you care about how the property looks afterwards:

Even with the paint shield, look close for what might need to be taped off so NO over spray gets on it.

The paint shield is magic in the hands of a pro. Amateurs can make it work on the big open easy areas, but it can get tricky in tight areas.

Take down window screens and protect doors and finished parts like door handles, outlets, outside spigots, electrical boxes, meter bases and meters, gas or electric conduit entrances, AC units using painters tape and masking paper.

You mentioned yours is single story, but be sure to use drop clothes over any roof areas you risk getting paint on roof shingles, also cover any sidewalks or landscape plantings you don't want spray to hit. You can move the clothes as you paint.

Two or three hours of prep work can save hours and hours of overspray clean-up.

Also pick low wind days and remove any vehicles you don't want spotted with wind drift.

I learned before YouTube was a thing by hustling ladders for a friend, a professional painter, doing a house to learn how he does it efficiently.

Since then I've painted (2) different two story houses on my own before selling, so it can be done successfully by non-pros...

Start on the back of the house to get your flow going, establish proper paint coverage and to tune the process, then move on to the parts everyone else will see...

Good luck!

 

[KennyG]

Watch the humidity and dew point. I made the mistake of painting late in the day once and condensation streaked the paint.

 

[chim]

Long long time ago a couple of us painted an asbestos shingled house. We used wide brushes and it was a slow process. That was before "civilians" had access to airless sprayers. It was even a few years after that till I saw painting contractors use them on projects. I recall having to spend some time doing the bottom edges of the shingles where they lapped out over the next one below. I've seen painters use thin poly taped over all the windows etc. to protect them.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Watch a few YouTube videos!

And if you care about how the property looks afterwards:

Even with the paint shield, look close for what might need to be taped off so NO over spray gets on it.

The paint shield is magic in the hands of a pro. Amateurs can make it work on the big open easy areas, but it can get tricky in tight areas.

Take down window screens and protect doors and finished parts like door handles, outlets, outside spigots, electrical boxes, meter bases and meters, gas or electric conduit entrances, AC units using painters tape and masking paper.

You mentioned yours is single story, but be sure to use drop clothes over any roof areas you risk getting paint on roof shingles, also cover any sidewalks or landscape plantings you don't want spray to hit. You can move the clothes as you paint.

Two or three hours of prep work can save hours and hours of overspray clean-up.

Also pick low wind days and remove any vehicles you don't want spotted with wind drift.

I learned before YouTube was a thing by hustling ladders for a friend, a professional painter, doing a house to learn how he does it efficiently.

Since then I've painted (2) different two story houses on my own before selling, so it can be done successfully by non-pros...

Start on the back of the house to get your flow going, establish proper paint coverage and to tune the process, then move on to the parts everyone else will see...

Good luck!

LOTS of good tips, thanks!! Starting on back of the house to get dialed, brilliant!