Tips To Paint the Exterior of a House

The exterior paint of a house becomes fade sooner than the interior. Exterior paint is exposed to dust; rainwater and harsh sun which makes it fade sooner. Even if you use high-quality weather-resistant paint, you need to paint the exterior of your house every three years.

Earlier people used to paint themselves, but now most people hire professional painting services like house painters Annandale to paint their house. It takes time to paint a house, but you can save a lot of money that others spend on hiring professional painting services.

You don’t need a vast experience, but some knowledge, skills and the right tools to paint your house. Let us check the necessary steps and essential tips to paint the exterior of your home.

Scrape the old paint

Scraping the old paint is essential for the walls to absorb the new paint. You don’t need to scrape the entire surface of the walls. Scrape only the areas where there are visible flakes of old paint. You can use a metal strip and sandpaper to scrape the walls. Use the metal strip to remove the flakes of old paint and use the sandpaper to smooth the uneven areas.

Wash the exterior of your house

The external walls are full of dust, dirt and deposits that need cleaning before painting them. Usually, the local painters don’t wash the walls. They do the scraping and start painting with the new paint. Washing the walls is necessary to remove the dust, dirt and any deposits. You don’t need any detergents or surfactants. Rinsing with plain water using a high-pressure hose is enough to clean all the dust from the walls.

Prime the problem areas on walls


You can prime the entire walls, but it is better to prime only the problem areas to save time and effort. Prime the doors and windows, especially if you have wooden or steel frames. Also, prime all the bare spots if any on the surface of your walls.

Caulk and Patch

Before painting the walls, you need to seal the cracks and joints in the walls. Joints are the areas where two materials meet each other. Take a tune of caulk and seal the window frames, door frames, and mouldings. If there are any wooden surfaces or fascia boards showing signs or rotting, replace them before painting. Use sandpaper to smoothen the wooden surfaces for smooth paint.

Choose good quality paint

It is essential to choose good quality paint for the exterior walls as they face dust, pollution, and harsh weather conditions. Many companies make high-quality water-based paints that can stay on your walls for three to five years. Check the websites of some reputed paint companies and their product portfolio to select a colour that suits your requirements. It is best to choose a 100 per cent acrylic latex paint for exterior walls.

Paint using spray guns and rollers

Start painting the house using the spray guns and rollers. You can also use the brushes but nor for all the surfaces. Use the brushes to paint small areas like frames of doors and windows. The best method to paint the walls is to spray the paint and then spread it with a roller.

It needs two persons, one for spraying and the other for rolling it over the surface. Never use a brush to paint the walls as it may result in visible lines made by the brush. The sprayer and roller allow you to paint faster than brushes, which save your time and effort.

Double Coat

The professional house painters Annandale use a double coat in every paint job for best results. If you have a good budget, you must choose to double coat your walls. It lasts longer and appears brighter than single coat paint.

Painting the fixtures

After painting the walls, you can start with the doors, windows, fascia, moulding, shutters and other exterior decoration fixtures. You can use a paintbrush or spray gun according to your convenience. Paint brushes come in various sizes. Use the relevant size of the brush as per the surface area you want to paint. For example, use a 1.5 or 2-inch brush to paint the doors and window frames.

Final Words

Painting the exterior walls of a house is tougher than interiors as you need to face the external weather conditions. Before painting the exterior walls, it is best to read some blogs that offer advice on painting and watch some videos on YouTube for proper guidance. Make sure you watch the videos of professional painters and not of a newbie. Using the above tips with the right tools and technique can help the homeowners to paint their walls with perfection and improve the curb appeal of their homes.