The Most Common Outdoor Painting Mistakes

Painting the exterior of your home is important. It helps with your home aesthetic, over all estate value and it keeps the wood and other structures under protected from the elements. Home exterior repainting is recommended anywhere between three and seven years of your last paint job.

Moreover, the U.S. News published an article online about house painting rules that you should try not to break. Given that there is a right way to do things, there are probably mistakes you could make. If you’re wondering what these are, read on!

Forgetting to Smooth Things Out

When it comes to painting home exteriors (or any other surface), adequate surface preparation is the key to a job well done. This includes clearing the older coat of paint which may already be in the process of peeling or getting chipped away.

An old rough and flaky surface will prevent your new coat of paint to holding on to the wall you’re painting like it should. This will result in uneven layers and weak points which will be less resistant to future wear.

One of the biggest and most common mistakes people make isn’t treating or preparing the surface to be painted adequately.

Forgetting to Prep the Wood

When you’re working with a wooden wall, you may think that simply painting on a dry and empty wooden surface is good enough. Not true. Again, slight variations and unevenness in the texture and form of the wood may result in your paint coats being unevenly applied. This will further result in premature wear and the need for repainting.

Forgetting to smooth and prep your wooden walls prior to painting when they do not have an old coat on them is another common outdoor painting mistake!

Skipping on Primer

Using primer is highly advised to improve the quality of any paint job. This being said, it is particularly important for outdoor walls that have not been painted before as well as those that have. The primer readies the wood to receive the paint which is to be applied and adds to quality as well as longevity.

Skipping on the primer application process is a big yet common mistake!

Types and Qualities

There are a number of different paint types and qualities available for use today. Where an experienced painting professional for hire would know exactly what is what, the common person may not. Many DIY painters make the mistake of not looking into the paint type in advance only to find out that the paint they used was not meant for exterior painting.

Forgetting to Manage Moisture

There are times when there may be seepage, internal pipe leaks and other moisture related problems with your wall. This may even be what has affected your old coat of paint. It is important to make sure that a wall you paint is free of seepage and any other unwanted leaks that may be causing dampness.

It is a common mistake for people to paint their external walls without addressing existing moisture problems first. The areas where there is seepage eventually affects the paint coat causing it to bloat and eventually peel.

Not Being Careful with Application Rate

Many homeowners and DIY painters might not know this but different paints have different recommended coat and stroke rates. This simply means that where some paints can be done slowly, others require a faster rate of painting.

Many people make the mistake of trying to save by using less paint or simply not applying the paint in the way prescribed. This again leads to premature problems with the paint job which eventually demand repainting.

Mistiming the Painting

If you’re using latex paint, there is an ideal time and weather in which to do so. Application during the very cold months results in poor adherence between paint and surface. On the other hand, application when it is too hot causes faster deterioration.

Many people forget this and end up having to redo the work sooner than expected.

Winding Down

As you can see, though DIY may be tempting, there is a lot that can go wrong – besides, why spend hours doing something you can have a professional do better? If you’re a resident of North Hollywood CA, and are looking for professional painters for residential and commercial exterior and interior paint jobs, we can help! Feel free to get in touch with us for more information and rest assured that whatever paint job you have for us will be tastefully done within the time promised!