Painting Your Home

In the best case scenario, the only thing you'll need to do to your home before a repainting job is to give it a good wash-up. Hose it down and go over stubborn spots with the help of an old-fashioned scrub brush and some warm soapy water. If you can rent a power washer, you can do away with the elbow-grease.

But say you didn't luck out and you've got a hard job ahead of you prepping your home for a new coat or two of paint. It won't be easy, and it's going to take a bit of time, but if you do it up right, the new paint job will look so much better. It will also last longer, meaning you won't have to paint for another 5-8 years.

How much paint should you buy? That all depends on the size of your home, its condition, the type of paint, and the application method you choose.

Color Variations

Once you're all set with paint, brush, roller, or sprayer, you're just about ready to apply that first coat of paint. But note that paint colors will have a slight variation if they come from different batches. Therefore, it's best to mix all of the purchased paint together using one or two very large containers. Any leftover paint can be poured back into its original cans and be resealed for future use.

Painting the exterior of your home should be planned so that you follow in the sun's route, remaining in the shade and allowing the warmth of the sun to dry the areas you've already painted. Start early enough so a setting sun doesn't catch you in the middle of painting a wall. If you're left with no choice other than to stop your work, make sure you finish one entire stretch of siding so you don't end up with overlapping paint marks in the middle of your exterior wall.

High Parts

The highest parts of the exterior wall should be painted in horizontal sections. Safety dictates that you don't get beyond an arm's reach to either side. Never attempt to lean away from the extension ladder. Finish painting one high section, then move the ladder and repeat, as you work your way around that exterior wall. The idea is to create one continuous band of paint as you go round.

Your next step is to lower your ladder so you can work on the lower section of the wall. Keep in mind that extension ladders are great when used with care but can be dangerous if you don't pay attention to safety. As you move your ladder, keep an eye out to make sure you don't knock into power lines. Make sure you've got firm footing by positioning the ladder so that it's situated no more than 1/4 of its length away from your home's foundation.

Watch to see that the ladder is straight, tilting neither right nor left. Make sure the two extension hooks are well-locked onto the supporting rungs. Don't extend the ladder to its full height. Always leave an overlap of a minimum of three rungs between sections. Use an S-shaped hook to hang your paint bucket from the ladder. That frees one hand to hold onto the ladder while you paint with the other.