Exterior House

Exterior Painting Advice Mannion Custom Painting

Advice for Painting Your House
Have you been thinking about repainting your home’s exterior? Here are seven tips that will make your work easier, safer, and more likely to produce pride-inspiring results.

1) Evaluate doing it yourself
Painting is one of those jobs that requires only a moderate level of skill and a few basic tools. But should you do the work yourself? That depends on a number of factors, including your experience, fitness, available time, and the difficulty of working on your home’s exterior walls.

2) Buy quality paint
Choosing high-quality paint is critical to a long-lasting paint job and can make the work far easier. Not only will quality paint weather the years durably, but it is also easier to maintain, and it covers the walls more quickly and easily in the process. Just think about the effort and expense of painting your house—this should make it clear that you don’t want to have to do the job again in four or five years.

3) Repair and prepare
Even high-quality paint won’t guarantee a lasting paint job if you don’t prepare the
surfaces properly. Start by repairing damaged siding. Peeling, blistering, wrinkling, and flaking paint must be removed from wood siding by scraping and sanding, ideally with a power sander. Be advised that this is difficult, tiring work, and you must do it carefully so as not to gouge the wood. Always wear a dust mask, gloves, and protective goggles.

4) Mask off
Avoid painting roofing and other surfaces by masking with plastic sheeting and 3-inch masking tape. Use dropcloths to protect walkways, shrubs, and other surfaces from dripping paint. You’ll be painting the siding first and then the trim; after the siding is painted, mask the siding around the trim. Be sure to remove the masking tape immediately after painting, before it forms a stubborn bond.
5) Paint surfaces from the top down.
Begin with the gutters, fascia, and eaves and work your way down the main surfaces, painting in 3- to 4-foot-square sections. Use a high-quality 4-inch brush. If your home has lap siding, first draw the bristles along the bottom edges of three or four boards and then paint the surfaces in line with the boards. Regularly check for and correct drips and streaks; they are much more difficult to clean up after the paint dries.
6) Paint trim in the proper order
Use a 2-inch angled trim brush to paint trim, always working in line with the wood’s grain. With a window, begin with the muntins and then paint the stiles, rails, head casing, side casings, and the sill. Sometimes it’s easiest to paint a door on sawhorses, after removing it. Otherwise just paint it in place, over a dropcloth. Start with the inset panels, panel moldings and recesses, horizontal rails, and then vertical stiles and mullion. When painting along glass, don’t bother to mask it if you have a steady hand. Just let the paint
lap onto the glass by about 1/16 inch and then remove the wet paint from the glass with a rag wrapped around the end of a putty knife. Use a razor blade to remove any residual paint after it dries.

7) Clean up properly.Use soap and water for latex paints or paint thinner for alkyd paints to thoroughly clean your brushes and gear right after painting. Don’t pour paint thinner or excess paint down the drain or onto the ground—this is a serious source of ground water pollution. Keep it in an old sealed paint can and dispose of it at a toxic waste collection site.

Exterior Prep House Painting

Exterior Prep House Painting

One of the most important steps in prep work needed for an exterior house painting is pressure washing your home before applying the new home painting. Pressure washing will help clear your home's exterior of any debris and anything else that can negatively affect the exterior house painting. Any mildew and loose paint will also need to be taken care of before the painting is completed. Stay away from using bleach to clean as this can lead to problems.

A home is a major investment and you probably don't want to do anything that would damage that investment. If you have been putting off a badly needed paint job however, you may be unknowingly risking damage to your home's exterior that could be easily avoided. So, when you notice that your exterior house painting is looking faded and weathered, it is probably a good idea to call your contracted painter to schedule that home painting.

 

Color and Contractor Choice for Interior Exterior Painting

Painting your home is not just something you can check off a list. It is something you’ll live with everyday. It is a lifestyle choice. Working with a contractor who understands this can make all the difference. Mannion Custom Painting.LLC is one of those contractors. “Remember, painting your home, whether interior or exterior, is a statement about who you are and your personality. Choose colors wisely. Take the surroundings into consideration, but do not be scared to try new things. Remember, it is only paint and it is not permanent. One last thing, choose better quality paints and your project will always come out the way you want it.”

If you select earth tones, the overall feel is warmth, tranquility, peace, and quiet. “In my opinion, bringing these qualities into your living environment, lowers stress and gives a lived-in feeling to the home,” Peter says. “It makes others feel invited and comfortable to be at your home.”

 

Exterior Painting Color Choice

Exterior Paint

Whether you prefer neutral colors, earth tones, or more dramatic splashes of color, it's critical to get your exterior paint job done right the first time. The choices are many and decisions often hinge on ideas taken from visual images, whether from a remodeling magazine or your local paint store's fan deck. And now, here's another option. Enjoy the photo gallery of completed exterior paint projects on our web site.

 

Painting Your House — Increase Your Curb Appeal

Painting Your House — Increase Your Curb Appeal

Definition of Curb Appeal: the visual attractiveness of a house as seen from the street
Potential home buyers WILL decide whether or not to look inside a house or take it seriously based on its curb appeal. They’ll make a decision if they even want to see it, from how it looks on the outside.
One of the most important things you can do to enhance curb appeal is to make the outside sure the paint looks good and is appealing.When deciding on what colors to paint your house, keep the following in mind:
Neighborhood Context
Make sure that your colors are compatible with the houses next door Existing Colors
New paint doesn’t need to match existing colors, but it should harmonize.
Is there mortar or other siding that will not be painted? Do you have brick or stones on parts of the house?
Will doors and railings remain their existing colors?
Accents
Select accent colors for trim and details such as shutters, moldings and columns.
Too many colors will overwhelm your house and too few will make it seem two dimensional.
Dark and Light Colors
Light colors will make your house seem larger.
Lighter tones will highlight details which project from the wall surface.
Dark siding or dark bands of trim will make your house seem smaller

Darker shades are best for accenting recesses,
Harmony and Contrast, and Balance
Contrasting colors will draw attention to architectural details.
Extreme contrasts will clash and actually detract from details.
A burst of a single color on just one part of your home may give it a lopsided appearance. Strive to balance colors over the entire building.
 

Durability
The more intense a color, the more likely it is to fade.
Dark colors also pose more maintenance problems.
Dark colors absorb heat and suffer more moisture problems than lighter shades.
Dark paint fades, it’s difficult to touch up.

Sheen
Glossier surfaces show imperfections, brush strokes and touch up marks.
Glossy surfaces are easier to clean.

Preview your Color
Many paint stores and computer programs offer computer imaging to give you an idea of how a particular color will look
 

 

Reasons to Paint Before Listing Your Home

The first reason that comes to mind is that a "professional paint job" will increase the homes value! There are many other reasons for painting before listing your home for sale. Another reason is damage repair, when the sellers have children or pets and there are loads of hand prints, scuff marks and wall marks that need more than a touch up. All those hand prints add up, especially when you see them all by the light switches, and doors. If you try and touch them up, they usually look worse, the professional term is flashing. Ever try spot removing on cheap flat paint?..You end up with a bigger mess! Nothing cheapens the look of a room when you see "touch-ups" or stains. Another reason to paint is due to the wrong color. Those reds or lime green or baby blues need to go. Nothing makes a room look smaller then these colors, neutral is the name of the game. A fresh coat of paint can hide a multitude of sins, most notable those of the smelly category.

On the exterior of a home, probably the most important, especially the front entrance way. While the realtor is trying to gain access, this gives the most important first impression to the buyers. Nothing more embarrassing then a poorly painted entry door. Rotten wood, peeling paint, mold and mildew is not exactly a selling point, in actuality it can cost you at closing. Home inspectors always point these things out.