Easy Steps to Paint Your Home’s Interior and Exterior
Step 1. Prior to purchasing the paint, determine what type of paint is on the surface that your are painting. Simply take a clean white rag, pour de-natured alcohol onto the rag and rub onto the surface; if the paint gum’s up on the rag, this will determine that the paint is latex. If the paint does not come off, this determines that the paint is oil.
TIP: The number one mistake that home owners make, is to put latex paint over oil paint. This will cause the paint to peel off very easily. If you want to use latex over oil, you should prep the surface with oil based primer, then you can paint with latex.
Step 2. Before you prime and/or paint you first should patch all holes and cracks. This is a simple task as long as you use the correct products.
CAUTION: Homes built prior to 1970, may have been painted with lead paint. When scrapping or sanding these surface, use a dust mask or respirator.
Trim and Wood Repair: Interior and Exterior Surfaces:
Interior and Exterior wood surfaces; fill cracks with a caulking that is paint-able.
Interior woodwork, fill holes with painters putty or wood filler that can be sanded.
Exterior wood, fill larger holes with a spackling that dries hard. When the surface dries; sand the area and spot prime.
Dry Wall Repair; Interior Walls:
Sheetrock walls; with small holes, repair with drywall mud or spackling.
If holes are bigger than 1 inch, but less than 6 inches in diameter; purchase a square wire mesh that you cover the hole with, then apply dry wall mud.
This process will take some time: Apply a thin coat, let dry and repeat the process twice more, totaling 3-coats.
Tip:You can speed up the drying process by using a hair dryer, but use caution on holding it to close to the mud, as it will cause it to crack. If this happens, you need to reapply a thin coat of dry wall mud.
Option 1: When the dry wall mud is completely dry, sand with either 220 or 180 grit sandpaper. If walls are textured after you patch the holes you can blend it in by applying Sheetrock mud with a brush or sponge. Let tack up, when it’s almost dry take a spackling blade and pull down. When doing this have water and sponge to keep blade clean, (four to six inch spackling blades work best for this process). When the surface is dry, if it looks to heavy, sand it to your satisfaction and spot prime.
Option 2: Purchase premixed texture in a spray can (example: knockdown or orange peel splatter). Use caution, by covering up surrounding area, as the spray texture will land on unintended items. When this process is dry, spot prime.
Plaster walls; with small holes use a patching compound that is made for plaster walls. It comes either pre-mixed or you mix according to directions.
Brushes, Rollers and Spray Guns:
There are two types of paint brushes; “good ones and cheap ones”! You get what you pay for, buy the good one! If properly cleaned and stored, you will get many uses from a good brush.
Option 1: For latex paint; use a nylon brush, it will last through many jobs, as long as it is cleaned out completely with water and returned into the paint brush cover.
Option 2: For oil paint; use a china bristle brush, these brushes have very soft bristles. When cleaning these use mineral spirits or paint thinner (it usually takes three rinses to clean out).
Option 3: Roller naps use 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch diameter, 9 inches in length, on interior walls.
Option 4: Roller naps use 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch diameter, 9 inches in length, on interior flat doors.
Option 5: Roller naps use 1 inch to 1 1/4 inch diameter, 9 inches in length, on exterior walls.
use 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch on wood sofit.
Option 6: Spray Guns; cover surrounding area. Important: always strain your paint with a paint strainer TIP: nylon hose work great. Choose the correct spray tip: The higher the number on the tip, the wider the fan spray, (these tips are good for exterior walls, as well as new homes). The lower the number on the tip, the finer the fan spray, (these tips are good for spraying interior and exterior tip). Clean your spray gun after each use of all paints.
TIP: Five gallon buckets are better to work with than roller pans. If you do not finish your project in one day, you can slide your roller nap into the bucket and cover it with paint, seal bucket with lid or plastic.
TIP:When you have completed your project, store the paint, label it with the color and room used, as well as the date. If you used latex paint, sprinkle a few drops of water on top of the paint and seal, this will prevents it hardening.
Priming and Painting Interior Walls:
Step 1: All new Sheetrock or Plaster walls should be primed with a latex primer. All existing painted walls do not have to be primed unless you are changing your interior wall paint from oil to latex paint, (see above for this information). Also; if your walls are a dark color and you are wanting to go to a light color, it is recommenced to prime your walls with a tinted primer that is close to the color you are using to minimize number of coats of paint needed.
Step 2: Choose the correct paint for your interior walls and rooms: In most rooms you can choose either flat latex or a satin finish. In the kitchen and bathroom, you should use semi gloss on the walls.
Step 3: Woodwork should be painted with semi gloss or high gloss.
Step 4: Prep and Paint Ceilings first; cut in around edges, lights, fans and etc.
(A). Popcorn Textured Ceilings, should be sprayed. If you do choose to roll it, use a 1 inch diameter, 9 inch long roller nap. CAUTION: If the ceiling as never been painted the texture could come off, (you can determine if the ceiling has been painted when you cut in the edges. If the texture comes’s off in your brush, it has not been painted. Load the roller with an abundance of paint, roll in one direction and use little pressure.
(B). Knockdown Texture Ceilings, texture will not come off. Roll by starting about two fee away from the wall, roll back toward the wall then back forward, continue this process until the ceiling is completed.
Step 5: Paint Interior Walls; cut one wall in with a brush, then roll the wall out. This technique works very well using dark colors. TIP: If you are rolling right to left have the open end of the roller going the same way, this will eliminate the roller tracks. TIP: If you purchased single gallons of paint, always pour all of them in a five gallon bucket, in order to have the color uniform on all walls.
(A). Crown Molding; should be painted prior to painting walls.
(B). Trim; Door casings, start in the inside of the casing at the top, then the sides. Secondly, paint the outside casing where it meets the wall, then paint the outside of the casing starting from top to bottom. TIP: Always paint back into the wet paint, so you don’t see brush strokes. This process should be used to paint any surface.
(C). Painting Doors; start with edges. TIP: If you are painting your Front door and it opens inwards, paint the edge the same as your interior trim color. Metal doors, are best painted in the morning to avoid afternoon heat and cause them to dry to quickly. Panel doors, paint panel’s first then the remainder. Louver doors; Paint the back side first, then the front.
Cabinet Painting:
Step 1: Prep first by; covering counter tops, take all cabinet handles, pulls and other hardware off and put into a closed container. Label the inside of each cabinet with masking tape as well as the hinged area of the cabinet door with the same markings (example; abc or 123), this will save you time later.
Step 2: Paint the stiles first, the the cabinet doors, using a Ã?¼ to 3/8 diameter “fine” roller nap.
Painting Stained Cabinets:
Step 1. Sand all areas that you will be painting.
Step 2. Prime with an oil based bonding primer, this type of primer will take a day to fully cure.
Step 3. Paint with a good quality paint, gloss or semi gloss.
Prepping and Painting Exterior Walls:
Step 1: If mildew is present, use a bug sprayer, add bleach and spray on the mildew, let set on the area for a few minutes. TIP: Spray all surrounding plants with water and cover with plastic or something light weight to protect them.
Step 2: It is very important to pressure clean your exterior with a pressure washer, (if you do not have access to a pressure cleaner you can rent one, be prepared to rent it for a entire day).
Step 3: When the exterior is dry, patch cracks and holes. See above for these steps.
Step 4: Seal the exterior with water based sealer, this step is very important.
Step 5: You are ready to paint your exterior! Always use a exterior satin finish paint to paint stucco or block walls, as it has a low sheen. Exterior wood, use a semi gloss paint.
TIP:Using a flat paint will cause more mildew, especially if your home is surrounded by tree’s.
If you apply these fundamentals in painting, while taking your time, you will be satisfied with your paint job and will have taken “The Pain out of Painting”.
