You can spend your money on the most expensive and best brands of paint available in the market and still not get the best finish you anticipated. You might be wondering what might have gone wrong, and why you did not get the good quality finish you expected. The answer is simple, you might have forgotten to do the necessary prep work to ensure the clean and smooth surface for the paint to sit evenly and perfectly. The amount of prep work you do can determine the durability of your exterior painting job.
The majority of the painting failures are accounted with poor or insufficient prep work by their painting contractor. Some people often skip or cut corners on the prep work because it is tedious and time-consuming. Homeowners who perform do-it-yourself exterior painting often skip the prep work process because they simply do not understand just how important the prep work is for the longevity of their exterior painting. That, and well, let’s just be honest, it is hard work to do it right.
It is best to hire a professional painting contractor who can help you with the endeavour, and provide the necessary and enough prep work to get the best finish you wanted.
Prep Work Procedure
To help you go through the step-by-step prep work process, here is the procedure most professional painting contractors observe before applying a fresh coat of your chosen paint colour:
- Clean
Your house has collected dust and moulds through the years. You need to wash off these environmental contaminants before you could start painting. If you leave these impurities uncleaned, the paint will just stick on the dirt rather than the surface.
Peeling off paint is one of the common indicators that the exterior surface lacked cleaning before painting. If you look at the paint chip that falls off the wall, you will see dirt build-up. This means that the paint only sits with the dirt and not on the wall surface where it should be supposed to stick.
You need to ensure that your painting contractors made the necessary pre-painting complete wash down of the exterior walls. This will save you money and time. You will do better with mid-grade paints on a clean surface than expensive paint products on a dirt-filled wall.
- Dry
Paints do not stick on wet surfaces. After a thorough power washing, it is safe to give some time for the wall to dry up before you proceed with the next step.
- Scrape
When you see wall paints peeling or chipping off, it is best to scrape those paints off the surface. It is best to scrape off the loose coating until you are left with the well-adhered paint or the unpainted surface.
Peeling off paint can lead to a failed painting finish. There are different scrapers in the market you can use to do the trick. You need to be careful with scraping for it might damage the concrete wall.
- Repair
Cracks and holes need repairing before you start with the painting process. You also need to repair rotten wood during the prep work to avoid a bad painting finish.
- Sand
The next step is to sand all the paintable areas to achieve the smooth surface needed for paint application. The rough surfaces of the woods and even sides of the concrete need to be sanded to reduce the appearance of the transition from the bare surface to a paint-coated one.
After sanding the surfaces, it is important to dust off the walls before applying the primer and the paint. You can run a damp rag all over it or use an air compressor. You can also power wash the, but this will take some time to dry before you can prime.
- Prime
If your surface has dried up, and there are no more peeling paints or visible cracks and holes, you can start priming the surface before applying the fresh coat of paint.
For the best exterior painting finish, it is best to hire a professional exterior painting contractor who can help you and finish the job for you. Earl’s Paintworks, Inc. has been in service to their clients in Calgary and nearby cities in providing the best interior and exterior painting services.
