Painting the Exterior of Your Home

                                                                                         

Other than being the least expensive and quickest job to bring renewed splendor to your exterior, the benefits of home painting goes beyond curb appeal. It also provides your home added protection from weathering and all other damages brought about by natural elements. This is especially true with New York that enjoys a humid subtropical climate of mildly cold winters, intense summers, and erratic changes from hot to cool in between. This makes it important that homeowners give ample attention to exterior painting whether they are in Long Island, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, or Queens.

Though exterior home painting can be a fast job, do not fall into the pitfall of thinking it is as easy as one, two, and three. It is not. There are crucial decisions to be taken as well as tips and ideas to stick to in order to achieve a successful project finish. This article tackles crucial points.

Exterior Surface or Wall Preparation

Whatever your exterior is composed of—whether wood, aluminum siding, masonite, stucco, brick or other materials; the most important task to take is wall preparation. Before coating with paint, it is essential that the surface is thoroughly cleaned and any problems should also be fixed beforehand to avoid having to repaint soon. Some of the most typical signs of damage include blistering or peeling of old paint coat, cracks and discoloration. A clean wall or exterior surface which can be achieved by pressure washing, wire brushing for very rough wood, scrubbing or sanding; is a good foundation in ensuring project success.

Choosing Colors

Color really does make a difference. This makes it very important that homeowners go through the selection carefully. With the thousands of paint color choices and over a hundred of manufacturers, the task can be overwhelming. The good thing however is that there are lots of resources nowadays that can help you, if you just do your part and research. When painting your home exterior, note that the job will not only entail just one color but a palette of at least three mainly for the exterior itself, trim and accents. The best combination of colors, when applied skillfully, can both emphasize the gorgeous architectural features of your home as well as disguise the design flaws.

Paint Finishes

Another factor that adds up to the success of your exterior painting project is the finish that you choose. There are three exterior types of paint finishes and these include:

1. Flat paint finish is ideal for coating older houses as its no gloss quality enables it to hide wall imperfections excellently. However, it will not work as good with surfaces that are often moved and touched like doors and windows. Being the most porous among the three, it gets soiled faster and absorbs water easier.

2. Satin paint finish is the most popular choice among homeowners. The subtle sheen that it offers makes up for an appealing look that is neither dull nor flashy. More durable than flat paint, maintenance only takes regular pressure washing.

3. Gloss paint finish offers the most sheen and light reflectivity. Because of this, it is wise to use the finish sparingly as using it all over the exterior of the house will create a plastic look. This same quality also makes the littlest of wall imperfection stand out. As it works great in highlighting, then you should use this to draw attention to architectural details. Being the toughest and easiest to maintain, it will work great with windows, handrails, door frames and other high traffic surfaces.

About the author:
Eugene Makeev uses his skills and expertise to help home owners in Brooklyn, Long Island, Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island avoid pitfalls by matching their needs with prescreened painting contractors New York.

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