Tips For Painting Your Home’s Exterior Yourself
We purchased our home almost two years ago now and I still remember the first time I drove up the driveway for our showing with our agent. I immediately fell in love with the landscaped secret garden in the back and that there was a kid’s play area already set up from when it was an in-home daycare, two owners before. One thing that wasn't an instant check mark...the colour.
It was very apparent that the previous owners had a love for colour, especially with the inside being a different bright colour in every room. But, their choice for the outside was a bit too, well, brown. It was a very yucky brown with tan trim, white doors and bright orange accents. It was a shame as the home is 103 years old, well-kept and has cedar shake under all that paint. I knew it had to go.
But, we wanted to focus on the inside, our living space when we moved in, so we put covering the poopy siding on the back burner until we could either allot the time to DIY it or find the budget to hire professionals.
This year we needed a new roof put on. It wasn't a shock as we knew it was in rough shape when we purchased the home but that ate up most of our budget for any unnecessary projects. But, with all the time we were stuck at home, and planning to be in the future, the outdoor colour just didn't go with our vision for the house. I longed for a colour that I'd be pumped to decorate through all the seasons and this brown wasn't doing it for me.
So we started looking into how we could DIY the job, the colour we wanted to go for and the timeline it would take. And here is what we learned:
Take Your Time With Your Colour Choice
Painting your home is NOT cheap and takes a lot of time. With that in mind, make sure you choose a colour that you will love for years to come.
As you can see, we went black and bold. But this wasn't a trendy decision we took lightly. Rob had envisioned a black home since he was a kid, but I wanted white. We also had to cover a dark colour so knowing we were doing it ourselves, and most importantly Rob would be taking on most of the task, we decided to go black and bold after a full year of discussing the pros and cons of the colour choices. We also chose Behr Paint’s 2020 Colour of The Year, Back To Nature for our front doors and it was perfect against the black.
Choose A Great Quality Paint
We have tried many different types of paint on the inside of our home and BEHR MARQUEE® is by far our favorite to paint with. That made it a no brainer to go with the BEHR MARQUEE® Exterior Paint in flat for the exterior of our home. It was super easy to use and covered extremely well in only one coat. We did two for good measure.
Prep Before You Paint
This is huge for any project but especially for your exterior. This can involve scraping, pressure washing and sweeping away old paint, debris and all the bugs and cobwebs that find themselves on your outside of your home.
We were very lucky as they had only painted right before we purchased the home so scraping wasn't something we had to do. But, with our pressure washer on the lowest setting we washed the exterior and then let it dry for two days before we began painting.
Check Your Weather
There is nothing worse than starting a project and then getting rained out. Word to the wise—make sure you have a good three-to-four day span of sunny weather before you start painting. It will allow you to hit the ground running and also help with the paint adhering to the siding.
Choose Your Medium
We have painted a lot of interiors in not a long time with a good ol’ paint brush and roller. We started off doing this the same. I would cut into the cedar shake with the brush and Rob with the thickest plush roller we could get (a 15mm) would cover the siding behind me. It was a bit tedious and took us four days to complete two sides of the house.
But then we discovered the paint sprayer we could rent from a supply company in our town, and they are also available to rent or buy through The Home Depot. It was a lot more prep as you needed to make sure anything you didn’t want painted was covered, but it cut our time down in less than half and we were able to finish the next two sides in only a day and a half. I would 100% recommend using a sprayer but totally get if you like the control of the trusty brush and roller.
Be Ok With Imperfections and Mistakes
As a first time exterior painter it's ok to have imperfections. You are the only one who will know that they are there. And they will be sweet little reminders that you did it all yourself and worked your butt off doing it.
We are so happy with how the house turned out. It took our century home and made it look instantly new and modern, with a vintage twist. We now get neighbors stopping by as they walk just to compliment us on the colour and how much better it looks black.
If we were to give you any advice if you are thinking about painting your home, it would be to just do it. Invest in the paint and the gear and start. It's super daunting, Trust us, we know. But, once you are in the midst of it, it's actually pretty easy and straightforward. We believe in you ;)
Thank you Behr Paint For Supporting our family by sponsoring this post.