Painting the exterior of your home is a great way to give your house a fresh, updated look. Exterior painting can bring out beautiful trim work details, cover up a dated color or make your home a true standout on your block. Whether you’re tackling an exterior wood trim painting project (think porches and shutters) or giving the whole house a new hue, exterior painting can be one of the most cost-effective ways to remodel and update the look of your home.
As you begin to think through colors for your home’s exterior, you might be wondering if you should hire professional exterior painters or do it yourself. While there are many exterior and yard projects home owners can DIY, hiring a professional exterior painter is the right choice if you want your exterior paint job to look beautiful and last for years to come.
Why Should I Hire an Exterior Painter?
Exterior painting is a complicated, intense job. Even if you’re a more experienced homeowner or handyperson, exterior painting presents its own set of challenges that are best tackled by an expert. Plus, it requires hours outside in the sun and many trips up and down ladders or scaffolding.
Exterior painting requires extensive prep work, and sometimes even extensive repair work. Depending on your home’s siding material (wood, Hardie Plank, stucco, etc.) and the length of time it’s been since it was last painted, the prep and repair steps could be up to 85% of your project time. If you don’t complete these steps properly, you could compromise your exterior paint job. In fact, you could literally shorten the life of your new paint job by years, costing you even more time and money in the long run.
What are the Benefits of Hiring a Professional Exterior Painter?
We’ve already mentioned some of the benefits of hiring an exterior painter, but let’s go into more depth. When you trust your exterior painting project to an exterior painting professional, you’ll get the following benefits:
Your Safety
Climbing up a ladder to get to the 2nd story of your home is dangerous. Maneuvering along different pitch angles on your roof is hazardous. Most ladder injuries occur when jumping from the bottom rungs and landing on the ground awkwardly. Whether it’s a 2-story ladder or a step ladder, you need to consider your safety when debating whether to paint your house yourself or hire a professional exterior painter.
Fastidious Attention to Repairs and Preparation
The best professional exterior painters will be honest and forthright about the extent of work the exterior of your home will need before the first coat of paint is applied. Most homes will need to have–at minimum:
- Power washing to clean
- Old paint scraped and removed
- Primer applied to bare wood
- Wood siding replaced or repaired
- Joints, gaps and seams around your entire home caulked
- Tape and tarp to protect
- 2 full coats with proper dry time
Some exterior painting projects will also require exterior wood repair. A professional exterior painter will make sure to identify any areas where the exterior of your home has been compromised, either with water damage, wet or dry rot, or any other issues that would compromise your new paint job. If these repairs aren’t addressed, the new paint will crack and bubble and look worse for wear (not to mention those compromised areas could cause further damage to your home).
Most homeowners are not equipped or able to handle this important step in their exterior paint project. That’s why it’s great to have a professional exterior painter on board for your project.
No Messes
Even if you’ve painted several interior rooms on your own, you’ve probably had one or two drips land on the floor. Or, if you managed to avoid drips, you had to deal with endless drop cloths, piles of tape and brush cleanup.
A professional exterior painter will work efficiently on your repairs, sanding and other prep work, and won’t leave your home a mess at the end of the day. During the painting stage, they’ll take great care that every coat is picture perfect, and you’ll never have to worry about streaks and drips.
While your exterior painting project, in total, might last for more than a few days, you won’t have to deal with cleaning up after yourself each day. The time and money saved in this step alone is a main reason many homeowners hire a professional exterior paint expert.
High Quality Painting Using the Proper Paint and Tools
Not all siding is created equal. In fact, different materials require different types of paint if you want your project to last for years to come.
A professional exterior painter will know exactly the right high quality paint and tools to use on your home. No need to go to the hardware store and hope you’ve picked the right primer or color; a professional exterior paint expert will know exactly which paint and tools to use on your home and how to use it.
Faster Turnaround Time
If you think you can “weekend warrior” painting the exterior of your home, you’re likely in for many, many weekends spent on your project. A professional exterior painting company knows your time is valuable, and will work efficiently so your project is finished in a timely manner.
You’ll typically get a team of experts on your exterior paint project. That means your project will finish on time and on budget, without sacrificing all of your weekends and spare time. You work hard during the week, is it worth your time to burn up weekends painting instead of spending time with family and friends?
Exterior Paint Color Expertise and Consultation
Exterior paint colors come and go in popularity (anyone remember that 70s brown?). It can be difficult to choose the right color for your home’s style and neighborhood. A professional exterior painter is also a color expert and can help you choose the right color for the exterior of your home. They can also help you choose the right trim colors, or which color will most make your home’s architectural details pop.
Exterior Paint Warranty
A reputable professional exterior painting company will provide a warranty to cover your exterior painting project. The warranty covers both labor and materials, and you’ll be provided with your professional exterior painting warranty in writing at the time of your exterior painting project quote.
Professional Exterior Painters for your Home Painting Project
Our professional exterior paint experts are ready to help you give the exterior of your home a new look. We repair, prepare, prime and paint exteriors with the greatest care and attention to detail. Contact us today for a free exterior painting quote.
