Nothing brightens up the appearance of your home and lends it instant curb appeal as much as a fresh coat of exterior paint. Hiring an exterior painting contractor to paint your residence provides you with not only an aesthetic boost. It also helps to protect the outside of your house from the environmental forces that assault it on a daily basis. In a way, exterior painting in Kennesaw, GA, isn’t just for decorative purposes; it also applies a layer of armor that keeps your home safe from the elements.
But before the first brush stroke is applied to the outside of your house, there’s a long list of things that should be done to prepare the surface. Old paint crackles and flakes, caulk that sealed joints weathers and peels, and wood can become damaged by rot. It’s not wise to paint over any of those flaws, so the proper steps must be taken to remediate such issues and create a clean surface to which the new paint can properly adhere. Painting prep is of critical importance because it’s a step towards guaranteeing the best possible results. Keep reading to learn more about the importance of exterior paint preparation.
Lead to Better Appearance
Exterior paint is exposed to the worst that nature has to offer in terms of harsh forces that it must endure. It protects the wood beneath it from absorbing moisture, but it also must endure UV light that can degrade the chemicals in the paint and cause it to crackle and peel. That old, loose paint must be removed before new paint is applied or else the new coat will be compromised from the beginning. When you take the time to scrape away old paint and properly prime the wood, you get optimal results. The paint will be smooth and seamless, the colors will be true, and the paint job will look better for longer.
Extend Life Span of Paint
Again, applying new paint over damaged old paint is a bad idea because it effectively shortens the life span of the new coat. Paint must have a clean, smooth surface upon which to adhere, or flaking and chipping will occur prematurely. Painting the exterior of your home is a massive and costly undertaking, which means that you want to minimize the number of times you have to do it. By properly cleaning the surface, removing the old paint, and priming the exterior, you can ensure not only great results but great results that will last for years without diminished quality.
Replace Damaged Components
Another important benefit of proper paint preparation is that it gives you the opportunity to correct issues that could lead to greater consequences if left unattended. For example, if your aged caulk peeled away and left a seam exposed to moisture, you could have rotten boards. Painting over them won’t fix the problem. On the contrary, the rotten wood will creep and impact other parts of the home, making future repairs more extensive and costly. Part of exterior paint prep is assessing the wood beneath the old paint for damage and replacing it. That will help keep your home’s exterior strong and preserve its integrity.
Save Time and Money
You may not have considered it, but conducting the proper painting preparation can also save you time and money. Painting over unprimed exterior surfaces or existing blemishes will undoubtedly require more coats of paint. Because paint is expensive and the cost associated with each additional coat grows exponentially, the more coats that are required, the more your paint project will cost. By using proper preparation techniques, you’ll need fewer coats to get sufficient coverage. That will save you money. Also, because proper paint prep will extend the life span of your paint, it can help reduce painting costs over the long term since you won’t have to paint your home’s exterior as often.
House painters in Kennesaw, GA, know the importance of proper paint preparation when repainting a home’s exterior. It’s important because it can impact the beauty, longevity, and cost of your exterior painting project. If you’re ready to have your house painted, contact Fillo Painting at (770) 637-6302.