How to paint your house (exterior)
December 27, 2020 9:18 PM Subscribe
We have a one story, approx 1000 sq/ft stucco house. We are not extremely handy, but we have done home projects of medium effort before (small plumbing stuff, modest carpentry projects). My young adult kid has taken several construction classes and we both have done some (but not a ton of) interior painting. Can we paint the outside of our house successfully? What should we know?
I've ordered a couple books from the library, but would love your real-world experience. Is this a reasonable project for us to undertake over a 3 day weekend? What experience did you have doing this yourself?
I've ordered a couple books from the library, but would love your real-world experience. Is this a reasonable project for us to undertake over a 3 day weekend? What experience did you have doing this yourself?
I know that if your roof needs replacing in the next few years, it’s better to do it before you paint.
posted by mumkin at 10:05 PM on December 27, 2020
posted by mumkin at 10:05 PM on December 27, 2020
A tip I learned from a boat builder in 2001 and that my landlord concurrently learned the hard way was that you can’t paint wood when the air is really humid or it will all peel off within a few weeks.
posted by cardboard at 5:13 AM on December 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by cardboard at 5:13 AM on December 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
We lived in a small stucco house at one point and painted the exterior over a three day weekend - although we had done our prep work in advance.
Our home had painted wood trim around the windows and on the eaves and so forth - we had that scraped and sanded prior to our painting weekend.
My husband has worked in paint and coatings for years now and here is what I can pass on to you:
If possible, rent a sprayer. Tape off everything you don’t want sprayed and pick up a hand-held spray shield to help push back and protect landscaping.
Make sure the house is clean and dry.
The paint you buy will have application information, including a temperature range. Pay attention to that.
If you are spraying - watch out for wind.
Good exterior paint is expensive - but higher quality paint covers better and lasts longer. Go to an actual paint store (I’d recommend Rodda if they are in your area) rather than a big box store if you can - even Sherwin-Williams if that’s all that’s in your area. You should be able to get really good project and material advice there.
Good luck and have fun - a fresh coat of paint makes a place look brand new! Our stucco house was a dark grey and we painted it a light, soft green and it looked so lovely.
posted by hilaryjade at 6:25 AM on December 28, 2020 [3 favorites]
Our home had painted wood trim around the windows and on the eaves and so forth - we had that scraped and sanded prior to our painting weekend.
My husband has worked in paint and coatings for years now and here is what I can pass on to you:
If possible, rent a sprayer. Tape off everything you don’t want sprayed and pick up a hand-held spray shield to help push back and protect landscaping.
Make sure the house is clean and dry.
The paint you buy will have application information, including a temperature range. Pay attention to that.
If you are spraying - watch out for wind.
Good exterior paint is expensive - but higher quality paint covers better and lasts longer. Go to an actual paint store (I’d recommend Rodda if they are in your area) rather than a big box store if you can - even Sherwin-Williams if that’s all that’s in your area. You should be able to get really good project and material advice there.
Good luck and have fun - a fresh coat of paint makes a place look brand new! Our stucco house was a dark grey and we painted it a light, soft green and it looked so lovely.
posted by hilaryjade at 6:25 AM on December 28, 2020 [3 favorites]
I painted my house in a 3-day weekend. I will second a paint sprayer, it's the only way you're getting it done in a weekend. I ended up buying a sprayer so I could use it on other projects. I used Sherwin Williams Duration paint, which had good reviews. 5 years later, it is still perfect. I'm in Chicago, so YMMV in other climates. Don't get your paint at Home Depot or Lowe's - go to a standalone paint store and talk to them about what would work best. The people at the big box stores often have received no training on what paint works for different applications. Buy more paint than the minimum recommended amount - even if you don't use it, it will come in handy for touchups years down the road.
Prep work was done the weekend before; we pressure washed the house and did some sanding where needed. Our cedar shake was in bad shape, the previous owners just let the previous paint job peel and flake for probably years. Despite this, the new paint sealed everything quite well and have seen no additional peeling since it was painted.
On the Friday before painting, we taped and plastic-ed off all the trim and windows - this was by far the hardest part of the whole thing. If you're spraying, you need to cover everything that's you don't want painted, not just edges. Leave your cars as far away as possible, tarp off your fence and deck/patio, etc. Wind will make the overspray worse.
Saturday was the first coat. We worked very early in the morning, after the dew had dried up, but before the sun got too high. We started on the south side of the house, so we could give it the max drying time before it got too hot. Then we just worked our way around the house. I was up on the ladder with the sprayer and my husband spotted me and managed the equipment. With everything taped off beforehand, the actual spraying only took 2-3 hours.
Sunday was the second coat, which went slightly faster than Saturday. They were predicting rain on Sunday evening so we tried to go faster and give it more time to dry - again, YMMV on drying times so check your paint if this happens to you. We did wait until Monday to take off the tape and plastic, just to make sure that we wouldn't need a third coat (and because my arms were killing me.) A third coat wasn't needed even though were were going from a light-ish beige to a very dark navy blue.
It's definitely doable if you don't mind going up and down a ladder. I'd recommend wearing good solid shoes. My worn out running shoes had pretty soft soles and my feet were killing me. You will get covered in paint speckles, so wear crappy clothes and cover your hair. I had a ton of fun painting my house, and it was wonderful to see it go from dingy to new-looking in just a few days!
posted by little king trashmouth at 7:35 AM on December 28, 2020 [4 favorites]
Prep work was done the weekend before; we pressure washed the house and did some sanding where needed. Our cedar shake was in bad shape, the previous owners just let the previous paint job peel and flake for probably years. Despite this, the new paint sealed everything quite well and have seen no additional peeling since it was painted.
On the Friday before painting, we taped and plastic-ed off all the trim and windows - this was by far the hardest part of the whole thing. If you're spraying, you need to cover everything that's you don't want painted, not just edges. Leave your cars as far away as possible, tarp off your fence and deck/patio, etc. Wind will make the overspray worse.
Saturday was the first coat. We worked very early in the morning, after the dew had dried up, but before the sun got too high. We started on the south side of the house, so we could give it the max drying time before it got too hot. Then we just worked our way around the house. I was up on the ladder with the sprayer and my husband spotted me and managed the equipment. With everything taped off beforehand, the actual spraying only took 2-3 hours.
Sunday was the second coat, which went slightly faster than Saturday. They were predicting rain on Sunday evening so we tried to go faster and give it more time to dry - again, YMMV on drying times so check your paint if this happens to you. We did wait until Monday to take off the tape and plastic, just to make sure that we wouldn't need a third coat (and because my arms were killing me.) A third coat wasn't needed even though were were going from a light-ish beige to a very dark navy blue.
It's definitely doable if you don't mind going up and down a ladder. I'd recommend wearing good solid shoes. My worn out running shoes had pretty soft soles and my feet were killing me. You will get covered in paint speckles, so wear crappy clothes and cover your hair. I had a ton of fun painting my house, and it was wonderful to see it go from dingy to new-looking in just a few days!
posted by little king trashmouth at 7:35 AM on December 28, 2020 [4 favorites]
One addition to all the good advice above - consider renting a scaffold - especially if you are dealing with a hillside. It makes everything much easier. We painted our 1 story house a couple summers ago with rented sprayer and scaffold - not stucco but much painted cedar shake and the sprayer was much easier for coverage than a brush or roller given uneven surfaces. Doing good prep on trim is important too and don't neglect caulking before you paint.
posted by leslies at 8:50 AM on December 28, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by leslies at 8:50 AM on December 28, 2020 [2 favorites]
Is it an old house? Some (old) stucco contains asbestos, so I would wear a mask when you're working.
posted by pinochiette at 10:21 AM on December 28, 2020
posted by pinochiette at 10:21 AM on December 28, 2020
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I'm here to tell you the following (from experience): If instead of spraying, you hand-paint each horizontal stripe a different color and only work when you feel like it, it could take all summer. But you'd end up with a rainbow, which would be amazing.
(The only part we had trouble with was the second-story overhang, we didn't have a ladder tall enough to do it safely, so we contracted just that part out.)
Note: this was hardiplank, not stucco
posted by aniola at 9:30 PM on December 27, 2020 [3 favorites]