On our Charlotte house, we didn’t have a lot of exterior painting to do. We installed vinyl siding, soffits, and windows and covered fascia and rake boards with aluminum cladding. But we still needed to do a bit of exterior painting (door casings and doors, for example). On houses with more exposed wood, you should know how to paint the exterior correctly. Here are some guidelines you can use to make sure your exterior finishing work will look good and hold up well.
Wood siding, such as shingles or clapboard, is often better off when finished with stain rather than with paint. Solid-color exterior stain gives wood a paintlike appearance, but it does not crack or peel the way paint can. To let more of the wood grain show through, use semitransparent stain, which is available in many wood tones and colors.
You can never have too many volunteers when it’s time to paint.
We use brushes and rollers of all different sizes.
Painting a new house is great because you don’t need to worry about getting paint on carpets and furniture.
People with rollers paint the walls and ceilings quickly, but it’s just as satisfying to work on trim with a brush.
Whether you choose paint or stain, make sure you buy a good-quality finish that is recommended for the use you have in mind. For example, you don’t want to paint a deck with porch enamel or use interior trim paint on exterior wood. The pressure-treated lumber used on many decks needs a penetrating sealer or stain rather than paint. Upright pressure-treated porch posts can be painted or stained with a solid color once the wood is clean and dry. Find out which brands and formulations knowledgeable painters and paint suppliers in your area recommend.
