Whether your house is new or old, the exterior of your home needs regular protection against sun, rain, and wind. Over time, these environmental elements fade and tarnish paint, leading to discoloration, cracking, and chalking. Quality exterior paint provides lasting protection from these factors. It also adds to your home’s curb appeal. With the help of professional Painter Orange County you can get the result you want.
Paint Types
Exterior paint is a crucial part of the overall look and maintenance of a home. It protects the exterior from fading and moisture, while also keeping your house looking nice and bright.
There are many different types of exterior paint to choose from, and each one has its own characteristics that make it a good choice for a specific surface or project. Some of the key things to consider when choosing the right type include:
Flat, or matte, finishes are popular for body siding, shingles and other surfaces that get soiled often. They are also very easy to clean and hide blemishes in the surface.
Satin, or eggshell, finishes are popular for trim and other areas where light reflection is important. They are especially great for windows and doors, since they’re so shiny that they shine through any blemishes or imperfections.
Exterior paints typically use a resin as the binder that holds the pigments together and helps the paint adhere to a surface. The resins are soft, making them flexible and able to handle the huge temperature changes and moisture that exterior paints encounter.
Preparation
If you’re a professional painter, or if you’re painting your own home, there are several steps that need to be taken before the actual painting process begins. Following these basic tips will ensure that you get a professional paint job, and a beautiful result that lasts for years to come.
First, you need to know what kind of surface you’re working with. For wood, masonry or concrete, this will determine the approach that you need to take when prepping, priming and painting.
Second, you need to understand how old the house is and what type of paint or stain was used previously. If it’s an older home, there’s a chance that the paint was made with lead-based products and you should take all federally mandated precautions when scraping or sanding the exterior of your house.
The prep work for a professional paint job involves scraping loose peeling or flaking paint, sanding and primering. It’s important to get this done right because skipping it can cause a new paint job to fail.
Application
Paint is a type of coating that contains pigments, resins and solvents. The solvents bind the ingredients and suspend them in liquid form for application.
In a water-based paint, the main solvent is water. In oil-based paints, a variety of solvents such as acetone, turpentine, naphtha or mineral spirits are used.
Both types of paints contain additives that make them resistant to weather conditions such as rain and fading. Exterior paint has higher performance binders and additives than interior paint.
The softer resins needed for external paint to survive temperature changes and moisture damage are also more expensive than those used in interior paint.
While painting the exterior of your house, you should be careful not to use any chemicals that could harm people in your home. Generally, water-based acrylic latex paint is the best choice for this purpose.
Finish
Choosing the right finish for your exterior paint job will make a huge difference in how long your new color lasts. Whether you’re looking to enhance your home’s beauty or add durability, there are many different sheens to choose from.
Flat and matte finishes are both good options for a wide range of exteriors. They provide a smooth surface that hides brush strokes, roller marks, and other imperfections, and they stand up well to power washing.
Eggshell is another popular finish that works on many types of siding, including wood and stucco. It’s a bit more reflective than matte and also easier to clean.
Glossy sheens are on the other end of the sheen spectrum, and offer a dazzling look that stands out from the rest. They’re ideal for trim surfaces that take a lot of wear and tear, like windowsills or porch railings.
