The Secret to a Good Paint Job

In today’s world there are many people who paint. Homeowners, DIY’s, Painting Contractors, Remodelers, and Handymen are just a few that come to mind. To some of them painting seems to be viewed as a trade that is easy. “Anyone can paint”, and “It’s just painting” are a few remarks I have heard over the years. However there is one key ingredient that sets apart an average paint job, from an outstanding painting job.

That key ingredient is preparation. Now when I speak of preparation, I mean preparing the surfaces to be painted. This can be anything from cleaning to caulking. Prep work not only enhances the beauty of the finished project, but also the longevity of the coating.

It’s a very simple concept. Let’s use an exterior substrate as a common sense example. Some siding has an abundance of dirt and mildew all over. Obviously, cleaning the surface with a solution which will  kill the mildew and clean the dirt off is important. It not only enhances the look of the coating by giving it a clean, even surface but also, creates a better bond between the substrate and coating used. It’s important in this situation to thoroughly clean the surface. That is just one aspect of a thorough prep job on an exterior surface. We haven’t even mentioned any necessary scraping, sanding, priming, caulking, puttying, or patching.

Now let’s look at some interior walls. Sanding the walls thoroughly with a pole sander is normally an extremely important, but often overlooked step in the painting process. It not only enhances the look of the surface by ridding it of contaminants (i.e. fibers off a roller cover from the last time it was painted), but also allows for a better bond between the new coating and the existing coating. Just as was stated above about the exterior prep, we have only mentioned one minor detail of a thorough prep job on walls. There is still the cleaning, patching, priming, and caulking to trim.

Now in both instances mentioned not every aspect of a perfect prepartion job was mentioned. There are steps that are unique for every situation of every project. Some might be needed for one project, all or more for another project, or none for yet another project.

It may seem like “the secret” is really common sense, but it is way too often overlooked. To many, painting is just painting, but to get the most of out your painting, the key is simple - preparation!