Repainting an Old Home: Tips and Tricks

The paint on your home’s exteriors not only enhances its overall visual appeal but also protects it from the weather. While proper care and maintenance are necessary to keep it looking good as new, issues such as flaking and peeling may still develop over time. This can be more prevalent in older homes, and simply painting over the affected areas won’t solve the problem.

Putting on a fresh coat of paint on an old home is no easy feat. You have to face several challenges, and they all involve careful planning and preparation. 

Do a Pre-Inspection

Before proceeding with painting your exterior, you need to check your home’s age and condition. It may have been repainted many times before, so it may take extra effort to scrape them all off. If you see signs of damage, you’ll need to fill up the cracks and gaps with filler and replace the affected areas if they’re too decayed beyond repair. If it was painted before or during the early 1980s, there’s a high chance that you’ll be facing lead exposure when repainting. Lead used to be a component in nearly every construction material before said period, including paint. You may end up damaging your health if this isn’t dealt with properly.

A simple and effective way to deal with lead-polluted paint is to wet the area when scraping it off the exterior. This reduces the dust particles and makes them less toxic. For your safety, however, you’ll be better off letting the professionals do it. 

Prepare Your Home’s Exterior

Sometimes, you just need to pressure wash and rinse the entire surface before repainting your home exterior. Primer may also be required, it’s only necessary if you’re painting over old latex-based paint with newer oil-based paint. This is because oil paints don’t adhere to latex paints. Primer is also necessary if the new coat of paint is a few shades lighter than the older paint.

Whether you need interior or exterior painting, you can count on the pros from Handyman Connection® of Mason to make you enjoy your home even more. Our painting services are provided by professionals with the specialized skills to get the job done right, from careful prep work through the final coat and cleanup. You can reach us at (513) 733-3777 to request an estimate. You can also fill out our online form to get started!