Are you planning to start a DIY project on your home? Do you want to know how to paint your house on your own? Today, that’s exactly what we are going to talk about.
How to paint your house yourself? Like every other DIY project, painting your own house also has two ways: an easy and hard way. And contrary to the belief, easy doesn’t necessarily mean poor results. Be it the interior of the house or the exterior, you can get great results.
Before we jump to the top tips on how to paint your house yourself, it’s important to know it’s a good idea. Let’s take a look at the benefits of painting your house yourself:
There’s no deadline as to when you want your project to be complete. You can paint your house at your convenience, and you can also take a break whenever you want.
Read this: How often should you paint your house?
Completing a project releases dopamine, a hormone that gives a sense of accomplishment, a reward. You must have seen that most of the people who indulge in DIY projects tend to be satisfied and happy. That’s because they are doing productive things beyond their day-to-day life.
Most people thrive when they learn something new. Whether that is a card game, a language or a new skill like painting your house. People thrive when they figure things out, see how to do something and then bringing it to practice. The same goes for when you learn how to paint your house. Interior or exterior.
Provided you don’t cause severe damage to your house while painting it, painting your house yourself saves you a good amount of money. If you know how to paint your house yourself, you’ll spend money only on paints and painting equipment. If you already have a major part of painting equipment ready with you, the costs will get even lower for you.
So, here comes the big question. While it’s true that a decent DIY house painting job will cost you less than hiring professional painters, it does incur some costs.
The rule of the thumb is that a gallon of paint covers about 400 square feet. That’s one coat, and you’ll need two coats for a smooth, even finish. So, depending upon the area of your house, you’ll need to calculate the total number of gallons you’ll need. You’d also like to keep the leftover paint handy and securely sealed for touch-ups.
As far as the cost of the paint is concerned, it completely depends on the quality of the paint you want to go for. Normally, you’ll get good, water-based emulsions in the range of $15-$30 per gallon. If you can increase your budget and get higher quality paints with special finishes, we recommend going for it.
House painting is a popular DIY project when it comes to home improvement. DIY house painting is fun, a great stress buster, and it’s affordable. With a few cans of paint, some equipment like brushes, ladders, buckets, rolling trays, you’re set to go. And yes, you’ll also need to practice a bit, and that takes patience, a whole lot of it. (We’re talking about painting indoor walls here. If you’re thinking about painting the exterior of your house, it might be a bit more stressful if you’re not well prepared.)
We’ve covered what’s and why’s of house painting. Now, let’s take a look at the 6 easy steps on how to paint your house yourself:
Prepping the surface is the first and most important step of painting your house. If you don’t know how to prepare your house for painting, don’t panic. Start with scraping the old paint off and see which walls need to be fixed. Sand residual paint, patch up all the dents and fill in all the holes in the wall. Fix all the cracks and dents. Even out all surface irregularities. This may not sound like the fun part of painting the house, but you can’t expect to get good results if you skip this first step. If there’s a cracked surface or a pockmark, no amount of any grade of paint will be able to fix or hide it.
Primer creates a layer between the structure and the paint that keeps the two different surfaces together. In simple words, primer helps the paint stick to the wall better and longer. The market is now full of paints that already contain primer, but their efficiency is nowhere close to a dedicated primer.
Plastic drop cloths are cheap, but they don’t absorb paint drips, canvas does. Canvas also sits flatter than plastic drop cloths. Canvas is rip-resistant and lasts longer than plastic drop cloths.
Extension poles work best if you don’t have trouble keeping your arms high for a long time. The best way to paint a house is to start from the top. On the interior, it means starting with the ceiling. If you have a step ladder, that will do just fine, but you may need to get up and down the ladder a lot to dip your brush/roller again and again.
And throw it out. What you need is a paint grid. The paint grid is the neater, less messy, and easier version of the paint tray. The paint grid goes straight into the paint bucket. So, all the post dipping paint you roll off the roller on the tray, it’ll go right inside the bucket. Let’s minimize the mess, shall we?
Knowing how to store the paint overnight is crucial when you learn how to paint your house yourself. Make sure you close the lids properly and the paint can is shut tight. Failing to do so may cause the paint to start drying overnight. Clean the brushes and roller thoroughly. You want to keep them usable till the end of the project.
So, now you have a clear idea of how to paint your house yourself. We are sure it’ll be an amazing experience for you. Feel free to contact us if you want to know more about house painting projects.
