Painting the exterior is a critical component of your home’s maintenance program.  For the do-it-yourselfer, here’s how to properly paint your exterior:

1. Purchase your painting hand tools, equipment, supplies, and paint materials, i.e. ladder(s), drop cloths, paint brushes, paint pads, rollers, roller covers, trays, liners and pole(s), five gallon bucket with a removable roller rack, sanding blocks, wire brush, caulk gun, hand masker, masking paper and tape, tubes of caulk, primer, and paint.  Rent or buy a power washer and spray equipment – if using a sprayer, make sure you have a spray shield handy.
2. Walk around your home and tie back your landscaping, and remove/cover all patio furniture, statuary, hoses, gardening fixtures … any and all things you don’t want covered in paint.
3. Prepare the surface – power wash the exterior siding, trim, fascia and soffits to remove dirt, flaking and peeling paint; wire brush, scrape, and sand where needed. Apply a primer to areas where raw wood or substrate is exposed.
4. Using masking paper and tape, cover all your windows, light fixtures, wall plates and switches, brick/stone, shutters, deck, deck or porch railings, and any other surfaces not to be painted.
5. Caulk window frames and door jambs to adjacent siding and trim.
6. When the caulking has dried, paint the siding, trim, fascia, and soffits.  Also clean and repaint all exterior doors including your overhead garage doors.  If time is not an issue, use paint brushes and rollers to paint the exterior.  You can use a paint sprayer to apply paint to the siding if you have been properly trained to use this piece of equipment.
7. Review your work – walk around your house and look for areas you may have missed or where caulk or paint coverage is thin and re-coat.
8. Remove all masking tape and paper, clean your brushes, rollers, and other equipment, and properly dispose of the trash.

Every spring or summer, walk around your home and look for areas where the paint may have worn or been damaged over the winter and touch it up.  In Colorado, you can expect a good quality exterior paint job to last around five years … longer if you have been diligent in keeping your home’s exterior properly painted.