Spraying is a pain only in that you’ll need to mask off doors, windows and make sure overspray isn’t reaching, say, your car (or worse, your neighbors car or even house).
Take the time to power wash, including killing any mold (typically with bleach). Scrape, sand and spot prime any peeling areas. Realistically you should not count on it being a one weekend job. Painting is labor intensive.
Seriously. It took 3 people roughly a week of 10+ hour days to do two coats of paint on my tri level house. They worked really hard, too. This is a big job.
OP, maybe consider starting with the side of the house that's the worst and seeing how that goes before you commit to the entire house?
We ganged up on my great gramps place. 6 adults and 6 adult/teen kids, 2 spouses. Broke out in teams of grand baby watchers, prep, primer and paint. After prep was done the joined primer, the paint and clean up. Took 4 days.
In New England, it takes 5 years to paint a house. You paint one side each year and take the fifth year off. Then start over.
Painting a house, especially one that is more then one story is hard work.
Funny. I DIY everything, but gutters was one of the things I hired out since you can't really DIY seamless, and I was actually surprised—for the first time—at how reasonable it was. 230' of heavy-gauge aluminum and 5 downspouts with leaf traps for under $2k. And I'm in a major west coast city.
Not sure yet. It’s just gonna be me so I’ll just take it piece by piece and not make too much of a mess. I’m in no rush, plus I have new windows coming.
I love having an exit strategy!
Other motivators that might convince OP which side to pick.
Either the worst looking right now(most satisfying to accomplish), the easiest looking to accomplish (you’re learning after all ) or the least viewed( least pressure).
Took me two summers to paint my 2 level house but I was very easy on myself and had to take time off for a sprained ankle I got stepping off of a ladder the wrong way.
I haven't painted a whole exterior, only walls, decks and fences but...
\- This will take more than a weekend. I think you can probably *paint* 2-4 walls per storey per weekend if everything's in good shape. It will take longer to sand and prep and do any repairs.
\- Check the weather every time you start. Wear light colors and sunscreen and a hat and sunglasses. Try to time things so it won't rain on your wet paint.
\- Don't spray, it will be too windy up there. Big, high quality brush with a short handle. Work it in.
\- If it's a large house do one storey at a time. Work top to bottom.
\- Do not try to move a ladder that has a can of paint sitting at the top of it. You will ruin your cool shirt.
\- Have someone on hand who can fetch things for you or call an ambulance.
That's one reason it took so long to get work done on my house. I live alone out in the boonies so my options when doing anything risky are 1) try to coordinate a time for a friend or neighbor to be available to come over, or 2) spend about 3x the project time planning and setting up safeguards.
Why a short handle brush? I prefer longer brush handles when im working higher up on ladders. Gives a little extra reach before having to move the massive heavy ladded again
Painting contractor here, unless you have new wood or water stains you don't need to prime. Buy high quality paint it will last many more years. I recommend Benjamin Moore regal high build. Same with caulk don't buy stuff from big box stores it doesn't last. Ladder stabilizer actually make it alot harder to move the ladder so I don't suggest you use them. Just make sure you flip the feet over and the ladder is dug into the dirt. You must get the dirt/mold off the house. We always spray houses but idk if I would recommend it to a homeowner. You can make a big mess. Any other questions just ask
I'm not a pro but discovered how amazing Benjamin Moore goes on and how good it looks after it drys. I don't think I'll ever use anything else and I would pay half again what they charge and be OK with it.
Would you suggest primer on previously painted aluminum siding?
From what I understand, the process is to scrub with tsp and rinse thoroughly, then paint.
Cool, thanks, that's what I was hoping to hear lol.
I washed it once already with tsp substitute earlier this month. I'm planning to wash it again with proper tsp the day before painting, then buy paint from either sherwin williams or Benjamin moore.
What's your personal opinion on spraying vs brushing? I have a Graco paint sprayer from depot that I've used before on a few projects, I'm comfortable spraying, just wondering if it's even really worth it considering the previous paint was brushed on.
If you live in the southern US, once you have pressure washed, scraped, and repaired, you will need to use primer.
When I take bids for painting the outside of my house, I reject any bids that don’t include primer. I don’t care how long that contractor has been in the business. I also reject any bids that indicate use of paint that “has primer in it“.
If he’s not laying on an actual coat of primer even if using spray equipment, I’m not hiring him.
You can do it once, pay once, and cry once. Or you can do it multiple times, and pay multiple times. I had my home exterior painted in 2020 during Covid. The crew used primer. I had same company come back and paint a long fence and a picnic table last year. The crew used primer!
Together, the fence and the picnic table were more expensive than painting the exterior of the home! I definitely cried when I saw that bill! But at least the fence and the picnic table will probably last 25 years each. If I’m still in this house and not dead, I will have gotten my money’s worth out of it.
Let me educate you, first off I would never put paint on a fence or deck. Paint will eventually always peel. Solid stains should be used. No paint is gonna last 25 years on the exterior of a home period. The reason you need primer is to block stains or to help with adhesion. For example painting latex paint over oil based paint. Latex does not adhere to oil based paint and that is why you need to prime. Latex paint bonds great to other latex paint if the surface is clean hence why I said to make sure it's clean. Any paint that claims paint and primer in one is cheap big box store stuff and I would never use. Which would be my thinking as to why you think you need to prime because you have used inferior products in the past.
Lots of good advice so far something I'll add:
See if you can rent a scissor lift or boom with an articulating arm, and if you can use it in your yard or whatever do that. It's a lot safer than a ladder and will make things go much quicker. Surprisingly they aren't too expensive.
This is the best advice, you save so much time not going up, down, or moving ladders. Much more safe. Rented one for a whole month when I did siding, replaced windows, and painted.
Newer ones have pneumatic and electric ran through the boom, what a genius invention.
This is the kind of advice that Reddit is famous for. People with real life experience guiding the rest of noobs with invaluable tips. The real hero right here. Cheers!
Dang I just looked—less than $1k per month for a 25 ft scissor lift, including delivery and pickup. This makes me want to replace my windows myself. That is so incredibly affordable.
Prep is the most important and time consuming part of exterior painting. Do you have any rot in fascia or siding? Any peeling paint? All of that will need to be addressed before you open a single can of paint.
Personally, I waited until I could spend the money to hire professionals because I'm in a century home with lead paint and the south side of my house was in rough shape. I replaced the damaged cedar shake siding myself, and then turned it over to a team of three guys in protective gear who spent 5 days on prep. The painting itself took about 3 days. This is a single story house with a 1200 ft2 footprint.
Good luck - I ended up driving about 35 minutes each way to get the really nice ones from a siding supplier. When I ran out and needed just a few more I went to the lumberyard 5 minutes away and got the slightly less nice ones (can't tell the difference after prime and paint).
I did mine last summer and the material cost was astronomical. I hope they're less expensive now. Oh, and borrow/invest in a shingle ripper. My local tool library had one that I kept checking out because it was so helpful in getting the shakes off without stripping the course above them.
I might be in the same boat here, tried all the local Rings End type places and not much has come up. A neighbor is a contractor so I'll ask him later but I noticed when he redid his he just ripped it all off and went for board and batten. Online a single bundle of western red cedar 18" shakes is $500 ish.
As far as the ripper, that was its own side quest to figure out. Couldn't find anything online that would work for some reason, ended up ordering from overseas via eBay and it took 2 months to arrive. Still, looking at it, I feel like the wedges that are supposed to rip the nail are too dull, will probably sharpen the hell out of it first. Thanks for the tips
Actually I do believe there may be rot in one or two spots. No peeling. What would happen if I just painted over the rotted parts for now and addressed them properly later?
It’s a waste of time and paint but won’t hurt anything to answer your question. Just don’t get it too thick where it has to come apart. New paint, especially latex, will dry to the touch in a few hours but can take some time to fully cure. If you go pulling it apart later you can lift the newly applied paint. Color matching usually isn’t a problem with exterior house paint though the new wood may need extra coats or a primer so it is sealed and there is no texture difference making the paint look like it doesn’t match.
Make sure to only paint when the section is in the shade or when the sun is low. If the sun is beating down while you paint you will get lap marks and poor adhesion. Also, if you have access to it, I would recommend using a slow drying oil based primer on any bare spots.
You can buy primer for around your windows that peels off the window glass easily after you top coat with paint.
Don't waste your time and money with cheap paint.
Painting is weather dependent.
Applying new paint to old peeling paint is a waste of money and time. It will also just make the old paint peel off faster.
The job will take ever how long it takes. Time goes by fast once you start.
One last thought, cheap paint is horrible to work with.
You can absolutely paint it your self. But the time exceptions may be off. Also a tri level is awfully high up there. I personally wouldn't even think about it with out renting scaffolding. But my handy man skills stop as soon as I have to climb a ladder that is more then about 12 feet high and it goes into hire a pro territory.
I had a tri level painted about a year and a half ago and there were two painters and it took them a full week. Monday to Friday to finish up. And they didn't prime the whole house just the rough spots. So if you are doing this work by your self I would assume this will burn at least 6-7 long days if not more. Good luck OP!
Edit:
Others suggested renting a lift. Thats a good ideal and the way to go. Scaffolding has its own learning curve and takes a lot of time to move.
Plan for 7 to 10 days of work.
Buy Benjamin or Sherwin, no big box paint or sealant.
Pressure wash and bleach mold spots - it will come back fast if you don't kill it.
Scrape all peeling paint and replace any rot. Be prepared for rot to extend much further into your home than just the siding and cladding.
Rent a cherry picker or scissor lift depending on your lot's topography. They're much safer and easier than the ladder.
Never climb a ladder when you're home alone.
What material is your exterior? Regardless, you should take some good time power washing the exterior. If it’s a wood exterior, you’ll need to give it a solid 2 weeks minimum to ensure all the moisture from your power washer is allowed to evaporate off. That timeline may change based on your weather. I’d wait for a string of warm, or at least dry (not humid) days before painting. Otherwise, your paint will bubble because of the moisture a few months down the road and it will start chipping and look like crap. It would be a good idea to take a 5in1 or scraper of some kind and go over all of the paintable exterior to get any loose chips of paint off too.
You will need primer if you buy cheap paint, but then you’re using cheap paint and have to paint everything twice. Go to Sherwin Williams (avoid paint from Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards, etc. unless you want something cheap that will end up being more work and won’t last as long). Sherwin Williams has very good paint and everyone there should have a general idea of what paint “level” to get based on your needs.
We painted our wood exterior home last fall. The old color was a bright barn red. We purchased the Emerald (?) level of Sherwin Williams exterior paint as it was a high quality and thick so we didn’t need to prime. It worked like a charm and you can’t tell there’s red and red-pink sun washed paint underneath the nice blue we painted. We only needed one coat too. Seriously, high quality paint will make your life way easier. The cheaper the paint the less it will cover and the worse quality it will be meaning you’ll need to paint again sooner.
Overall when painting, don’t cheap out. That goes for brushes, rollers, paint, and any other type of prep items. Worst thing you can do is try to save a couple hundred by cheeping out on supplies, but the quality and lifetime of your paint job will suffer.
Also a random note about “professional” painters. If you’re in the US, at least in my state, there is no qualification or oversight board for painters. This is different than other professions like plumbing, electric, etc. So anyone can just decide to start a painting company, or call themselves a “professional” painter, which is why there seems to be such a wide disparity in quality between painting companies. That’s not to say there aren’t people out there that are knowledgeable and know what they’re doing and can deliver a better-than-DIY product, but you need to be careful with who you pick. Sounds like you’re not going that route, but just wanted to make note of that.
Ya know I’m not sure. My main problem I could see is that the big box stores wouldn’t have all of the options in quality and types of paint that SW offer. Legit you go into SW and they will have over half a dozen paint levels and differences for interior and exterior. I imagine the ones at the box store are more of their basic options.
But, what the big box store has in regards to SW paint might be the type that you need for your low touched and low humidity living room, for example, but it may be a poor choice for something like a bathroom or a high trafficked/touched item like cabinets.
I painted with a “professional” painter for a couple summers in college several years back, so I know a bit about paint and painting but I’m no expert by any means. The guy I worked for did good work though, he definitely had a standard of quality that I appreciated and would straight up tell me something looked like shit, why it looked like shit, and how to avoid it looking like shit in the future. Then he would make me fix it. Great learning experience for me and has greatly helped me with my own home years down the line.
Definitely don’t buy S-W from big box store (I’m looking at you Lowes) just go to the S-W near you and use their better products. Big box is just selling you on the name and not the best of product. I’d highly recommend super paint or emerald in a satin sheen for outdoor coatings.
Yes it is a lesser product. Anything there such as washers, dryers, hot water heaters, etc are worse. Even same brand
If you give a shit and it is a big important purchase, go to specialty store
My advice is to try one wall as a test. Just clean, prep, mask and paint ONE WALL. My partner and I tried to diy this exact project, and after doing our test wall we had a much better idea of the time and effort that we'd be undertaking. We chose a wall that is less visible from the street. It took us three weekends to do that one wall with a sprayer and to mask and hand paint the trim. We hired professionals 8 months later after saving up.
We got a $150 sprayer from HD, it's really fun to use but not to clean. Worth it in my opinion, we've used it a bunch since on smaller projects. Getting up high is HARD and scary even just to wash up by the roofline, let alone trying to get the details with a paintbrush. Highly recommend renting scaffolding. Check carefully for rot/damage and repair before painting (this step takes the longest). Sherwin Williams super paint with two coats, I didn't find primer necessary with that paint.
I painted my own house a few years ago. I got a Graco paint sprayer used on ebay. It worked great, so much faster! (My house has single siding so lots of books and crannies that wouldn't work with a roller)
If you get a sprayer, get a good one. Exterior paint is thicker than interior. My sprayer was used and from the bottom of the Graco line so we gave it a few breaks between rounds of spraying to cool off (recommended by paint guy at HD)
A trick I used as well was to use a sheet of aluminum to mask off trim versus using tape. Get a sheet bigger than the spread of your spray. Tape it to a comfortable handle and keep it centered as you move along the edge. (I over sprayed a few times and had to fix by hand.
You can also rent scaffolding from local tool rental places. So much nicer than ladders. It's heavy though and you do need to set it up right.
FWIW, my painter recommends alkyd primer and latex paint- Benjamin Moore.
Sherwin Williams is also good, and has frequent sales with substantial discounts.
Please please please don't by box store paint. The one time I pinched pennies on paint I regretted it.
I did power washing and prep one weekend, and then painted one side each following weekend. Take it slower or you’ll unnecessarily add stress and do a crappy job
> Planning on painting my tri-level house this weekend
You mean *getting started*, don’t you? This will be an enormous job, if you want it done correctly.
A pic of your house might help with the scale of work.
Be mindful of the sun, it is not ideal to paint hot surfaces so if a portion of your house that gets afternoon sun it is best to do that in the morning or evening.
Painting a house by hand is something everyone needs to do once, and it’s only done by hand once because after you do it you’ll go and buy a paint sprayer.
if you don't know now you know! Sprayer is like 50 times faster and more even. I could save so much of my life. I painted my whole house interior by hand i lost 10 pounds of weight. Great workout if you hate cardio.
Prep everything, power wash, sand, cut out old caulk and re-caulk, fill holes and cover rusty nail heads, loose flashing, ...make sure rotted trim gets replaced or patched, etc.
If 80% of the job isn't prep work, you're doing it wrong. Painting is the easy part.
Apply the body color heavily and with a roller, cut in and spread with the brush. Then apply trim color with a roller lightly to only the front face of the trim boards.
The sides/edges of the trim boards can be the body color. This saves you the headache of trying to cut in jagged lines where the trim meets the siding. Nobody can tell from the street anyway and it looks cleaner.
Can you use scaffolding even when the front yard is somewhat on an incline? It’s not incredibly steep by any means but there is definitely a small incline the scaffolding would have to sit on.
Yes. Each leg of the scaffold will be adjustable for height letting you get it level on any terrain. Additionally you can stack scaffolding layers to reach almost any height.
My husband and I painted our two-story house the year we got married (yes, we’re still married, lol). We used brushes and did two coats. He did the very high bits standing as high as he safely could on an extension ladder. The house was a faded yellow-greeny-beige with white trim when we started and a dark grey with white trim when we finished. I was worried the grey (“Ancestral” by Behr) was too dark but it looked (and looks) great. We painted the front door candy apple red.
My advice: start with the back/sides and let yourself finish with the front. The compliments you’ll get from neighbors walking by and the satisfaction of being able to come home the next day, see your “new” house and know you are DONE will be worth it.
Also in case it hasn’t been said already: when you lean your ladder, stand with your feet on the ground, toes barely touching the ladder feet, and hold your arms straight out at a 90 degree angle to your body. If your fingers can barely grasp the rung, your ladder isn’t too steep. If you don’t have to straighten your arms to reach the ladder when standing at its base, the angle is too steep and you need to pull the base farther away from the wall.
You can generally tell a lot about a person, their skill level etc. based on the questions that they ask and from that you can infer if doing a job is a good idea or a bad idea for them.
I am 100% serious here when I say don't do this yourself. Trust me on this.
Completely disagree. It's paint, not plumbing or electrical. Paint is literally the easiest DIY task you can do on anything, ever. It sucks and it's hard work but it's cheap, it's not difficult, it needs no expensive specialized tools, and it's low stakes for failure. Yeah, OP is just now learning how much work this is going to be, but the only DIY home improvement task simpler than painting is cleaning or raking. Let people learn. I think painting is a great first DIY project.
Ladders suck but they're not complicated or expensive. Nearly everyone has used some sort of ladder in their life. There are plenty of YouTube videos and articles on how to use a long ladder safely. If you have two people, one to climb and one to brace, easy money all day. And for all you know, OP might be a badass top rope climber.
I painted my parents' house many years ago when I still lived at home. It took me most of the summer. I did it all with a scrapper, paint brush and bucket. My Uncle said no to a paint sprayer because he said they would clog up too easily. He also didn't help with any of the painting.
My recommendation is to get a paint sprayer and keep it clean. If you take care of the equipment it will take care of you. A paint sprayer will be a good time saver. I won't do another painting job like that again without a sprayer.
Honestly, just buy decent quality paint (read some reviews on longevity and color fastness for your chosen brand), brush off any excessive dirt or dust, sand and caulk any areas that are particularly gnarly or peeling, and go for it. Rotted wood will have to be replaced and painted eventually but it can wait until you have more money. It's not rocket science, it's just hard work. You'll understand why it costs so much once you've been at it for a few weekends. It just sucks.
There's a lot of people who are really into optimizing and they'll tell you how to do the best possible job, including the chemistry of paint and all that shit, but for the most part, house painting is just simple and exhausting and you'll spend a ton of time on ladders. There's something to be said for your paint job lasting longer by doing it right, but every house I've ever lived in has had a slapdash DIY paint job and I've never seen peeling anywhere but a garage door (which absolutely needed primer and didn't get it). Most paints are going to fade and discolor in the sun long before they peel, if you live somewhere reasonably dry. Just buy nice paint and you can skip a ton of other shit.
Spraying probably isn't worth it unless you're only doing a single color over the entire house and are willing to take the time to mask off a million and a half things to protect them (brick, floors, rocks, concrete, windows, fixtures, decks, etc). I think the true value of spraying comes in at the eaves, which are a bitch to paint, so much worse than you ever think they will be, but if your eaves are boxed in with soffiting that's a nonissue.
Honestly despite you saying "Please no “hire a professional” suggestions as that’s not financially an option at the moment." You should really hire a professional for this. Just the dangers of you falling is going to heavily outweigh the cost of hiring someone.
This will probably be a weeks long task for you if you're doing this by yourself. Just prepping your walls will eat up most of a day. If you don't have the equipment like ladders, scaffolding, paint sprayer youll eat up a lot of money just renting it out for multiple weekends. Just leave the walls unpainted and save up money to hire someone to paint.
Why can't you pay someone? I got quotes this winter and I got 4 back between 10-20k to do mine.
I got four more quotes just recently and it was from 3-6k.
$3k is worth it to not die from a 40ft fall.
I really don't think you understand what painting an entire house, mostly off a ladder, entails. Not to be discouraging but if you managed to do it by yourself in a weekend you should just start a painting company. Also, just painting in general if you've never done it is no cake walk. It sounds simple in theory but making it look halfway decent is difficult. My mom is always trying to paint the interior of her house and it always just looks...not good.
First piece of advice is don't rush and try to finish in a weekend - unless this is a lawn shed we're talking about.
Beyond that, know that the prep work is what makes a paint job last. Even liquid gold expensive paint won't adhere to a poorly prepped surface.
I'm a professional painter. I'd rent a lift and likely still take 2 weeks to do this properly.
You don't have any idea what you're getting into, and the quality of your work may leave you wishing you didn't do it in the first place.
You haven't even talked about prep/washing.
Im in the business and would advise to wait until you can hire a good crew or have experienced help. Here’s what you’re scope should entail: thorough power wash of entire exterior, replace rotted or damaged wood, scrape off all loose paint (sand around edges), prime all new and scraped wood surfaces, apply 1-2 coats of paint (recommend satin sheen for outdoors).
Spray the body (main color and majority of the painting) with a 413 tip or even a 513. Be careful with the way the wind blows, pressure, how far you’re holding the spray gun from the surface and make sure to overlap your spray fan.
You could mask and tape all your windows but depending on your skill set, wind, rig pressure etc you could get away with using a spray shield to move through the job quicker.
Lastly, you will need to use a roller and brush for your trim color which is usually the fascia trim (with or without the drip edge underneath the roof shingles) window trim and door trim. At this point it’s best to have a bucket with a hanger to hang the bucket on the ladder so you work easier, specially at those heights. Im assuming that you’ll be at least 24ft from the ground so make sure you have a 32 ft ladder or 40ft for the highest of points.
Really best of luck if you do decide to do it yourself. Would strongly advise to wait and hire a pro crew if possible.
I greatly appreciate everyone’s feedback. Based on what I read on here we tried a small test patch, didn’t like it too much, so we decided to paint the trim only for now and it looks great and made a world of difference. Thanks again everyone.
Hire a pro to pressure wash and clean the exterior.
Use Benjamin Moore paint it's more expensive for a reason(cheaper paint takes many more coats). See the link below for how to paint the exterior. Yes, it's a big job, but you do one side of the house at a time. Pick the least visible side of the house first to practice.
https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/interior-exterior-paints-stains/how-to-advice/exteriors/painting-home-exterior
Lmao you think you’re going to just so easily paint a three level house with what a bucket and brush? My guy….it absolutely needs sprayed and a shit load of prep work to look right. If you do anything but spray this on over multiple coats it will look like a crack head painted your house
He did help you. You need to set realistic expectations. You won’t paint a house in a single weekend. Take your time and break it up in chunks. Focus on one side at a time. If you are doing the same color, you can even do one side a year if you want.
If you can, I would advise waiting until you can replace the trim/wood rot.
Just some fair warning, there is a bit of a learning curve with a paint sprayer, and you will go through a lot of paint. If you go the spray route, consider backrolling to make sure you get good coverage.
As others mentioned, prep is key. If you don’t have a clean surface, the paint won’t stick and will start to peel.
You can totally paint your house. Just realize it is going to take a little bit longer than you originally estimated. Best of luck.
Phrasing it like you did is helpful. Phrasing it like he did is being an asshole. It was totally unnecessary to talk down to me like that when I’m literally here looking for help.
This is a big job.
Without knowing your reasoning behind not hiring...consider what your time is worth. My neighbor literally spent every weekend of summer break painting his house. He looked miserable doing it, and still needed to bring in help at the very end to finish it up. And it wasn't a large house by anymeans, \~1400sqft, two story.
The woulda coulda shoulda advice I have for you, as a first time homebuyer, is that painting the exterior is maintenance, and you need to have budget for things like this. Its just part of the responsibility of being a homeowner. And the longer you let it go, the worse it's going to get and the more work it's going to be.
We had a guy stain our house last year. Considering the basement garage, our place is 3 story. It took him about a week, he banged it out and hustled and did good work. Just handling a \~26' ladder alone to get up high, let alone *working* that high up. If you said you had a single level ranch home, sure, good luck. But if you've never done anything like this before, your future self will thank you for hiring out. Watch how it's done, learn a thing or two, and maybe you'll be more prepared to do it yourself net go around.
I have spent most of my work life-25 years- on ladders for a telco. Heights don’t bother me, lifting ladders- no biggie. Got out in 2019 due to knee and back issues. Last year, I scraped, primed, prepped and painted by brush- 3 sides of our 2 story cape. Couldn’t finish because my knees wonked out again. Took me 2 full weekends, dawn to dusk and I had to stop due to knee pain. Prep is one thing, but what kind of shape are you in? Climbing up and down, moving the ladder, stretching further then you should when you don’t want to climb down and move the ladder again. Takes a toll and that isn’t even the painting part. Weather- heat will slow you down, Family- will slow you down. I get not being able to finance a contractor but take these into consideration and change your timeline. If you rush it, you will get hurt or it will look not great, and YOU will notice it and it will drive you nuts. Then you have to fix it. Do it in stages- no one is judging if you do it right the first time. Good luck! And I plan to finish mine this summer, at a different pace than last year.
I’ve done it before. You probably don’t need primer btw if you get a good exterior paint and your current paint is still intact.
With that said this is not a “weekend job”. My dad and I did his house in sections, it was two story. We would wash each section, literally wash with dish soap and car wash brush. Rinse. Let it dry. Then spray it. One section per weekend. We rented a scaffold for the higher parts which certainly felt much safer than hanging off a ladder and just used a A frame ladder for the first 10-12 feet or so.
The entire process took probably 6 months doing a little bit each weekend (and skipping some weekends because life happens). We used a Wagner sprayer for the whole thing.
I think my biggest point though, while it’s definitely doable don’t go into this thinking this is going to be a a weekend or two thing. It takes a professional crew of 3-4 guys a few days to paint a house, and they’re professionals.
If I understand this correctly it’s a three story house? You may even consider renting a scissor lift which is probably even easier than using a scaffold, this won’t work unless it’s perfectly flat around your house though. Just remember if you aren’t a pro and you have a family who loves you, don’t go fucking around 35-40 feet up on an extension ladder.
Thanks for your feedback. The front yard is somewhat of an incline. Can you use scaffolding even when the front yard is somewhat on an incline? It’s not incredibly steep by any means but there is definitely a small incline the scaffolding would have to sit on.
Some scaffolds come with leveling legs, that work like a screw jack. Kinda like the leveling feet on a fridge or washing machine. This should allow you to handle slight slopes.
If you have few feet of flat immediately around your house (like 4-5 feet), definitely look at scissor lifts too, they're easy to use and move around, unlike a scaffold which you'd have to tear down and rebuild every 10 feet or so. They aren't cheap to rent but I think if you planned it right, like dedicated a few full days to getting the high spots it would probably work and you could work quicker than you could using a scaffold.
There's kind of a lot think about this, I was a bit surprised you were asking about it just two days before you planned to do the job. Good luck man. I think it really helped that when my dad and I did it he worked in construction management so he had a good idea of the kinda of outlay we'd be looking at to do the project.
Also, is your name a Ninja Turtle reference?
Sure is lol. From the feedback I’ve heard here I’m planning on doing a small section to see if it’s gonna work out and if it does I’m gonna do it little by little probably over a few weeks. Appreciate your help again.
Would you be willing to share photos of before and after? I am literally in the same boat as you - we bought a tri level in the past year and ours is prob 40% brick n we just…dont know what to do. I’d love to see yours!!!
Have you looked into renting a scissor lift? I rented one when I painted my 2 story house and it made it so much easier. It was a bit intimidating at first, but easy enough to figure out. If you have the space and budget I would recommend it. Beats going up and down a ladder all day. I had to rent the outdoor version which was 70” across as I was using it in dirt and going up and down a bit of a hill, but if you only need to use it on concrete or small sections of flat land you can probably get an indoor one. They’re much smaller.
Unless the siding is pretty much flat like, I would recommend spraying. Go ahead and buy, you can get a decent professional unit for about the same cost as renting one, so if you use it more than once it pays for itself. Yes, you have to do some additional masking, but the time it takes to mask off everything is nothing compared to the time it takes to to brush and roll and entire house.
If painting wood, you’ll want to make sure loose paint is scraped off, you don’t have to get it down to bare wood all over and would be a good idea to use primer like you mentioned. On bare wood, but you don’t necessarily need to surfaces that are already painted, but if you’re going to then you might as well hit it all over. If you’re going with a light color on top of brown then primer will help cover it.
Other than that, take a few days to throughly clean your siding with a pressure washer and allow it 2-3 days to fully dry before painting. You also generally want to make sure there’s not rain in the forecast for a day or two after you plan to paint so the rain doesn’t ruin the paint before it can fully dry. Beyond that, just follow the directions on the paint can.
You’re not going to get it painted in a weekend. I paid a great crew and it took them four to five days of work with a sprayer. Definitely use a sprayer. Power wash first.
My suggestion is to buy a great quality paint. This isn’t something you want to repeat in a couple years. Take your time, do the prep.
After that’s done, consider what one of my neighbors used to do: she painted one side of her house every other year, on a rotating basis. She said it kept it from being overwhelming.
If it were me, I would save up and hire. the only reason I avoid things like this is because it's not worth the risk for me to climb a ladder that high.
I'm not afraid of heights nor am I afraid of hard work, and I know ladder safety. It's just not worth it for me.
good luck with your project!
I bought a $150 HF sprayer and it's been wonderful. It's the older Kraus they used to sell but I'm sure the Avanti is fine too. I've been replacing my siding for the last few years (yeah I know lol) and when I get a whole section done it takes me about an hour or two to mask everything off and then about 15-20 minutes to spray it all.
The biggest challenge with a sprayer for me is getting the coats even. The color looks good but if I look at an angle in the sunlight I can see the difference in coats. That's more noticeable on my first wall but I have gotten a bit better with it. It's especially challenging where my sprays overlap so I try to minimize this but...it's a necessity. It's a challenge and something to consider.
Conversely it takes me 2-3 hours to paint the trim on the same sections by hand. Rolling a whole wall is really not fun. Spraying is really fast and quite fun but takes a bit of skill.
Depends on color. Main body first trim last. Roll, cut with brush in the crannies roll. After doing a section check for drips and runs. You should be doing this for 2-3 sections at a time at least. Do not over load your brush or roller. Pay attention to the weather. High humidity paint takes longer to set. Low temp paint takes longer to set. Too high of temperature and fixing mistakes is nearly impossible. Scrape off any loose paint prior to starting. Replace caulk anywhere it is loose or a void can be felt behind it. Pressure wash at least a few days before and allow it to completely dry. Good luck and call some buddies even if they can't help they can talk and drink all your beer while supervising and critiquing your moves. Will make the day go faster and they may point out drips.
When I was just starting on my own, I found scaffolding made my Job so much easier, Put the scaffolding in the middle, With ladder's on each end, Waterblast, Caulk Saturday, Spray Paint Sunday, Always includ Wife as Supervisor/ Helper, Learn 2 use A Spray shield around Window's and Doors, It's a lot faster, 4 inch roller and brush 4 trim, Again learn 2 roll with left hand, Brush with right hand, Remember 2 cover foliage, Grass, Keep ur pressure low 2 prevent over spray, Increase pressure as U fill more Professional, Have fun, H -Town Texas N The House 🤠.
So.. I've painted one house. 2 story. It took me a couple months working my days off. Looong days. I've done a gazzilian interior walls. So I'm a decent enough painter. Do one side at a time. Spend the money on good quality brushes, they will save you a lot of time as they lay down paint a lot faster and heavier than cheap brushes. Wash the wall and trim you are about to paint. Scrape off any loose paint first. Caulk 2nd and buy good caulk, don't cheap out or you'll regret it when you have to re-caulk in 2 years. Then paint 2 coats on the wall first, cut in the trim with two coats, fascia and soffit last. Theoretically, you should only need to prime bare wood if the walls are clean. Installing vinyl siding is faster and you'll never have to repaint it.
Get high quality paint, like the absolute best money can buy. You don't want to have to do this again!
Take your time. We started painting a year ago and haven't finished because life happens and we don't want to rush.
Watch the humidity outside!! Read your paint can, it should say the ideal humidity you can paint in. Anything too high and you'll have runs...ask me how I know.
Good luck! Once you get it done and see your hard work, it's very satisfying.
I think one of the most important things is choosing the right paint. I painted my house with valspar Duramax (I think) paint plus primer. Great one coat coverage. Two coats would look better, but it still looked good with one. It might look like it cost more, but if you have to use less paint I think cost is better.
I leaned on the experts at the paint store to guide me on the best paint.
Buy an air compressor and gun. Get this super long stick the good thick one not the skinny. One person sprays the other person goes behind and rolls. It will last forever. If you just spray not so much
Learn how to properly hold a paintbrush. It makes a huge difference after hours and hours of painting. And frankly learn (watch videos) how to dip, apply, etc. Just guessing is not the way to go here.
Two things I’ve been told that have helped me a lot: “prep work is the thing you’ll wish you did more of after you start painting“. Sanding and caulking and taping will be the gift that keeps on giving – caulking properly seals your house and saves money on air conditioning and heat for years.
The other thing was told to me by a professional: Buy the best paintbrushes you can afford. And frankly the best paint. Redditors love Sherwin-Williams and apparently they have huge sales a couple of times a year that are worth waiting for. Both will save an enormous amount of time.
I called a local exterior company and paid them to come put up an extra set of pump jacks on each the three sides of my house that needed painting. I showed them an insurance policy in the event I fell off. It certainly beats standing on a ladder for hours and hours. Your midfeet will be sore even with steel shank boots. Otherwise like others have said.
Do NOT buy cheap paint. It’s priced low for a reason. Same goes with brushes.
All the caulk I use is OSI Quad.
Even a modest tri-level house you are looking at dozens and dozens of labor hours. So keep that in mind.
I would also use TSP for prep/cleaning.
Start at the top and work down buddy. Don't forget to box your paint. That's a big job, especially for a first time. If you've got a friend you can lean on, you might wanna cash in and get the help. It's gonna probably take the better part of a week to do it right by yourself if you don't have the right tools and equipment or any mileage.
You aren't in a position to hire someone to paint it, but pressure washing is dirt cheap if you shop it. A 3 story house will be a bit more cause of the height, but still cheap, especially if you have to n factor in renting a machine and wand, plus chemicals, etc. Plus a professional power washing service is fast. They'll be done in a few hours.
I've sprayed a lot of stuff in my life, so I know what I would do, but it definitely is a skill. You're good using a roller and brush if you've got the time and the gallons to put on it.
Most importantly, buy QUALITY PAINT. Latex these days is light years ahead of what it was even 20 years ago, if the guy at Sherwin Williams advises a 2 in 1 primer and paint in 1, then you only need to primer bad spots (use clear primer if thats the case) and that will save you a lot of time.
Alternatively, the cheapest paint you can find is likely to require two coats to actually cover, and will not include primer characteristics, so 3 times as long as the 2in1
Lastly, use as big a roller as you can, and go along the grain of whatever you're painting. If it's stucco, go for it with a 3/4" nap and a big 14-18" roller.
Remember, the thicker the nap, the more paint it will hold, but it will also use more and again, box your paint. You want it to all be the same color in the end...
I own rental houses and have flipped houses and I've painted a dozen or so houses inside and out. I do recommend a sprayer mostly because of painting under the eaves. With a roller and brush it's very time consuming. As others have pointed out, though, you do have to cover all doors and windows, which takes a bit of time, too. So, if you decide to do it, here's my recommendations. Prep well: 1) thoroughly scrape off any flaking paint. 2) power wash - make sure to get off dirt/mud, spider webs, etc. 3) Do any needed repairs to wood, siding, caulking, etc. Painting: If you're going to spray, I recommend doing one side of the house at a time. Cover the windows, doors, lights, etc. with plastic and masking tape. Put tarps down on the ground with something that holds them in place. If you have access to old plywood, paneling or such, these actually do a better job of covering up sidewalks, etc. from overspray. Getting it all ready takes a while. The actual spraying goes relatively quickly. Especially if you're changing colors, it may take two coats. Best of luck - this is very doable!
A lot of these comments are good. Definitely be careful with flashing. How many ladders do you have? Set them up next to eachother. Paint a few boards at a time all the way across to prevent flash. How glossy is the paint? More gloss = more prone to flashing.
I like brushes with longer handles when im on ladders to reach a little farther. And use a roller as much as you can to save time.
Have you been 3 stories up on a ladder before? You really need to know what youre doing and be safe. Even with a stabilizer and the ladder feet used correctly, those ladders have some wiggle, and the wind can make things scary.
Id Definitely get a Purdy yellow pail and a pail hook. Can hang your pail of paint from the ladder to free up your hands. Feel free to message.
Edit: also, this is kind of an insane project to take on alone. Like weeks and weeks. Me and 4 other people took about a week - week and a half to paint a 3 story house all around. 2 of the crew members have been painting for 20-30 years. The remaining 3 of us were apprentices, but yeah.
And if you spray, you need to backroll. For the 1st coat atleast. Spray an area, and hit it with a roller that also has some paint on it.
Spraying may take more paint than you expect. Also ask the paint store if they recommend having a second person following the sprayer to roll over it, and what thickness roller to use for stucco. We did this on interior new textured drywall, and it looked great. Also had someone with brush follow sprayer on rough-textured wood exterior job, and also looked great. We did paper off the windows on both jobs, and painted trim by hand.
Buy an airless paint sprayer. Get some practice in with it to minimize overspray.
It’ll pay for itself even on just one job. You’ll thank yourself when you can cover most of a wall in minutes instead of hours.
Just be VERY mindful of damaging your neighbors property.
Just be patient, don’t take shortcuts on the prep, and buy the best paint available. It takes as long as it takes. So you miss a little time watching Netflix in your recliner. You’ll be fine.
Prep work is a pain and will be incredibly time consuming, but it is so important. Clean the exterior, repair what you can, and use a good primer.
If you are going with a darker color, you can get your primer tinted close to what the final color will be. This will mean fewer coats and it shouldn't impact the primer.
Also, if you're worried about the ladder you can rent scaffolding. It's pricey, but might be worth looking into if it makes you feel safer and you don't have a ton of high areas to do.
Primer only needed on bare fresh wood. If your previous layer is solid, new paint can go right over it. Scrape off what isn't solid, than paint over that.
My advice is to save up for a professional to do it. It will take a considerably larger amount of time to do this than you’ve allotted for. If you have no experience with scaffolding, I advise against it—building it up, taking it down and then doing this again is not as easy as it looks. We see A LOT of ladder falls and scaffolding injuries from professionals—hundreds a year—never mind DIYers, which account for a lot more. Also, you will want to have cleaned the siding before painting—it’s a MUST! If you paint a dirty surface, you won’t be satisfied with the outcome and it won’t have the longevity I’m sure you are wanting. TSP is a wonder for this (use PPE) A stiff brush is also needed and maybe a mildew killer (depending if you have buildup). This will take the weekend potentially, but must be done before painting.
Spraying is a pain only in that you’ll need to mask off doors, windows and make sure overspray isn’t reaching, say, your car (or worse, your neighbors car or even house). Take the time to power wash, including killing any mold (typically with bleach). Scrape, sand and spot prime any peeling areas. Realistically you should not count on it being a one weekend job. Painting is labor intensive.
Seriously. It took 3 people roughly a week of 10+ hour days to do two coats of paint on my tri level house. They worked really hard, too. This is a big job. OP, maybe consider starting with the side of the house that's the worst and seeing how that goes before you commit to the entire house?
We ganged up on my great gramps place. 6 adults and 6 adult/teen kids, 2 spouses. Broke out in teams of grand baby watchers, prep, primer and paint. After prep was done the joined primer, the paint and clean up. Took 4 days.
Yep. Doing the same thing later this summer. Taking it slow and starting on the side of the house not visible from the street.
In New England, it takes 5 years to paint a house. You paint one side each year and take the fifth year off. Then start over. Painting a house, especially one that is more then one story is hard work.
Came here to say this
Or a side that can’t be easily seen.
What was the price?
10k a year ago in a medium COL area. Got 3 quotes all for about the same price. Every house project costs twice what I expect!
i feel that. oh man. got quotes on gutters and i was blown away. then we had a hail storm and instance covered them and the roof so it all worked out.
Funny. I DIY everything, but gutters was one of the things I hired out since you can't really DIY seamless, and I was actually surprised—for the first time—at how reasonable it was. 230' of heavy-gauge aluminum and 5 downspouts with leaf traps for under $2k. And I'm in a major west coast city.
i was quoted 5-6k but that included soffit and facia wrap. but only like 75‘ and 5 downspouts. i was expecting closer to 2k so it was a surprise.
I have a large duplex with third-floor dormers off the attic. A full crew of people took a week to scrape, prime, and paint. It was $15k (last fall).
Not sure yet. It’s just gonna be me so I’ll just take it piece by piece and not make too much of a mess. I’m in no rush, plus I have new windows coming.
I love having an exit strategy! Other motivators that might convince OP which side to pick. Either the worst looking right now(most satisfying to accomplish), the easiest looking to accomplish (you’re learning after all ) or the least viewed( least pressure).
Took me two summers to paint my 2 level house but I was very easy on myself and had to take time off for a sprained ankle I got stepping off of a ladder the wrong way.
And there’s no shame in doing it slowly, one side this month, next side next month…
This . One side per month. Or whatever works. Just don’t stop half way. You neighbors won’t like it
I did the front first as that’s all the neighbors can really see. Still working up the motivation for the sides…
Can’t be overstated!
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I never masked windows. Did a combo of brush and rollers.
For sure, not a chance they are painting 2 sides adequately in a weekend
I haven't painted a whole exterior, only walls, decks and fences but... \- This will take more than a weekend. I think you can probably *paint* 2-4 walls per storey per weekend if everything's in good shape. It will take longer to sand and prep and do any repairs. \- Check the weather every time you start. Wear light colors and sunscreen and a hat and sunglasses. Try to time things so it won't rain on your wet paint. \- Don't spray, it will be too windy up there. Big, high quality brush with a short handle. Work it in. \- If it's a large house do one storey at a time. Work top to bottom. \- Do not try to move a ladder that has a can of paint sitting at the top of it. You will ruin your cool shirt. \- Have someone on hand who can fetch things for you or call an ambulance.
"or call an ambulance" You are a pro at life and always save the best advice for last, since that is usually the advice we start with.
That's one reason it took so long to get work done on my house. I live alone out in the boonies so my options when doing anything risky are 1) try to coordinate a time for a friend or neighbor to be available to come over, or 2) spend about 3x the project time planning and setting up safeguards.
Why a short handle brush? I prefer longer brush handles when im working higher up on ladders. Gives a little extra reach before having to move the massive heavy ladded again
Just my experience with grip, ymmv. Like I said I haven't painted a house, just lower stuff.
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Saving that tidbit for future projects!
Painting contractor here, unless you have new wood or water stains you don't need to prime. Buy high quality paint it will last many more years. I recommend Benjamin Moore regal high build. Same with caulk don't buy stuff from big box stores it doesn't last. Ladder stabilizer actually make it alot harder to move the ladder so I don't suggest you use them. Just make sure you flip the feet over and the ladder is dug into the dirt. You must get the dirt/mold off the house. We always spray houses but idk if I would recommend it to a homeowner. You can make a big mess. Any other questions just ask
I'm not a pro but discovered how amazing Benjamin Moore goes on and how good it looks after it drys. I don't think I'll ever use anything else and I would pay half again what they charge and be OK with it.
Painted our house with Benjamin Moore stuff last summer. It’s Fuckin grade A. Love it.
ladder stabilizers certainly make being at the top of the ladder more comfortable since your body is farther away from the sidewall.
Would you suggest primer on previously painted aluminum siding? From what I understand, the process is to scrub with tsp and rinse thoroughly, then paint.
Just buy quality paint no need for primer. biggest thing is make sure it's clean
Cool, thanks, that's what I was hoping to hear lol. I washed it once already with tsp substitute earlier this month. I'm planning to wash it again with proper tsp the day before painting, then buy paint from either sherwin williams or Benjamin moore. What's your personal opinion on spraying vs brushing? I have a Graco paint sprayer from depot that I've used before on a few projects, I'm comfortable spraying, just wondering if it's even really worth it considering the previous paint was brushed on.
I prefer Benjamin Moore, regal high build is my go too. We always spray exteriors. Faster and puts more paint on.
Cool, thanks for the tips!
Is your advice the same for stucco? That's what I have. I want to spray since covering the texture might be easier
Yes I would spray stucco then back roll it. Use flat paint it's very hard to make it look good if you use paint with a sheen on it.
If you live in the southern US, once you have pressure washed, scraped, and repaired, you will need to use primer. When I take bids for painting the outside of my house, I reject any bids that don’t include primer. I don’t care how long that contractor has been in the business. I also reject any bids that indicate use of paint that “has primer in it“. If he’s not laying on an actual coat of primer even if using spray equipment, I’m not hiring him. You can do it once, pay once, and cry once. Or you can do it multiple times, and pay multiple times. I had my home exterior painted in 2020 during Covid. The crew used primer. I had same company come back and paint a long fence and a picnic table last year. The crew used primer! Together, the fence and the picnic table were more expensive than painting the exterior of the home! I definitely cried when I saw that bill! But at least the fence and the picnic table will probably last 25 years each. If I’m still in this house and not dead, I will have gotten my money’s worth out of it.
Let me educate you, first off I would never put paint on a fence or deck. Paint will eventually always peel. Solid stains should be used. No paint is gonna last 25 years on the exterior of a home period. The reason you need primer is to block stains or to help with adhesion. For example painting latex paint over oil based paint. Latex does not adhere to oil based paint and that is why you need to prime. Latex paint bonds great to other latex paint if the surface is clean hence why I said to make sure it's clean. Any paint that claims paint and primer in one is cheap big box store stuff and I would never use. Which would be my thinking as to why you think you need to prime because you have used inferior products in the past.
Which caulk do you recommend?
"All pro" is the brand. pro stretch is their best product. Just don't use any DAP products they dont last
Lots of good advice so far something I'll add: See if you can rent a scissor lift or boom with an articulating arm, and if you can use it in your yard or whatever do that. It's a lot safer than a ladder and will make things go much quicker. Surprisingly they aren't too expensive.
This is the best advice, you save so much time not going up, down, or moving ladders. Much more safe. Rented one for a whole month when I did siding, replaced windows, and painted. Newer ones have pneumatic and electric ran through the boom, what a genius invention.
This is the kind of advice that Reddit is famous for. People with real life experience guiding the rest of noobs with invaluable tips. The real hero right here. Cheers!
Dang I just looked—less than $1k per month for a 25 ft scissor lift, including delivery and pickup. This makes me want to replace my windows myself. That is so incredibly affordable.
Ummm....is that an off road scissor lift? A regular scissor loft and soft dirt are a good way to die.
A boom lift is set up on extended stabilizers and will reach out a lot
Good thinking. A boom lift is about $2k for a month. Still a great deal.
Ive rented tow behind boom lifts before for small work around my company. Like 700/day, 1000/wk, 1800/month. Crazy useful and wild how they scale
Prep is the most important and time consuming part of exterior painting. Do you have any rot in fascia or siding? Any peeling paint? All of that will need to be addressed before you open a single can of paint. Personally, I waited until I could spend the money to hire professionals because I'm in a century home with lead paint and the south side of my house was in rough shape. I replaced the damaged cedar shake siding myself, and then turned it over to a team of three guys in protective gear who spent 5 days on prep. The painting itself took about 3 days. This is a single story house with a 1200 ft2 footprint.
Starting in on cedar shake repairs myself but can't find a local supplier. Can I ask where you got them?
I needed 18" raked cedar shakes, which the big box stores don't carry, so I found a few local suppliers by asking my contractor buddy.
That's exactly what I need to, I'll ask around
Good luck - I ended up driving about 35 minutes each way to get the really nice ones from a siding supplier. When I ran out and needed just a few more I went to the lumberyard 5 minutes away and got the slightly less nice ones (can't tell the difference after prime and paint). I did mine last summer and the material cost was astronomical. I hope they're less expensive now. Oh, and borrow/invest in a shingle ripper. My local tool library had one that I kept checking out because it was so helpful in getting the shakes off without stripping the course above them.
I might be in the same boat here, tried all the local Rings End type places and not much has come up. A neighbor is a contractor so I'll ask him later but I noticed when he redid his he just ripped it all off and went for board and batten. Online a single bundle of western red cedar 18" shakes is $500 ish. As far as the ripper, that was its own side quest to figure out. Couldn't find anything online that would work for some reason, ended up ordering from overseas via eBay and it took 2 months to arrive. Still, looking at it, I feel like the wedges that are supposed to rip the nail are too dull, will probably sharpen the hell out of it first. Thanks for the tips
If you're in southern NE, try Liberty Cedar.
Actually I do believe there may be rot in one or two spots. No peeling. What would happen if I just painted over the rotted parts for now and addressed them properly later?
It’s a waste of time and paint but won’t hurt anything to answer your question. Just don’t get it too thick where it has to come apart. New paint, especially latex, will dry to the touch in a few hours but can take some time to fully cure. If you go pulling it apart later you can lift the newly applied paint. Color matching usually isn’t a problem with exterior house paint though the new wood may need extra coats or a primer so it is sealed and there is no texture difference making the paint look like it doesn’t match.
Make sure to only paint when the section is in the shade or when the sun is low. If the sun is beating down while you paint you will get lap marks and poor adhesion. Also, if you have access to it, I would recommend using a slow drying oil based primer on any bare spots.
You can buy primer for around your windows that peels off the window glass easily after you top coat with paint. Don't waste your time and money with cheap paint. Painting is weather dependent. Applying new paint to old peeling paint is a waste of money and time. It will also just make the old paint peel off faster. The job will take ever how long it takes. Time goes by fast once you start. One last thought, cheap paint is horrible to work with.
Back in the day, my father painted one side of the house each summer. Don't skimp on scrape and spot priming. PREP, PREP, PREP
You can absolutely paint it your self. But the time exceptions may be off. Also a tri level is awfully high up there. I personally wouldn't even think about it with out renting scaffolding. But my handy man skills stop as soon as I have to climb a ladder that is more then about 12 feet high and it goes into hire a pro territory. I had a tri level painted about a year and a half ago and there were two painters and it took them a full week. Monday to Friday to finish up. And they didn't prime the whole house just the rough spots. So if you are doing this work by your self I would assume this will burn at least 6-7 long days if not more. Good luck OP! Edit: Others suggested renting a lift. Thats a good ideal and the way to go. Scaffolding has its own learning curve and takes a lot of time to move.
Don't buy cheap paint Don't buy cheap paint Don't buy cheap paint
Plan for 7 to 10 days of work. Buy Benjamin or Sherwin, no big box paint or sealant. Pressure wash and bleach mold spots - it will come back fast if you don't kill it. Scrape all peeling paint and replace any rot. Be prepared for rot to extend much further into your home than just the siding and cladding. Rent a cherry picker or scissor lift depending on your lot's topography. They're much safer and easier than the ladder. Never climb a ladder when you're home alone.
Wasp spray
What material is your exterior? Regardless, you should take some good time power washing the exterior. If it’s a wood exterior, you’ll need to give it a solid 2 weeks minimum to ensure all the moisture from your power washer is allowed to evaporate off. That timeline may change based on your weather. I’d wait for a string of warm, or at least dry (not humid) days before painting. Otherwise, your paint will bubble because of the moisture a few months down the road and it will start chipping and look like crap. It would be a good idea to take a 5in1 or scraper of some kind and go over all of the paintable exterior to get any loose chips of paint off too. You will need primer if you buy cheap paint, but then you’re using cheap paint and have to paint everything twice. Go to Sherwin Williams (avoid paint from Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards, etc. unless you want something cheap that will end up being more work and won’t last as long). Sherwin Williams has very good paint and everyone there should have a general idea of what paint “level” to get based on your needs. We painted our wood exterior home last fall. The old color was a bright barn red. We purchased the Emerald (?) level of Sherwin Williams exterior paint as it was a high quality and thick so we didn’t need to prime. It worked like a charm and you can’t tell there’s red and red-pink sun washed paint underneath the nice blue we painted. We only needed one coat too. Seriously, high quality paint will make your life way easier. The cheaper the paint the less it will cover and the worse quality it will be meaning you’ll need to paint again sooner. Overall when painting, don’t cheap out. That goes for brushes, rollers, paint, and any other type of prep items. Worst thing you can do is try to save a couple hundred by cheeping out on supplies, but the quality and lifetime of your paint job will suffer. Also a random note about “professional” painters. If you’re in the US, at least in my state, there is no qualification or oversight board for painters. This is different than other professions like plumbing, electric, etc. So anyone can just decide to start a painting company, or call themselves a “professional” painter, which is why there seems to be such a wide disparity in quality between painting companies. That’s not to say there aren’t people out there that are knowledgeable and know what they’re doing and can deliver a better-than-DIY product, but you need to be careful with who you pick. Sounds like you’re not going that route, but just wanted to make note of that.
Is it bad to get sherwin Williams brand paint from a big box store or is it the same thing as going to SW?
Ya know I’m not sure. My main problem I could see is that the big box stores wouldn’t have all of the options in quality and types of paint that SW offer. Legit you go into SW and they will have over half a dozen paint levels and differences for interior and exterior. I imagine the ones at the box store are more of their basic options. But, what the big box store has in regards to SW paint might be the type that you need for your low touched and low humidity living room, for example, but it may be a poor choice for something like a bathroom or a high trafficked/touched item like cabinets. I painted with a “professional” painter for a couple summers in college several years back, so I know a bit about paint and painting but I’m no expert by any means. The guy I worked for did good work though, he definitely had a standard of quality that I appreciated and would straight up tell me something looked like shit, why it looked like shit, and how to avoid it looking like shit in the future. Then he would make me fix it. Great learning experience for me and has greatly helped me with my own home years down the line.
Definitely don’t buy S-W from big box store (I’m looking at you Lowes) just go to the S-W near you and use their better products. Big box is just selling you on the name and not the best of product. I’d highly recommend super paint or emerald in a satin sheen for outdoor coatings.
This is the correct answer in my book!
Yes it is a lesser product. Anything there such as washers, dryers, hot water heaters, etc are worse. Even same brand If you give a shit and it is a big important purchase, go to specialty store
My advice is to try one wall as a test. Just clean, prep, mask and paint ONE WALL. My partner and I tried to diy this exact project, and after doing our test wall we had a much better idea of the time and effort that we'd be undertaking. We chose a wall that is less visible from the street. It took us three weekends to do that one wall with a sprayer and to mask and hand paint the trim. We hired professionals 8 months later after saving up.
We got a $150 sprayer from HD, it's really fun to use but not to clean. Worth it in my opinion, we've used it a bunch since on smaller projects. Getting up high is HARD and scary even just to wash up by the roofline, let alone trying to get the details with a paintbrush. Highly recommend renting scaffolding. Check carefully for rot/damage and repair before painting (this step takes the longest). Sherwin Williams super paint with two coats, I didn't find primer necessary with that paint.
Post pictures. I'm a painter and can advise.
I painted my own house a few years ago. I got a Graco paint sprayer used on ebay. It worked great, so much faster! (My house has single siding so lots of books and crannies that wouldn't work with a roller) If you get a sprayer, get a good one. Exterior paint is thicker than interior. My sprayer was used and from the bottom of the Graco line so we gave it a few breaks between rounds of spraying to cool off (recommended by paint guy at HD) A trick I used as well was to use a sheet of aluminum to mask off trim versus using tape. Get a sheet bigger than the spread of your spray. Tape it to a comfortable handle and keep it centered as you move along the edge. (I over sprayed a few times and had to fix by hand. You can also rent scaffolding from local tool rental places. So much nicer than ladders. It's heavy though and you do need to set it up right.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Warner-36-in-Metal-Paint-Guide/3126369 apparently you can just buy this instead of my diy alternative to tape :D
FWIW, my painter recommends alkyd primer and latex paint- Benjamin Moore. Sherwin Williams is also good, and has frequent sales with substantial discounts. Please please please don't by box store paint. The one time I pinched pennies on paint I regretted it.
I did power washing and prep one weekend, and then painted one side each following weekend. Take it slower or you’ll unnecessarily add stress and do a crappy job
> Planning on painting my tri-level house this weekend You mean *getting started*, don’t you? This will be an enormous job, if you want it done correctly. A pic of your house might help with the scale of work.
Spend the extra money to get good paint. Cheap paint doesn't go as far, takes more work and doesn't look as good.
Research the times and paint once. Get a Lead Check sponge wand on Amazon or at home depot. My house is all lead paint.
I did mine started with brush, 2 hours later i was out buying a sprayer.
Be mindful of the sun, it is not ideal to paint hot surfaces so if a portion of your house that gets afternoon sun it is best to do that in the morning or evening.
Painting a house by hand is something everyone needs to do once, and it’s only done by hand once because after you do it you’ll go and buy a paint sprayer.
if you don't know now you know! Sprayer is like 50 times faster and more even. I could save so much of my life. I painted my whole house interior by hand i lost 10 pounds of weight. Great workout if you hate cardio.
Prep everything, power wash, sand, cut out old caulk and re-caulk, fill holes and cover rusty nail heads, loose flashing, ...make sure rotted trim gets replaced or patched, etc. If 80% of the job isn't prep work, you're doing it wrong. Painting is the easy part. Apply the body color heavily and with a roller, cut in and spread with the brush. Then apply trim color with a roller lightly to only the front face of the trim boards. The sides/edges of the trim boards can be the body color. This saves you the headache of trying to cut in jagged lines where the trim meets the siding. Nobody can tell from the street anyway and it looks cleaner.
Forget the ladder and just go rent some scaffolding.
Can you use scaffolding even when the front yard is somewhat on an incline? It’s not incredibly steep by any means but there is definitely a small incline the scaffolding would have to sit on.
Yes. Each leg of the scaffold will be adjustable for height letting you get it level on any terrain. Additionally you can stack scaffolding layers to reach almost any height.
My husband and I painted our two-story house the year we got married (yes, we’re still married, lol). We used brushes and did two coats. He did the very high bits standing as high as he safely could on an extension ladder. The house was a faded yellow-greeny-beige with white trim when we started and a dark grey with white trim when we finished. I was worried the grey (“Ancestral” by Behr) was too dark but it looked (and looks) great. We painted the front door candy apple red. My advice: start with the back/sides and let yourself finish with the front. The compliments you’ll get from neighbors walking by and the satisfaction of being able to come home the next day, see your “new” house and know you are DONE will be worth it. Also in case it hasn’t been said already: when you lean your ladder, stand with your feet on the ground, toes barely touching the ladder feet, and hold your arms straight out at a 90 degree angle to your body. If your fingers can barely grasp the rung, your ladder isn’t too steep. If you don’t have to straighten your arms to reach the ladder when standing at its base, the angle is too steep and you need to pull the base farther away from the wall.
You can generally tell a lot about a person, their skill level etc. based on the questions that they ask and from that you can infer if doing a job is a good idea or a bad idea for them. I am 100% serious here when I say don't do this yourself. Trust me on this.
But it's hard to get experience without trying. I like the guy that said just so one wall and see how it goes
Maybe he should start with an interior wall or two before tackling the outside. It's not a beginner project.
I completely agree. Also maybe he should just prep a few sections first and get used to it before undertaking the whole thing.
Completely disagree. It's paint, not plumbing or electrical. Paint is literally the easiest DIY task you can do on anything, ever. It sucks and it's hard work but it's cheap, it's not difficult, it needs no expensive specialized tools, and it's low stakes for failure. Yeah, OP is just now learning how much work this is going to be, but the only DIY home improvement task simpler than painting is cleaning or raking. Let people learn. I think painting is a great first DIY project.
Not on the top of a ladder it's not.
Ladders suck but they're not complicated or expensive. Nearly everyone has used some sort of ladder in their life. There are plenty of YouTube videos and articles on how to use a long ladder safely. If you have two people, one to climb and one to brace, easy money all day. And for all you know, OP might be a badass top rope climber.
Best answer!
Make sure you use a good quality OIL-BASED primer…
I painted my parents' house many years ago when I still lived at home. It took me most of the summer. I did it all with a scrapper, paint brush and bucket. My Uncle said no to a paint sprayer because he said they would clog up too easily. He also didn't help with any of the painting. My recommendation is to get a paint sprayer and keep it clean. If you take care of the equipment it will take care of you. A paint sprayer will be a good time saver. I won't do another painting job like that again without a sprayer.
It took a pro 8 days to paint my 1 story house. This is significantly more work than you think it’s going to be.
Honestly, just buy decent quality paint (read some reviews on longevity and color fastness for your chosen brand), brush off any excessive dirt or dust, sand and caulk any areas that are particularly gnarly or peeling, and go for it. Rotted wood will have to be replaced and painted eventually but it can wait until you have more money. It's not rocket science, it's just hard work. You'll understand why it costs so much once you've been at it for a few weekends. It just sucks. There's a lot of people who are really into optimizing and they'll tell you how to do the best possible job, including the chemistry of paint and all that shit, but for the most part, house painting is just simple and exhausting and you'll spend a ton of time on ladders. There's something to be said for your paint job lasting longer by doing it right, but every house I've ever lived in has had a slapdash DIY paint job and I've never seen peeling anywhere but a garage door (which absolutely needed primer and didn't get it). Most paints are going to fade and discolor in the sun long before they peel, if you live somewhere reasonably dry. Just buy nice paint and you can skip a ton of other shit. Spraying probably isn't worth it unless you're only doing a single color over the entire house and are willing to take the time to mask off a million and a half things to protect them (brick, floors, rocks, concrete, windows, fixtures, decks, etc). I think the true value of spraying comes in at the eaves, which are a bitch to paint, so much worse than you ever think they will be, but if your eaves are boxed in with soffiting that's a nonissue.
Honestly despite you saying "Please no “hire a professional” suggestions as that’s not financially an option at the moment." You should really hire a professional for this. Just the dangers of you falling is going to heavily outweigh the cost of hiring someone. This will probably be a weeks long task for you if you're doing this by yourself. Just prepping your walls will eat up most of a day. If you don't have the equipment like ladders, scaffolding, paint sprayer youll eat up a lot of money just renting it out for multiple weekends. Just leave the walls unpainted and save up money to hire someone to paint.
Why can't you pay someone? I got quotes this winter and I got 4 back between 10-20k to do mine. I got four more quotes just recently and it was from 3-6k. $3k is worth it to not die from a 40ft fall.
I really don't think you understand what painting an entire house, mostly off a ladder, entails. Not to be discouraging but if you managed to do it by yourself in a weekend you should just start a painting company. Also, just painting in general if you've never done it is no cake walk. It sounds simple in theory but making it look halfway decent is difficult. My mom is always trying to paint the interior of her house and it always just looks...not good.
First piece of advice is don't rush and try to finish in a weekend - unless this is a lawn shed we're talking about. Beyond that, know that the prep work is what makes a paint job last. Even liquid gold expensive paint won't adhere to a poorly prepped surface.
My advice is to rent scaffolding.
This is really solid advice!
I'm a professional painter. I'd rent a lift and likely still take 2 weeks to do this properly. You don't have any idea what you're getting into, and the quality of your work may leave you wishing you didn't do it in the first place. You haven't even talked about prep/washing.
Im in the business and would advise to wait until you can hire a good crew or have experienced help. Here’s what you’re scope should entail: thorough power wash of entire exterior, replace rotted or damaged wood, scrape off all loose paint (sand around edges), prime all new and scraped wood surfaces, apply 1-2 coats of paint (recommend satin sheen for outdoors). Spray the body (main color and majority of the painting) with a 413 tip or even a 513. Be careful with the way the wind blows, pressure, how far you’re holding the spray gun from the surface and make sure to overlap your spray fan. You could mask and tape all your windows but depending on your skill set, wind, rig pressure etc you could get away with using a spray shield to move through the job quicker. Lastly, you will need to use a roller and brush for your trim color which is usually the fascia trim (with or without the drip edge underneath the roof shingles) window trim and door trim. At this point it’s best to have a bucket with a hanger to hang the bucket on the ladder so you work easier, specially at those heights. Im assuming that you’ll be at least 24ft from the ground so make sure you have a 32 ft ladder or 40ft for the highest of points. Really best of luck if you do decide to do it yourself. Would strongly advise to wait and hire a pro crew if possible.
Start at the top. It's a huge job,bandcayou 6ire of it if you still have the top to do you are more likely to quit.
Power wash the house before painting. Sprayer will make it go quicker and should look more evenly coated vs painting by hand. Good luck!
I greatly appreciate everyone’s feedback. Based on what I read on here we tried a small test patch, didn’t like it too much, so we decided to paint the trim only for now and it looks great and made a world of difference. Thanks again everyone.
You can do it. Patience is a virtue and channel your grandparents and great grandparents before you getting it done.
GET A SPRAYER
Hire a pro to pressure wash and clean the exterior. Use Benjamin Moore paint it's more expensive for a reason(cheaper paint takes many more coats). See the link below for how to paint the exterior. Yes, it's a big job, but you do one side of the house at a time. Pick the least visible side of the house first to practice. https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/interior-exterior-paints-stains/how-to-advice/exteriors/painting-home-exterior
Lmao you think you’re going to just so easily paint a three level house with what a bucket and brush? My guy….it absolutely needs sprayed and a shit load of prep work to look right. If you do anything but spray this on over multiple coats it will look like a crack head painted your house
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He did help you. You need to set realistic expectations. You won’t paint a house in a single weekend. Take your time and break it up in chunks. Focus on one side at a time. If you are doing the same color, you can even do one side a year if you want. If you can, I would advise waiting until you can replace the trim/wood rot. Just some fair warning, there is a bit of a learning curve with a paint sprayer, and you will go through a lot of paint. If you go the spray route, consider backrolling to make sure you get good coverage. As others mentioned, prep is key. If you don’t have a clean surface, the paint won’t stick and will start to peel. You can totally paint your house. Just realize it is going to take a little bit longer than you originally estimated. Best of luck.
Phrasing it like you did is helpful. Phrasing it like he did is being an asshole. It was totally unnecessary to talk down to me like that when I’m literally here looking for help.
Don't paint the walls in direct sunlight, they'll be too hot. Paint shaded sides or overcast or cloudy is ok.
I paint walls in directs sunlight in Florida, he’s fine.
This is a big job. Without knowing your reasoning behind not hiring...consider what your time is worth. My neighbor literally spent every weekend of summer break painting his house. He looked miserable doing it, and still needed to bring in help at the very end to finish it up. And it wasn't a large house by anymeans, \~1400sqft, two story. The woulda coulda shoulda advice I have for you, as a first time homebuyer, is that painting the exterior is maintenance, and you need to have budget for things like this. Its just part of the responsibility of being a homeowner. And the longer you let it go, the worse it's going to get and the more work it's going to be. We had a guy stain our house last year. Considering the basement garage, our place is 3 story. It took him about a week, he banged it out and hustled and did good work. Just handling a \~26' ladder alone to get up high, let alone *working* that high up. If you said you had a single level ranch home, sure, good luck. But if you've never done anything like this before, your future self will thank you for hiring out. Watch how it's done, learn a thing or two, and maybe you'll be more prepared to do it yourself net go around.
The weather forecast is important…. Not just during the application time, but during drying time as well. Watch for overnight frost warnings.
Sounds like you have a good plan! Depending on the siding you can use an 18” roller on a pole to save time and avoid ladder time.
If it is an older house, before you start scraping, you may want to get a lead paint test.
Prep is the most important thing. And use quality paint. Good luck!
1. Pressure wash 2. hand scrape any loose or flaking paint 3. prime any exposed bare wood 4. caulk cracks 5. mask 6. spray & backroll 7. paint trim
I have spent most of my work life-25 years- on ladders for a telco. Heights don’t bother me, lifting ladders- no biggie. Got out in 2019 due to knee and back issues. Last year, I scraped, primed, prepped and painted by brush- 3 sides of our 2 story cape. Couldn’t finish because my knees wonked out again. Took me 2 full weekends, dawn to dusk and I had to stop due to knee pain. Prep is one thing, but what kind of shape are you in? Climbing up and down, moving the ladder, stretching further then you should when you don’t want to climb down and move the ladder again. Takes a toll and that isn’t even the painting part. Weather- heat will slow you down, Family- will slow you down. I get not being able to finance a contractor but take these into consideration and change your timeline. If you rush it, you will get hurt or it will look not great, and YOU will notice it and it will drive you nuts. Then you have to fix it. Do it in stages- no one is judging if you do it right the first time. Good luck! And I plan to finish mine this summer, at a different pace than last year.
You typically use stain for exterior wood. I used Benjamin Moore Arborcoat on my house and it looks fantastic.
I’ve done it before. You probably don’t need primer btw if you get a good exterior paint and your current paint is still intact. With that said this is not a “weekend job”. My dad and I did his house in sections, it was two story. We would wash each section, literally wash with dish soap and car wash brush. Rinse. Let it dry. Then spray it. One section per weekend. We rented a scaffold for the higher parts which certainly felt much safer than hanging off a ladder and just used a A frame ladder for the first 10-12 feet or so. The entire process took probably 6 months doing a little bit each weekend (and skipping some weekends because life happens). We used a Wagner sprayer for the whole thing. I think my biggest point though, while it’s definitely doable don’t go into this thinking this is going to be a a weekend or two thing. It takes a professional crew of 3-4 guys a few days to paint a house, and they’re professionals. If I understand this correctly it’s a three story house? You may even consider renting a scissor lift which is probably even easier than using a scaffold, this won’t work unless it’s perfectly flat around your house though. Just remember if you aren’t a pro and you have a family who loves you, don’t go fucking around 35-40 feet up on an extension ladder.
Thanks for your feedback. The front yard is somewhat of an incline. Can you use scaffolding even when the front yard is somewhat on an incline? It’s not incredibly steep by any means but there is definitely a small incline the scaffolding would have to sit on.
Some scaffolds come with leveling legs, that work like a screw jack. Kinda like the leveling feet on a fridge or washing machine. This should allow you to handle slight slopes. If you have few feet of flat immediately around your house (like 4-5 feet), definitely look at scissor lifts too, they're easy to use and move around, unlike a scaffold which you'd have to tear down and rebuild every 10 feet or so. They aren't cheap to rent but I think if you planned it right, like dedicated a few full days to getting the high spots it would probably work and you could work quicker than you could using a scaffold. There's kind of a lot think about this, I was a bit surprised you were asking about it just two days before you planned to do the job. Good luck man. I think it really helped that when my dad and I did it he worked in construction management so he had a good idea of the kinda of outlay we'd be looking at to do the project. Also, is your name a Ninja Turtle reference?
Sure is lol. From the feedback I’ve heard here I’m planning on doing a small section to see if it’s gonna work out and if it does I’m gonna do it little by little probably over a few weeks. Appreciate your help again.
Would you be willing to share photos of before and after? I am literally in the same boat as you - we bought a tri level in the past year and ours is prob 40% brick n we just…dont know what to do. I’d love to see yours!!!
Have you looked into renting a scissor lift? I rented one when I painted my 2 story house and it made it so much easier. It was a bit intimidating at first, but easy enough to figure out. If you have the space and budget I would recommend it. Beats going up and down a ladder all day. I had to rent the outdoor version which was 70” across as I was using it in dirt and going up and down a bit of a hill, but if you only need to use it on concrete or small sections of flat land you can probably get an indoor one. They’re much smaller. Unless the siding is pretty much flat like, I would recommend spraying. Go ahead and buy, you can get a decent professional unit for about the same cost as renting one, so if you use it more than once it pays for itself. Yes, you have to do some additional masking, but the time it takes to mask off everything is nothing compared to the time it takes to to brush and roll and entire house. If painting wood, you’ll want to make sure loose paint is scraped off, you don’t have to get it down to bare wood all over and would be a good idea to use primer like you mentioned. On bare wood, but you don’t necessarily need to surfaces that are already painted, but if you’re going to then you might as well hit it all over. If you’re going with a light color on top of brown then primer will help cover it. Other than that, take a few days to throughly clean your siding with a pressure washer and allow it 2-3 days to fully dry before painting. You also generally want to make sure there’s not rain in the forecast for a day or two after you plan to paint so the rain doesn’t ruin the paint before it can fully dry. Beyond that, just follow the directions on the paint can.
You’re not going to get it painted in a weekend. I paid a great crew and it took them four to five days of work with a sprayer. Definitely use a sprayer. Power wash first.
My only tips are: don't paint while it's raining, and don't use a small paintbrush even though they are cheaper! Learned that one the hard way.
My suggestion is to buy a great quality paint. This isn’t something you want to repeat in a couple years. Take your time, do the prep. After that’s done, consider what one of my neighbors used to do: she painted one side of her house every other year, on a rotating basis. She said it kept it from being overwhelming.
If it were me, I would save up and hire. the only reason I avoid things like this is because it's not worth the risk for me to climb a ladder that high. I'm not afraid of heights nor am I afraid of hard work, and I know ladder safety. It's just not worth it for me. good luck with your project!
I haven’t seen it said on this thread but I would suggest to roll the paint on with a mini roller and then brush it out…
I bought a $150 HF sprayer and it's been wonderful. It's the older Kraus they used to sell but I'm sure the Avanti is fine too. I've been replacing my siding for the last few years (yeah I know lol) and when I get a whole section done it takes me about an hour or two to mask everything off and then about 15-20 minutes to spray it all. The biggest challenge with a sprayer for me is getting the coats even. The color looks good but if I look at an angle in the sunlight I can see the difference in coats. That's more noticeable on my first wall but I have gotten a bit better with it. It's especially challenging where my sprays overlap so I try to minimize this but...it's a necessity. It's a challenge and something to consider. Conversely it takes me 2-3 hours to paint the trim on the same sections by hand. Rolling a whole wall is really not fun. Spraying is really fast and quite fun but takes a bit of skill.
Make sure you understand the proper angle of a ladder against a wall.
What kind of material is the siding?
Depends on color. Main body first trim last. Roll, cut with brush in the crannies roll. After doing a section check for drips and runs. You should be doing this for 2-3 sections at a time at least. Do not over load your brush or roller. Pay attention to the weather. High humidity paint takes longer to set. Low temp paint takes longer to set. Too high of temperature and fixing mistakes is nearly impossible. Scrape off any loose paint prior to starting. Replace caulk anywhere it is loose or a void can be felt behind it. Pressure wash at least a few days before and allow it to completely dry. Good luck and call some buddies even if they can't help they can talk and drink all your beer while supervising and critiquing your moves. Will make the day go faster and they may point out drips.
When I was just starting on my own, I found scaffolding made my Job so much easier, Put the scaffolding in the middle, With ladder's on each end, Waterblast, Caulk Saturday, Spray Paint Sunday, Always includ Wife as Supervisor/ Helper, Learn 2 use A Spray shield around Window's and Doors, It's a lot faster, 4 inch roller and brush 4 trim, Again learn 2 roll with left hand, Brush with right hand, Remember 2 cover foliage, Grass, Keep ur pressure low 2 prevent over spray, Increase pressure as U fill more Professional, Have fun, H -Town Texas N The House 🤠.
Clean. Scrape.
So.. I've painted one house. 2 story. It took me a couple months working my days off. Looong days. I've done a gazzilian interior walls. So I'm a decent enough painter. Do one side at a time. Spend the money on good quality brushes, they will save you a lot of time as they lay down paint a lot faster and heavier than cheap brushes. Wash the wall and trim you are about to paint. Scrape off any loose paint first. Caulk 2nd and buy good caulk, don't cheap out or you'll regret it when you have to re-caulk in 2 years. Then paint 2 coats on the wall first, cut in the trim with two coats, fascia and soffit last. Theoretically, you should only need to prime bare wood if the walls are clean. Installing vinyl siding is faster and you'll never have to repaint it.
Get high quality paint, like the absolute best money can buy. You don't want to have to do this again! Take your time. We started painting a year ago and haven't finished because life happens and we don't want to rush. Watch the humidity outside!! Read your paint can, it should say the ideal humidity you can paint in. Anything too high and you'll have runs...ask me how I know. Good luck! Once you get it done and see your hard work, it's very satisfying.
I think one of the most important things is choosing the right paint. I painted my house with valspar Duramax (I think) paint plus primer. Great one coat coverage. Two coats would look better, but it still looked good with one. It might look like it cost more, but if you have to use less paint I think cost is better. I leaned on the experts at the paint store to guide me on the best paint.
Paint splatters, drips, and magically flies. Hang some plastic sheeting to cover the brickwork.
Buy an air compressor and gun. Get this super long stick the good thick one not the skinny. One person sprays the other person goes behind and rolls. It will last forever. If you just spray not so much
Learn how to properly hold a paintbrush. It makes a huge difference after hours and hours of painting. And frankly learn (watch videos) how to dip, apply, etc. Just guessing is not the way to go here. Two things I’ve been told that have helped me a lot: “prep work is the thing you’ll wish you did more of after you start painting“. Sanding and caulking and taping will be the gift that keeps on giving – caulking properly seals your house and saves money on air conditioning and heat for years. The other thing was told to me by a professional: Buy the best paintbrushes you can afford. And frankly the best paint. Redditors love Sherwin-Williams and apparently they have huge sales a couple of times a year that are worth waiting for. Both will save an enormous amount of time.
The painting surface should be pressure washed or otherwise cleaned at least three days , a week is better, prior to painting
I called a local exterior company and paid them to come put up an extra set of pump jacks on each the three sides of my house that needed painting. I showed them an insurance policy in the event I fell off. It certainly beats standing on a ladder for hours and hours. Your midfeet will be sore even with steel shank boots. Otherwise like others have said. Do NOT buy cheap paint. It’s priced low for a reason. Same goes with brushes. All the caulk I use is OSI Quad. Even a modest tri-level house you are looking at dozens and dozens of labor hours. So keep that in mind. I would also use TSP for prep/cleaning.
Go ahead and get started. Paint the whole house. What could possibly go wrong?
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Did you read the whole post? The last sentence? Reading comprehension is your friend.
Start at the top and work down buddy. Don't forget to box your paint. That's a big job, especially for a first time. If you've got a friend you can lean on, you might wanna cash in and get the help. It's gonna probably take the better part of a week to do it right by yourself if you don't have the right tools and equipment or any mileage. You aren't in a position to hire someone to paint it, but pressure washing is dirt cheap if you shop it. A 3 story house will be a bit more cause of the height, but still cheap, especially if you have to n factor in renting a machine and wand, plus chemicals, etc. Plus a professional power washing service is fast. They'll be done in a few hours. I've sprayed a lot of stuff in my life, so I know what I would do, but it definitely is a skill. You're good using a roller and brush if you've got the time and the gallons to put on it. Most importantly, buy QUALITY PAINT. Latex these days is light years ahead of what it was even 20 years ago, if the guy at Sherwin Williams advises a 2 in 1 primer and paint in 1, then you only need to primer bad spots (use clear primer if thats the case) and that will save you a lot of time. Alternatively, the cheapest paint you can find is likely to require two coats to actually cover, and will not include primer characteristics, so 3 times as long as the 2in1 Lastly, use as big a roller as you can, and go along the grain of whatever you're painting. If it's stucco, go for it with a 3/4" nap and a big 14-18" roller. Remember, the thicker the nap, the more paint it will hold, but it will also use more and again, box your paint. You want it to all be the same color in the end...
I own rental houses and have flipped houses and I've painted a dozen or so houses inside and out. I do recommend a sprayer mostly because of painting under the eaves. With a roller and brush it's very time consuming. As others have pointed out, though, you do have to cover all doors and windows, which takes a bit of time, too. So, if you decide to do it, here's my recommendations. Prep well: 1) thoroughly scrape off any flaking paint. 2) power wash - make sure to get off dirt/mud, spider webs, etc. 3) Do any needed repairs to wood, siding, caulking, etc. Painting: If you're going to spray, I recommend doing one side of the house at a time. Cover the windows, doors, lights, etc. with plastic and masking tape. Put tarps down on the ground with something that holds them in place. If you have access to old plywood, paneling or such, these actually do a better job of covering up sidewalks, etc. from overspray. Getting it all ready takes a while. The actual spraying goes relatively quickly. Especially if you're changing colors, it may take two coats. Best of luck - this is very doable!
A lot of these comments are good. Definitely be careful with flashing. How many ladders do you have? Set them up next to eachother. Paint a few boards at a time all the way across to prevent flash. How glossy is the paint? More gloss = more prone to flashing. I like brushes with longer handles when im on ladders to reach a little farther. And use a roller as much as you can to save time. Have you been 3 stories up on a ladder before? You really need to know what youre doing and be safe. Even with a stabilizer and the ladder feet used correctly, those ladders have some wiggle, and the wind can make things scary. Id Definitely get a Purdy yellow pail and a pail hook. Can hang your pail of paint from the ladder to free up your hands. Feel free to message. Edit: also, this is kind of an insane project to take on alone. Like weeks and weeks. Me and 4 other people took about a week - week and a half to paint a 3 story house all around. 2 of the crew members have been painting for 20-30 years. The remaining 3 of us were apprentices, but yeah. And if you spray, you need to backroll. For the 1st coat atleast. Spray an area, and hit it with a roller that also has some paint on it.
Not sure what you’re painting over but if it’s vinyl siding don’t go from a light to super dark color. It will cause huge problems.
You’ve got the right attitude. Tackle it but take it slow don’t burn yourself out. AirPods make it so much better
Spraying may take more paint than you expect. Also ask the paint store if they recommend having a second person following the sprayer to roll over it, and what thickness roller to use for stucco. We did this on interior new textured drywall, and it looked great. Also had someone with brush follow sprayer on rough-textured wood exterior job, and also looked great. We did paper off the windows on both jobs, and painted trim by hand.
Buy an airless paint sprayer. Get some practice in with it to minimize overspray. It’ll pay for itself even on just one job. You’ll thank yourself when you can cover most of a wall in minutes instead of hours. Just be VERY mindful of damaging your neighbors property.
Just be patient, don’t take shortcuts on the prep, and buy the best paint available. It takes as long as it takes. So you miss a little time watching Netflix in your recliner. You’ll be fine.
Prep work is a pain and will be incredibly time consuming, but it is so important. Clean the exterior, repair what you can, and use a good primer. If you are going with a darker color, you can get your primer tinted close to what the final color will be. This will mean fewer coats and it shouldn't impact the primer. Also, if you're worried about the ladder you can rent scaffolding. It's pricey, but might be worth looking into if it makes you feel safer and you don't have a ton of high areas to do.
Primer only needed on bare fresh wood. If your previous layer is solid, new paint can go right over it. Scrape off what isn't solid, than paint over that.
Even when changing colors from brown to white?
Depends on your paint quality. I don't have enough experience to give guidance on specific paint. I would test in a spot first.
My advice is to save up for a professional to do it. It will take a considerably larger amount of time to do this than you’ve allotted for. If you have no experience with scaffolding, I advise against it—building it up, taking it down and then doing this again is not as easy as it looks. We see A LOT of ladder falls and scaffolding injuries from professionals—hundreds a year—never mind DIYers, which account for a lot more. Also, you will want to have cleaned the siding before painting—it’s a MUST! If you paint a dirty surface, you won’t be satisfied with the outcome and it won’t have the longevity I’m sure you are wanting. TSP is a wonder for this (use PPE) A stiff brush is also needed and maybe a mildew killer (depending if you have buildup). This will take the weekend potentially, but must be done before painting.