How a Las Vegas Painter Prepares for Exterior Painting Projects

Painting on an exterior surface is much different than painting on an interior surface. While interior conditions can be controlled, it’s impossible to control the weather. Residential and commercial painters are tasked with managing the weather conditions and studying the latest forecasts to make sure that the exterior painting project is completed without issue. When you hire a Las Vegas painter, that person should be able to inform you about how he or she prepares for an exterior project.

Inspection and Professional Consultation by a Las Vegas Painter

Inspections are necessary to ensure that your home or commercial building appears fresh and up to date. Having your home inspected by a professional allows you to identify areas of concern that must be addressed before or during the exterior painting project. During the inspection, many different problems can be discovered, the primary of which is that an area of the building could be damaged.

Scheduling a home inspection annually will give you a better idea if pressure washing is needed before the exterior paint job takes place. Dirt and dust may also need to be scraped off the surfaces before the residential painter you hire begins applying the paint. The results of the inspection can be referenced by the painter for a more efficient process.

Most exterior paint jobs begin with a professional consultation by the house painters you’re thinking of hiring. You should ask them if they’re able to perform small repairs of nail holes and dents before any paint is applied. Consider inquiring about their cleaning methods as well.

Surface Preparation and Damage Repairs

Even when a painting company in Las Vegas completes an interior paint job, they will first prepare the surface to make sure that the paint can be applied without issue. A bad paint job is often accompanied by peeling or bubbling because of the paint not correctly sticking to the surface. In most cases, these issues are caused by the surface not being prepared properly. They can also be caused by poor weather conditions.

When you hire house painters in Las Vegas, they will patch and clean the surfaces before painting. Even though surface preparation can take some time, ignoring it usually results in a worse paint job. The surface preparation techniques that a house painter uses depend on the exact material that’s being prepared. A common solution involves surface masking, which involves placing masking tape on any areas you don’t want paint. While surface masking can be performed with a sprayer, doing so outside is challenging.

Surfacing masking can substantially reduce the amount of cleaning that needs to take place after the painting job is completed. When areas that aren’t going to be painted are taped off, the paint can’t stain any other area of your home’s exteriors. Most house painters in Las Vegas have ample experience with performing masking services before a paint job.

Along with surface masking, repairing damaged paint may also be required. If you paint on a surface that consists of too many chips or cracks, it will be impossible to obtain a smooth finish. Painting over an old and chipped coat of paint can result in the new coat cracking and peeling much sooner than anticipated. While this step can be skipped to allow the Las Vegas painters to begin work immediately, the quality of the finished project will be considerably worse than if you had first made the necessary repairs.

If the damage is so severe that a simple repair doesn’t fix it, you might need to replace the materials altogether. When you hire a painting company in Las Vegas, it should be able to tell you if any repairs need to be made beforehand.

Lead Testing

Most exterior painters will also perform lead testing before the paint job begins. If your home was constructed before 1978, there’s a possibility that lead paint was used during the construction process. The professionals you hire are required by the EPA to identify if the paint on your home was made with lead.

If this testing doesn’t take place, the workers and anyone who lives in your home could be exposed to the lead while the exterior painting project is ongoing. Existing exterior paint might need to be sanded or scraped away during this process, which can produce harmful lead dust.

Most Las Vegas painters will also check external faucets and electrical outlets. If electricity or water needs to be used for their tools, the painters you hire will make sure that all outlets are operational to avoid delays after the project begins.

If the paint is being applied near electrical outlets, the painters will follow safe painting practices by covering any exposed outlet with painter’s tape. If the outlet needs to be removed before the paint job begins, make sure that the power to the outlet is turned off.

Additional Preparation

The exterior surfaces around your home or commercial building will need to be cleaned and dried before painting begins. The painter you hire will likely scrape away any chipped paint before applying a new coat. The surfaces on window trim and old doors might need to be sanded down to prepare for the paint. The pros typically cover all landscaping, windows, and doors to protect these areas from splashes or spills of paint.

Depending on how dirty the exterior of a home is, professional painters can also pressure wash the areas before painting them, which allows for even the most stubborn of stains to be cleaned away. In most cases, a coat of premium primer will then be applied to the clean surface.

While professional painters can complete exterior painting projects in relatively high winds, they usually try to schedule the project for a time when the conditions are as close to ideal as possible. Different paints can be applied at different temperature ranges. For example, latex paint is most effective when applied between 40-85 degrees Fahrenheit.

The sanding that a professional performs allows the primer and paint to adhere to the surface for a better appearance. Before hiring a commercial or residential painter, you should perform extensive research to make sure that you’re not wasting your money. When you search for “painter near me” online, read reviews, and check the company’s BBB accreditation to make sure that you’re hiring a reputable painting company you can trust.