The Edinburgh Realty eNewsletter

Six top tips: Exterior painting

Doing the exterior painting yourself seems like such a sensible way to save some serious money. But there are plenty of pitfalls for the inexperienced. Here are our six top tips for ending up with a paint job you are happy to put your name to.

1. Choose your paint colour and type.
Test pots are cheap, so be sure you are happy with the colours you have chosen. The exterior cladding of your house will largely dictate the type of paint you need to use – water or solvent based.

2. Calculate the amount of paint you need.
A rule of thumb is 1 litre of paint covers about 14sq metres. You need to subtract the door and window spaces, but add a small contingency – so you don’t finish frustratingly short.

3. Don’t shortcut the prep work.
You need to do all the repair work before you take the top off the paint can. And do a good job. There’s nothing like fresh paint to show up every imperfection in the surface underneath.

4. Paintbrush or roller?
For large areas, a roller will do a faster job and give you a quality finish. Detailed work should be done with the brush. The quality of your roller and brush make a difference – so don’t be miserly.

5. It’s definitely a summer job.
However, paint each wall at the time of day when it is shaded.

6. Clean up well.
This will lengthen the life of your brushes and rollers and ensure they continue giving you a mint finish.