Should I Power Wash My Home Before Painting?

Let’s be honest, adding a fresh coat of paint to your home’s interior is a lot simpler and easier than adding a coat to your home’s exterior. The exterior of your home faces harsh weather elements on a day-to-day basis and can sustain lots of damage and debris buildup. Plus, it is a much larger surface to cover, so you’ll generally need more of everything, including paint, supplies, time, money, and effort.

How to Know When It Is Time to Power Wash Your Home

Most homes would benefit from a thorough power washing before any sort of painting or refreshing. Over time, the wind and weather can blow all sorts of dirty objects onto the side of your home, and small particles will often stick and build up. Even if your home is brand new, there may still be a lot of dirt, debris, and even sawdust from the building process of your home.

You can even add a regular power wash routine to your annual or semiannual cleaning schedule. Even though it will take some time to power wash your home, it will keep your home’s exterior in better condition over time. As a result, you’ll be able to minimize any mold, bleaching, or damage that can occur when debris builds up on a home’s exterior surface. If you own a power washer or know where to rent one, this can be a great way to care for your house. Then, when you do have plans to add a new coat of paint to your home, you won’t have to fight to clean so many layers of dirt and grime.

What Happens if I Don’t Power Wash My Home?

If you don’t power wash your home, chances are that your paint of choice won’t stick properly to your home. Paint or primer is made to be applied on clean, dry surfaces that don’t have the slippery and uneven textures of dirt and debris. Without a preparatory power wash, your paint will chip away much easier and won’t last as long as it would otherwise. Your paint job might even dry with an uneven texture or choppy look that won’t look professional. So, even though it can seem like a lot of work and an additional step to complete, power washing your home before painting is incredibly necessary.

How Do I Power Wash My Home?

If you’re going to power wash your home yourself, look into buying or renting the right power washer for your home. Vinyl exterior siding is cleaned best by a 2,500 - 3,000 psi gas power washer that has the strength to cut through dirt and debris. If you have brick or stone on the exterior of your home, you should use a power washer with a psi between 500 - 1,500 depending on the machinery you’re using. Stucco or softwood siding similarly should be cleaned with 1,200 - 1,500 psi. Ensuring that you’re using the right level of pressure on your home’s siding will prevent any damage to the exterior of your home.

To get started in the power washing process, prep your area by covering and taping off any areas or objects that you don’t want to get sprayed with water. Make sure to cover any wiring, sockets, or outlets so there isn’t a risk of electrocution. You should also avoid standing on a ladder while you’re power washing since the power washer can have quite a force. Depending on the height of your home, you might also want to invest in an extension pole to make it easier to reach those high spots and corners.

To ensure the best cleaning, spend time removing debris and dirt by hand. A hose, scrubbing brush, or rag can help with this, especially if you use just a touch of naturally based cleaners. Once you’re ready to power wash, mix together water and a cleaning detergent until the machine is filled to the indicated amount. Stand back a few feet and then start your power washing from the bottom up.

If you don’t feel confident about power washing your home by yourself, don’t worry. You can hire a professional to take care of this step in your painting process. Even though that will cost some additional money, it will also ensure that the power washing is done right, which will give you peace of mind. No matter how you get the power washing done, it will ensure that your paint job is much more successful.

Do I Need to Use a Primer?

Now that your home is sufficiently cleaned, you’re almost ready to get started painting. But keep in mind that you might need to use a primer before you whip out the paint cans and start rolling or spraying.

Where Should I Get My Paint?

Now that you know how to make the preparatory steps of power washing before painting, you just need to buy the paint itself. When you’re making a big commitment to painting your home’s exterior, you shouldn’t go with a cheap paint brand. It takes quite a bit of time and effort to paint an exterior, so you won’t want to use a low-quality brand that will just need to be painted over again in a few years. Instead, you should look for a paint brand that has qualities such as increased durability, sun bleach resistance, anti-scratching, and more.

One brand that has all of these qualities while maintaining an affordable price is Vista Paint. Their paints are created for a number of weather conditions and have a certain durability that helps to maintain their paint color over time. To view the popular and trendy paint colors that Vista Paint has available, check out their paint color palette. You can also order some paint color chip samples so you can see their colors in person. This will help you to make a well-informed decision about which paint color will look best on your home.