Exterior Residential House Painting

To paint a 1,500 square foot house exterior, you’ll need about five gallons of paint, if one gallon covers 300 square feet. This calculation is based on one coat of paint. If it’s just windows and doors, you could probably get 1 or 2 gallons maximum. If it’s soffits and fascia you’ll get another 3 to 4 gallons. If it’s siding or bricks, atleast 5 gallons. So it really depends on what you’re painting on the exterior.

For the best exterior house paint, we recommend Sherwin-Williams Duration Exterior Acrylic Latex or A-100. For doors, we recommend Resilience or Emerald. We also recommend Benjamin Moore Aura or Regal. It’s known for its durability, which means fewer repaints over time. This paint forms a robust barrier against weather elements, ensuring your home looks great for longer. Choosing a durable option like this is key to maintaining your home’s exterior, saving you time and money in the long run.

Spray painting is quicker and provides a more consistent finish, but it might be challenging for beginners. On the other hand, roll-on paint is cheaper and easier to handle, especially for those with little experience. So, if you value speed and a smooth look and don’t mind the learning curve, go for spray. Otherwise, rolling is a great, budget-friendly option.

As long as the weather above 10°C, you can even paint up to 30°C as long as you’re not painting in direct sunlight. Avoid the rain at all cost and avoid anything below 10°C when you are painting.

If you’re just doing a repaint, then usually you can use the self priming paint. If you’re dealing with bare wood, new surfaces, rust surfaces or surfaces that anything other than painting on the top of paint, I recommend priming using an exterior latex or oil-based primer depending on the situation.

Yes, definitely if you have the expertise and tools. But it’s very dangerous to homeowners because especially when you’re doing the second or third storey windows if you aren’t use to that. Only if you are experienced and if you’ve been trained on using ladders, working at heights training or has extensive experience with ladders.

Yes, you can paint over old exterior paint if it’s in good condition and firmly attached to the surface. Whether you need to prime first depends on the current paint’s type and state. If the old paint is glossy or oil-based, priming will help the new paint adhere better. Always make sure to clean and sand the surface before starting to ensure the best results.

No, depends on the situation but generally you do not need to powerwash becauce it can actually hurt and damage the surface. The only time you need to powerwash is if you have some terrible substance on it like oils, fungus, construction dust or anything really dirty and grimy. In which case you can powerwash but it’s crucial with the right nozzle and it’s far away enough otherwise you might wanna wash it by hand.

Usually 2 coats is typical and it’s best for exterior in general.

Anything below 10°C or if it’s raining. If it’s really hot in the outside, do not paint in the direct sunlight during summer months.

4 to 5 years minimum is typical. If it last 5 to 10 years, then it’s exceptional but sometimes when you’re facing Southwest those areas tend to get worst sun exposure so you might have to do those sides of the house more often like 3 to 5 years. North, East sides of the house shouldn’t have to paint as often.

If it rains right after, then it can actually wash the paint away and you might wanna repaint. But if it’s after about 2 to 4 hours then usually its okay, depends on how heavy the rain is.

Sure, as long as no excessive grime, fungi, algae or any oil surface.

Yes if needed, but sometimes it’s not needed. For example, sometimes the surface is just flaking a little you need to paint it, you dont need to wash it all off.