How To: Budget House Painting
With many home improvement projects, there isn’t often a “simple” way to get them done. The same applies for house painting. Exterior painting is a project that takes a lot of time, effort, and most importantly, money. Besides house paint, there is other equipment you’ll need if you don’t already own them. Going with a contractor for a large exterior paint contract is often a good idea. This is especially true if you lack experience in painting.
At Thorn Group, we are always looking for ways to make your house painting experience as painless as possible. Whether you use a contractor or not, our guide can be very helpful to you.
Going for the same, or a darker colour shade for your house painting project avoids creating extra work for yourself.
Use the Same, or Darker, House Paint Colours
If you’re on a budget, you will want to avoid creating extra work for yourself. You can make the task of painting much easier by limiting the house paint colours you use. Lighter shades of paint need more layers applied to look complete. For you and your contractor, this means more time, more paint, and more money wasted!
When it comes to exterior paint, the simple fact is that fewer coats cost less. Using just one coat with a lighter shades means that the old colour will still show through in some spots. But, using the same colour or darker will allow those areas with a thinner paint layer to blend it better.
Most contractors will be more than happy to abide by this exterior painting method on your home. It will be quite rare to find a contractor that turns down a project, after all!
Clean the Walls before Conducting Exterior Painting
This applies as a general rule before any sort of house painting. For best results, we recommend cleaning the exterior walls of your home before starting. You don’t need to spend a long time doing this. Simply rinse with an old rag, or give it the one-over with a pressure washer. Once dried, you can start applying house paint.
If you have a contractor, you can save some of your exterior painting budget by handling this yourself. Many contractors charge by the hour, so the fewer hours they work, the less you pay. Just hose off large obstructions like leaves and mud clumps. Afterwards, remove that thin layer of dust and dirt already on the walls.
Limit Exterior Paint Primer Usage
On a tight budget, the aim is to save as much as possible without detracting from the end result. The best house painting results will need a full primer coat. However, you can get by through using house paint primer on problem areas only.
As before, most contractors will handle exterior painting in this way without issue. Just be sure that they are reputable contractors that use quality exterior paint. Want to know how to find a reliable and reputable contractor? Click here to see our article covering this topic.
While you may want to save money, you also don’t want a shoddy end product. It’s important to only use as much paint as you need, without skimping on it.
Painting preparations will likely take up no more than half of a day. At the end of it, you will have more money in your pocket. Ideally, you may want the contractor to handle the clean-up work, though.
Avoid Over-Prepping
If you’re short on time, there’s a lot you can do to help yourself. Most importantly, only conduct the necessary prep before the actual painting begins. Handling the exterior paint prep work also means lower contractor costs!
