Planning to paint the outside of your house? Here is a step by step how to guide on exterior painting from Mitre 10.

Before starting this project or buying any materials, it is well worth your time to read fully through all steps and make sure you understand all that is required.

Materials and Tools

Choose your Paint

You can paint your house with either water based (acrylic) or solvent-based (enamel) paint.

Water-based or Acrylic paints offer a number of advantages. They are easy to apply, are rapid-drying and allow for easy cleaning up after painting. Gloss Acrylic paints are commonly used for weatherboard homes, while Low Sheen Acrylic paints are popular on brick, cement render and concrete surfaces.

Generally, solvent based enamel paints (although now you can also get acrylic enamels) are preferred wherever a tough, hard-wearing, easy-to-wipe-clean surface is required. They take a little extra time to apply but can be well worth the trouble for doors, door frames, windows and other high wear areas.

Need advice on selecting paint colours for the outside of your house? Read our article Colours for Exteriors.

How Much Paint?
The amount of paint needed depends on the type of surface you are painting as well as the area (square metres.) For outside walls, multiply length by height to gauge the area in square metres, then subtract door and window areas from the total. To determine window and door areas, multiply their width by their height.

Read the label on your tin of paint for the coverages specified. Usually one litre of paint will cover approximately 16 square metres, but allow an extra 20% for rough or porous surfaces and an extra 10% for weatherboard edges.

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		Preparation for Painting Take a critical look at your house to see what preparation needs to be done before you start painting. It’s important to fix every fault before you begin or the paint won’t be able to do it’s job properly and your finished surface may start to flake and look bad. Correct suface preparation is crucial for a good paint finish. New Surfaces: New bare timber should be primed first then cracks and holes filled with an exterior wood filler (such as Poly Woodflex), sanded smooth and dusted down.   Brick and cement render should be rubbed down to remove loose material. Fill cracks or holes with an exterior filler, then sand smooth, dust off and undercoat so your repairs won’t show through.

Metal gates, gutter and downpipes should be washed with turpentine and coated with an all purpose metal primer.

Previously Painted Surfaces:
All peeling paint must be scraped or wire brushed away, then primed. Use a heat stripper to soften the old paint, so it's easy to scrape off with a stripping knife or scraper.

Use a chemical stripper for around windows where heat might crack the glass.

Fill cracks and holes - use an exterior filler for brick and concrete and a flexible filler for timber.

Sand the filler level with the rest of the surface. Thoroughly sand the whole area to be painted to clear any uneven spots and give the new paint a slightly roughened surface it can stick to, especially if the existing paint is a gloss enamel.

Exposed nail heads, if they are not galvanised, should be punched below the surface, and the holes filled and sanded smooth to prevent rust stains.

Use a sugar soap to remove all grease, dirt and dust.

Rust on metal guttering, downpipes, gates or metal window frames (not aluminium) should be cleaned away with a wire brush and the metal coated with a rust dissolver. Be sure to prime any new or exposed metal on gutters and downpipes before painting.

Gutter leaks should be repaired and sealed with a silicon sealant. This will give a long lasting weatherproof seal. Select a sealant that can be painted over. Think about using a transparent sealant that will be virtually invisible, such as Selleys All Clear Brushable Water Barrier.

For more primers and sealers, browse our range of Preparation Coats on the Mitre 10 MEGA website.
 
Now is a good time to remove and replace hardened or cracked putty in windows and fill exterior gaps, especially those caused by movement between bricks and concrete. Use a flexible sealant such as Selleys Brick & Concrete Silicone.

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		Applying The Paint Buy the best painting tools you can afford. Good brushes and rollers, properly looked after, will give you years of service, speed up the job and give superior results.   Likewise, a top quality roller will cover 45% greater area per loading, plus give a better finish. This saves a lot of time and, long term, money. The first step is to mix the paint thoroughly. Use a flat paddle stick or a ruler and stir from the bottom upwards (not just around) until there are no thick bits in the bottom.

If painting the whole house, start with the fascia board and under the eaves, followed by the gutters. The walls come next, then the window frames, sills and doors and finally the downpipes. In this way, any paint that is dripped onto a wall under a fascia or gutter will be covered up when you come to paint the wall.

Use a roller on flat surfaces as paint will go on much faster this way than with a brush. Paint pads, especially 100mm or 180mm sizes, are an excellent alternative to brushes and rollers on smooth exterior cladding and weatherboards.

After coating about one square metre, even out the paint by lightly rolling across the surface with an almost dry roller. Always work from the unpainted area back into the painted area, maintaining a wet edge to avoid lap marks.

For windows, start by cutting in around the glass with a small sash brush, then use a larger brush for the surrounding frame. Use masking tape along the glass edge to give a clean finish.

Doors are painted from the outside in, doing the moulding first. Paint the edges, then the face, returning to the edges to lightly feather off any surplus paint with the tip of the brush. You’ll probably be using an enamel here, so it’s better to remove the door completely and paint on trestles. You'll also save a lot of fiddling if you remove the door furniture.

You can browse a range of Brushes and Rollers on the Mitre 10 MEGA website.

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When to Paint

Outside painting should only be done in temperatures between 10 and 40 degrees Celsius. In summer, the best way is to follow the sun around your home and paint only on the shady side. A hot sun will dry out the surface too quickly, which may cause the paint to wrinkle.

The ideal time to paint is about an hour after sunrise when the dew has had a chance to dry out and at least two hours before sunset or the onset of rain. Even a small amount of moisture trapped under a new enamel will vaporise and cause blisters and peeling.

Always paint on the shady side, never in the sun.

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Tips
Identify sections and then prepare and paint one section at a time. That way you set yourself intermediate goals, for instance a wall at a time. One finished wall is really motivating and you’ll feel less daunted by the remaining ones, which look shabby by comparison.

Use ladders with care. Secure extension ladders safely when working at heights. Lean the ladder so that the base is 1 metre from the wall for every 4 metres of height. Tie the ladder securely at the top or bottom to stop it slipping.

Record the brand of your paint, the type of paint and the colour mix details in a handy place, like on the bottom of the can. That way, when it comes time to touch up and you need more of the same paint, you`ll be able to accurately reorder the right paint.

Don't try to make a can of paint go too far. The result can be too thin a coat of paint and inadequate surface protection.

For further advice refer to our Mitre 10 guide for “10 out of 10 Paint Tips.”

Cleaning Up

Clean brushes and rollers in turpentine if you`ve been working with solvent based paints. Clean in water if you`ve used water-based paints.

Make sure you clean your brushes and roller thoroughly. Store the brushes flat or hanging up, never standing on the bristles. Make sure you get all the paint out of the ferrule as this will increase the life of the brush.

Flush out rollers under running water or by working turpentine through the nap. Then wash in warm soapy water and rinse well.

Always store brushes flat or hanging up, never standing on the bristles. Rollers should be set on end or hung up to dry, otherwise the nap of the roller is flattened.

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