What to Know About Repainting Your Home

Repainting your home is an incredibly underrated task. Many homeowners don't realize the value of giving a home a fresh coat of paint. In addition to beautifying your property, fresh paint also helps to protect your home from weather damage, insect damage, and visible wear and tear. Here's what you need to know about repainting your home!

The Importance of Giving Your House a Fresh Coat of Paint

Fresh paint is important for both the interior and exterior of your home! Let's start with why painting your walls every so often is important. You may already know that fresh paint can update the look and value of a room. You may even know that certain shades and tones can make a room appear larger and brighter. What you might not know is that fresh paint can also protect your walls.

The average wall in your home goes through a lot. Just think of the dust, damage from nails and tape, and constant sun exposure that all beat down your walls on a daily basis. In addition to visibly aging your walls, these factors also threaten the integrity of your walls. When damaged walls are left untreated, your home is vulnerable to moisture, mold, and mildew. Fresh paint seals out moisture! What's more, today's high-quality paints that are used by professionals actually help to repel dust, dirt, and many allergens that can make humans and pets ill.

Fresh paint on your home's exterior also has protective qualities. In addition to giving a home character, exterior paint also provides an important seal against moisture. If your home's paint is peeling, aging, or deteriorating, your home is actually vulnerable to moisture seepage that can cause wood rot. Unfortunately, wood rot is linked with mold, structural issues, and many other problems. The integrity of your home's framing starts with its exterior paint! Of course, beautiful exterior paint also makes a home charming and radiant. No other factor stands out as much as a home's color. When paint is fading or peeling, a home appears derelict. When paint is crisp and bold, everyone who passes by sees a well-loved home!

What to Know About Repainting Your Home

One of the biggest mistakes a homeowner can make when it comes to repainting a home is underestimating the difficulty of this project. First, it's important to start with a clean slate! New paint won't stick to peeling paint, dirt, or rotting siding. Simply trying to add new paint to a surface that hasn't been properly prepped can result in streaky, chipping paint. Professionals use sanding, filler, putty, and other tricks to create surfaces that allow paint to adhere properly.

It's also important to have a strategy when selecting paints. Primer, strategic paint combinations, and special finishes can all help to create professional-looking results that last! Finally, it's important to properly protect the area where you'll be painting. When painting indoors, it's essential that you cover floors, furniture, and trim to avoid splatters. When painting outdoors, it's important to protect landscaping, brickwork, roofing, trim, and other features.

What Your Home's Paint Says About You

The paint you choose helps to tell the story of your home! While many homeowners decide to repaint their homes to add curb appeal, you shouldn't allow mainstream trends to fully dictate your color choices. The truth is that any color of fresh paint you choose will send the message that you are an attentive, stylish homeowner!

Different colors can convey different stories about your home. If you go for neutral colors, your paint is saying that you value calmness and serenity. You also want your home to be inviting and relaxing instead of "pretentious." If you value rich hues and jewel tones, your paint is telling the world that you embrace elegance and tradition. If you go for bright bright colors and pastels, your paint is saying that you are adventurous and eclectic!

Final Thoughts on Repainting Your Home

The decision to repaint your home is interesting because it's an action that must be rooted both in creativity and practicality. The sky is the limit when it comes to bringing your artistic touch to the colors you choose. However, the process of repainting a home is very technical. Without the right products and techniques, a grand plan for a fresh home can quickly turn into frustration. The final word is to always choose quality over "rushed" work! It's a choice that will pay you back tenfold for years to come!

Written by Taylor McKnight, Author for AMF Painting