Four Things to Consider Before Painting Your Home

Should you do it yourself
or hire a professional?

Peeling paint. Faded colors. It’s about time to give your home a new coat of paint. But before you decide to tackle the job yourself, here are four things to consider first.

1. How big is the job? Your son’s bedroom is one thing, but a 2,000-square-foot home is something altogether different. Beyond hidden nooks and crannies, you have high and hard-to-reach areas to consider as well. Not to mention scraping, prepping and priming before you dig into the real work of painting your house.
2. How long will it take? Again, a simple bedroom might take little more than a rainy weekend to complete. But the average-sized home will take much longer. For a small team of seasoned professionals, that could be a week or two. For one or two do-it-yourselfers, this could be a half a summer’s worth of weekends – if not longer.
3. What’s the real cost? Do the math and it may seem like a simple decision to paint your home on your own. But consider all the other supplies you’ll have to purchase, as well as any rentals – sprayers, scaffolding or a cherry-picker – and the number of weekends you’ll have to rent that equipment to do the job right. That dollar distance is quickly closed when you include the hidden costs.

How do you want the finished product to look? Exterior painting often requires a skill set the average homeowner does not possess. And while you might be able to live with a streak here and some sloppy detail work on the inside of your home, the outside sits for all the world to see. Professionals will make sure your house presents in the best way possible.