House Exterior

Ever noticed how your house exterior appears to get duller with chipping paint and cracks?

Painting the whole house from the outside can be challenging in itself. But exerting a little effort on freshening up the look of your house does have its benefits such as upping your property value factor and making it more appealing for the long haul. Indeed, you must take many considerations in terms of painting the exterior of your home. Sealing the exterior of your home against weather elements is also a reason why you need new coats of outside paint. You have to consider general moisture, wind, wear and tear, and mildew that cause the exterior paint to chip off. When you have decided to roll up your sleeves and settle on doing the paint job, either by yourself or get a helping hand from a professional, you need to estimate the proper amount of paint that you will require. You can do this by multiplying the length of the wall of your home by its height. Once you have determined how much paint will be used, you need to cover what will be needed for touch-ups as well. Take heed these tips for painting your home exterior and bear in mind the endless possibilities of making your home look more unique and alluring than ever.

Buy good paint

Certainly, investing in good quality paint will do you and your house good. You obtain the quality that you have paid for and the price may be all worth it. You can scour supply store shelves for coats of paint that you need in various colors. If you are tentative about color combinations, you can ask advice from the staff on hand. Make sure that you harmonize the colors with your home structure since dazzling and boring colors might make the architecture of your house more unpleasant.

Get the necessary materials

When it comes to painting your house, you should be able to get a few sturdy ladders especially if you are the one who is going to apply the paint. Ensure that they are good and tall enough in reaching out high places. You surely do not want to be teetering on a ladder with buckets of paint in hand. Prevent such a disaster by investing in decent ladders for your own protection. Purchase rollers and brushes that are designed just for exteriors. They are built in a less delicate way to guarantee that you will have smoother exterior paint work. Grab yourself some scrapers, exterior-grade caulk, sandpaper, and putty for outside structure as well. Masking tapes and drop cloths are also essential to protect your garden plants, cars, pathways, and even the property of your neighbor. Furthermore, better consider using oil-based coats for exterior woodwork since it slowly dries out and a lot tougher than you think. Use it on areas that are prone to chip and wear such as banisters, porches, doors, and columns.

Learn about color families

While you need to analyze color details, you can focus on contrasting colors that will highlight the architectural design of your house. However, extreme contrasts might clash with the structure of the home and deter the overall appearance. Be on the safe side by staying with a single color family. Color accents are ideal but try suing lighter or darker shades instead of applying a totally different color.

Strike a good balance

Bursts of single color in just one side of your home can have an uneven look and you do not want that. It is a good idea to strive for colors that complement and balance each other. Painting your home is a good return on your investment so try to make it appear newly-built.

When you are considering how to finish the outside of your house, you may want to consider the advantages of stucco versus vinyl siding. While the first one certainly is an attractive finish for your home, it does require maintenance and repair, while the second one is virtually carefree. Frequently the choice of whether to maintain an old stucco finish or simply cover it with vinyl siding simply depends on how much maintenance the old stucco finish needs.

Understanding Stucco
Even though stucco does require maintenance, there are some advantages to having a stucco finish on your home. First of all it is attractive and durable. A stucco finish on your home gives it a very distinctive style. It is resilient, and even though it may need maintenance, it is generally pretty low maintenance. Stucco also helps to insulate your home making it more energy efficient. Many areas of the country prefer stucco homes, and having a real stucco home adds resale value to your house. Some stucco is applied using a concrete mixture over a wood or wire lath. It is first coated with an acrylic polymer making it weather resistant, and it helps to minimize cracking in the stucco. There are also new materials that are used in construction today where a Styrofoam based stucco product is sprayed onto a fiberglass mesh and foam board creating stucco panels. This newer stucco costs more than the original concrete stucco, but it has superior insulation qualities.

All About Vinyl Siding
As you are considering which product will best suit your home, remember that vinyl siding has some good qualities of its own. It is almost maintenance free, and it comes in a huge array of colors. It is not painted; instead the color goes all the way through the siding. Newer versions of vinyl siding are much improved over its predecessors in that modern siding has better color, and it is more durable and flexible. This home finish is extremely weather resistant, and it does not rust, crack or deteriorate. An occasional hose washing is pretty much the only maintenance that it requires, and many people consider it one of the best home finishes available.

Which is Best?
As you are considering which finish is right for our home, you may want to remember that while vinyl siding is virtually care free, the original concrete stucco is far less expensive to apply. However, when you compare your costs over the years and factor in maintenance costs, then vinyl siding may not actually be more expensive at all. Finding a contractor to install vinyl siding will be easier than finding one to install stucco, but regular stucco does add a warmth, style and charm to a home that you just do not get with vinyl siding. So if you have a stucco home, and you are trying to decide if you should repair it or simply cover it with vinyl siding, unless it has a lot of extensive damage, the most economical solution will be to repair it.