Exterior Painting

IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE VIDEO ON THE HOME PAGE OF MY WEBSITE TO SEE HOW THE PROFESSIONALS AT RON’S PAINTING DO EXTERIOR HOUSE PAINTING, I HAVE LISTED THE PROCEDURES FOR YOU TO READ. WHEN IT COMES TO EXTERIOR HOUSE PAINTING NOT ALL PAINTING COMPANIES IN FORT MYERS AND SURROUNDING COUNTIES FOLLOW THE SAME STEPS AND PROCEDURES TO GIVE THE HOMEOWNERS A QUALITY EXTERIOR PAINT JOB THAT WILL LAST BETWEEN 8 TO 12 YEARS.

Before we begin to pressure clean a home for exterior painting, we meet with the customer and inspect the home’s exterior for anything that can be damaged by bleach.

We will move any furnishings on the front and rear lanai away from where bleach will be applied.

When we first begin pressure cleaning, we rinse all the vegetation down with clean water.

We then apply a bleach and water solution to the home’s exterior fascia, soffits and stucco siding to remove dirt, and algae.

We will then clean the homes exterior using pressure to remove the dirt and algae that is on the home. It is important to remove all contaminants on the surface.

Once pressure cleaning is complete, we rinse down the home and all vegetation with clean water.

Allow to dry overnight. This is extremely important. This allows all surfaces to dry properly before we begin the next step in painting the homes exterior.

The second day on the job we will cover windows, screen on the screen enclosure near the stucco walls, and sliding glass doors with plastic. Protect pavers, concrete and roof tiles where they meet stucco walls with paper and tape, then cover areas with drop clothes. Put drop clothes under the overhead garage door. If there is glass in the garage door we will protect the glass with blue tape.

Apply chalk sealer to the stucco, downspouts and overhead garage door to seal in chalky surface. If we are painting the fascia, soffits and gutters we will also apply a chalk sealer to the surface to seal in the chalk of these surfaces also.  It is extremely important to use the proper chalk sealer to seal in the chalk. The reason the surfaces are chalky is from paint break down from sun exposure. If the home was last painted with a cheaper grade of paint the surface would become chalky sooner. Paint can become chalky sometimes within 3 to 5 years from the last paint job, depending on the quality of paint that was applied.

The chalk sealer will dry in one hour after it is applied to the surface.

We will then caulk where stucco meets soffits, around electrical outlets, water spigots, where door casings meet stucco, front and rear lanai ceilings where it meets the walls, wood joints in fascia. The caulk we use is Sherwin Williams Max Flex or Sher Max elastomer caulk. Once we caulk a home, we always allow the caulk to cure overnight before applying paint to the surface.

Patch hairline cracks in stucco using Sherwin Williams Elastomeric patch. If the crack is over 1/8 th of an inch wide we will open up the crack, seal the opening with chalk sealer, fill crack with an oil-based urethane caulk, and allow the caulk to cure overnight. We will then patch over the urethane caulk with the elastomeric sealant and allow curing overnight.

We always allow the caulking and patching to cure overnight before applying paint. If you start painting the home’s exterior the same day you apply the caulk and patch, the caulk and patch will not cure properly and will separate.

The third day on the job, we begin the exterior painting. We cover vegetation, air conditioning units and pool equipment with drop clothes. If we are painting the fascia, soffits, and downspouts we will paint these surfaces first. The aluminum soffits are always spray painted. The soffits are usually painted the same color as the fascia and gutters which are also spray painted.

Once we begin painting the stucco walls we cut with a paint brush under the soffits then roll down below the soffits with a small roller. We will back the dirt at the foundation of the home. We then apply the paint to the rest of the home with an airless sprayer to the stucco walls. As the paint is applied to the surface, we always use a roller to spread out the paint on the surface and make sure the entire surface is covered completely with the paint. Front and rear lanai ceilings are painted with a brush and roller. Once the painting is completed on the home, we remove plastic from the windows and doors, then caulk the perimeter of the windows where it meets window returns and allow the caulk to cure overnight.

On the fourth day of the job, we paint the stucco on the window returns, paint the exterior side of all the doors and casings.

We push the dirt, mulch or stones back against the home’s foundation, walk around the home to clean up and pieces of tape and plastic to tape off surfaces.

We then walk around the home with the homeowners to make sure they are happy and to check to see if there is anything we may have missed.

 

IF YOU NOTICE IN THE ABOVE PROCEURES THAT THE PAINTING CREW AT RON’S PAINTING IS TRAINED TO FOLLOW, WE DO NOT APPLY PAINT TO A HOMEOWNERS HOME UNTIL DAY THREE. THIS ALLOWS ALL PREVIOUS PRODUCTS THAT ARE APPLIED TO THE HOME TO DRY AND CURE PROPERLY BEFORE THE PAINT IS APPLIED.