Whats the best way to paint your house by yourself?
Question:where to start? and what you need?
Answers:
There are questions I would need to know before saying what you need to do...
Interior or Exterior?
What is/are the surfaces covered with now? (if paint is it oil or latex)
What shape is it in?
Inside? Outside? Either way, if you're not sure you know what you're doing, pick a small out of the way area like the powder room in the basement or the back of the garage to practice on. Go to Home Depot or something and ask what you need. They make such a big deal about being able to tell you what you need for your project and give advice; surely they should be able to advise you on something as straightforward as painting.
Patience and time. It's not just a lyric.
Paint enough to cover and extra for mistakes (measure)
Rollers, brushes, sticks, paint trays, handles and possibly a paint sprayer (rent don't buy).
Ladders, the kind that form scaffolding are great. (metal please, for my own piece of mind. Wood is so rickety)
Tape to cover things not to be painted on the house (Small)
Tarps to cover things not to be painted on the house (large) and things near the house not to be painted (plants, jacuzzi, doors...)
Pressure nozzle and hose to clean walls before painting
Long handled stiff bristled brush to clean walls before painting.
That's all I can think of just now. I get a little headache thinking of it all. I used to think I could just "Bang it out!" after watching years of do it yourself shows. They leave a lot of things out of those shows it turns out. I've added painters to my list of underpaid jobs, almost up there with teachers.
It can be done however and it will save you thousands.
Good luck!
eek, above is for exterior painting. please don't hose down the interior of your home. The list is the same except that bit.
hi, your question is very funny. never mind, i will give some tips for you. firs, bring out all the things kept indoor. second, prepare the paint, brush, etc. third is, paint the house.
You really need to have good sturdy, safe ladders to work on and make sure you have someone to check on you every so often just in case something goes wrong.
As for painting there are several ways to do it depending on how much you want to spend. High dollar way is rent a paint gun and compressor and buy the big buckets of paint. This goes pretty fast and you could probably paint your entire house (depending on size of course in a couple of days). The draw back is cost and you will have to tape off all trim, windows, molding, etc that you do not want paint on and this can be expensive and time consuming (extra couple of days and the expense of tape).
Or if you want to go the less expensive but more tedious way you can use a paint roller and brush for the hard to reach, tight areas. You may still want to cover some areas you find might get unwanted paint on but with paint like this you have a bit more control on where the paint goes.
If you are looking for inexpersive supplies and often time good advice look for a Habitats for Humanities resale shop. Prices just can't be beat and many of the people who work there know about this kind of thing.
For advice go to a local Ace or small home improvement store. The reason I say small is the people working there often have time to answer questions and can let you know about the things you will need.
Here is the list of things I am using on my paint project right now (painting my 8'x10' chicken coop). Paint (ask the people you are working for about how much you may need to cover the square footage, remember to specify 1 or 2 coats), plastic drop clothes (these can be reused but you still should not invest alot of money). Even if you are renting a paint gun you are going to need paint brushes (if you are using an oil base paint you will need more brushes because the paint can not be washed out with using some pretty toxic chemicals, ie gasoline), painters paper to cover windows, painters tape to tape off areas you do not want to get paint on, rubber gloves (trust me paint does not come out from under your nails very well ;). If you are going the roller method, you will need plenty of paint rollers (do not buy the expensive ones you are probably going to throw them away anyway). You can use a broom handle (you know the kind that screws off from on of those cheap dollar store brooms) as an extension for your roller brush handle (save your self some money that way), safety glasses (paint in eyes can hurt or so I have been told :D.
Humm what else, you know I always forget stuff on my first (some times second or third) trip to the hardware store.
If I think of anything else I will let you know or maybe someone with more experience can fill in the gaps.
Good luck and be safe!
R
You will likely find the following link to be very useful.
Then since you are going to paint check out their insulating ceramic paint additive and or premixed paints. That's what I'm going to use on my house in the scorching heat of AZ.
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