If your house has any areas of mildew, you must kill the mildew with a mildew cleaner or make your own solution using bleach and water.
Once the house has been washed and cleaned, let the house dry. This is very important or else the paint will peel prematurely ruining the entire project. Not letting the house dry before painting is a common cause of paint failure.
- If you're going to paint with latex paint, then wait at least one day.
- If you're using oil based paint then you need to wait at least one week before you paint.
- If you have used a power washer at high pressure to clean and remove loose paint, then you may have to extend these drying time recommendations depending how wet the wall surface became.
Caulk gaps around windows, doors, between siding, molding, columns, etc. If you have wood siding, look for nail heads that may be sticking up a little bit. If you find any, nail them back down using a nail countersink and putty the hole.
Once you've completed these tasks, you're now ready to paint with the confidence that you have done a professional job in paint preparation and your paint job will last many years.
