Nothing increases curbside appeal more than painting your home, but painting a house is anything but easy. Even if you manage to paint the exterior siding, there are always the Soffits and eaves to consider. Before you pick up a paintbrush and get to work, there are some things to think about that will affect how well the finished product ends up looking.
Decide the color scheme ahead of Time
There are times when Soffits match the house and others when the mix-and-match nature of them adds texture to the house, especially if the house is a different color.
Before you start painting soffits & eaves along with the exterior of the house, it is important to know what type of house you have (traditional, contemporary or even bungalow) before deciding if things should be uniform or if putting a little extra spin on your home will create curb appeal and set your home out from the rest, if that is what you want.
If you choose to paint the soffits and eaves a different color, be mindful that it is going to take longer. Since you will have to do the house and soffits individually, there needs to be a switchover and drying time added to your overall project. For those who are in a time-crunch, uniformity might be the better option.
Soffit material
If you are going to paint soffits that are aluminum, then the prep work is going to be a bit more extensive than usual. Painted aluminum can end up looking fantastic, but it does take time and patience. The first step is going to be cleaning the soffits thoroughly to make sure that there isn’t any debris or dirt on them that is going to make your paint bubble or not stick.
The second step is to add a primer that is specifically designed for whatever material your soffits are made from. If you don’t add primer, then your paint is likely going to peel and look haggard within the season. So, determine what your soffits are made of and then ask your local paint store which type of paint is best.
Prep work is key
If you are going to paint your softies and eaves a different color than the rest of the exterior of your home, it is going to be crucial that you tape and drape a painter’s cloth over the rest of the house. Unless you are the perfect painter–and sometimes even if you are–there are bound to be times when things spill or drip.
If you don’t want to worry about the clean up before you begin painting the rest of the house, make sure to cover all those areas where you don’t want paint to accidentally fall or drip. It might seem like a lot of work, but it isn’t as much work as trying to scrape paint splatter or drips from the exterior of your house, after the fact.
Consider whether you want to use a paint sprayer
A sprayer is one of the fastest ways to paint the exterior of your home. But, when it comes to your soffits, it might not look as uniform or as finished as if you roll the paint with a roller or use a paintbrush. If you do choose to spray your soffits and eaves, then it is going to be even more critical that you cover those areas that you don’t want the paint color to touch.
Spraying is ideal if you choose to make the exterior of your home all one color. If you are going to section off the soffits and eaves, then it might be a better idea to go old school and take the time to paint it using good old-fashioned painting tools that will give it that custom look.
When you paint the exterior of your home, it is easy to forget that the eaves and soffits are a separate part and that they are made from a different material than the rest of the exterior. If you are going to paint them a different color to add texture, it is going to take more time, but it might be well worth it.
The more prep work you put into painting the soffits and eaves, the more likely you are to be happy with the result and have the exterior of your home looking as fantastic as you’d hoped.
Author: Amit Kumar
Amit is the founder of YoursNews. This is a next generation blog, proved that blogging is an art; focus on valuable ideas and genuine stories, rest everything will fall into place.
