Help – I’ve painted my house and I can’t get up!

Probably one of the most effective ways to spruce up the look of your house and maintain its value is to paint the exterior.

The hot sun and dusty monsoons take their toll on exterior paint in the Sonoran Desert.

Sunlight and moisture tend to cause chalking and tint loss, but latex paint tends to resist the effects of direct sunlight better than oil-based or alkyd paints.

There are basically two ways to paint your house – do it yourself or hire someone else to do it.

One Web site I visited warned, “If you plan on doing the painting yourself, typically exterior painting will be the most difficult and physically demanding home maintenance project you will do.”

That’s very true – it ranks right up there with planting a landscape and moving granite.

Exterior painting does involve considerable time and physical effort. My house is one story, but it still required a significant amount of time on extension ladders. Certain overhangs and roof designs also can complicate the project.

I started work on my house in February and didn’t finish up until April. Of course, having a full-time job gets in the way of my painting “hobby,” so at times you have to get creative as to when you can devote time to your house. And, as if you didn’t know this already, the “prep” work takes the most time.

Exterior surface prep is the most important part of painting – filling the cracks, sealing up any other openings, maybe scraping and sanding the wood trim, perhaps putting primer on the wood trim as well.

It’s also the most boring part and rather labor intensive.

But as www.house-painting-info.com states, “Don’t rush, taking your time now and doing things right will add years to the life of the exterior paint job.”

Another thing you don’t want to rush is actually getting started.

Is your house located in a homeowners association, or perhaps your plat is part of the Neighborhood Property Owners Association.

NPOA? What’s that?

Well, it’s a group in town that has jurisdiction over certain neighborhoods.

If you’re going to re-paint your house, you have to get a permit from them ($50) and put down a compliance fee that will be refunded once you finish. You also have to get your color(s) approved by them. Yeah, I know this is America, the land of self-expression and individual property rights and all that fine stuff, but get over it. There are certain common sense standards that need to be met in Fountain Hills.

The NPOA can be reached at (480) 837-5317 or on the Web at npoa-ncoa.org.

It’s a good idea to paint your trim and around your windows first. Using your ladder against the freshly-painted side of your house to reach the trim just isn’t a good idea.

With stucco, should you roll, brush or spray? Yes!

There is no easy way. Probably the most effective is to use a combination of a sprayer followed up with a roller. At least in my book, the more uniform it’s applied and the thicker – the longer it will last. And it will be further down the road that I have to even consider painting again.

Paint the foundation last.

Don’t paint if it’s really windy or if it looks like rain. Avoid painting in direct sun. That’s not always easy in this climate, but you will bake less and so will your paint.

Drink plenty of fluids – water and Gatorade by day and adult beverages at night to prepare for the next round of painting.

And don’t forget the painkillers – plenty of sore muscles are waiting!

Or just hire a professional licensed contractor to paint your house – that’s what I’m going to do next time…