What Happens Before the Paint Goes On

Most people picture painting as the last step: the color going on the wall. On a good exterior job, the paint is the end of a longer story. What happens before it is what decides how the finished home looks, and how well it holds up.

Here is the order Ebenezer follows on every exterior, why each step comes when it does, and what you will see happening at your house on each day before the first coat.

Before the crew arrives

A few things on your side make the first day go well. Turn the sprinklers off a few days ahead, so the bottom of the walls has time to dry; a wall that is watered every morning is a wall that is still damp when it is primed. Move cars out of the driveway, and pull grills, planters, patio furniture and anything leaning on the house a few feet away from it. If shrubs or vines are touching the walls, trimming them back gives room to work and keeps branches out of fresh paint.

None of this is required of you, and Ebenezer will tell you at the estimate what matters on your property. It means the working days go into the house itself.

First, the power wash

Paint needs something clean and sound to hold onto. A power wash removes dirt, the chalky powder that old paint leaves on sunny walls, mildew on the shaded sides and, near the coast, the salt film the marine air deposits on everything. It is the first thing that happens, before anyone opens a can.

Then the house has to dry. Stucco holds water, and wood holds it longer, so the wash is usually followed by a pause before primer or paint. On a foggy morning in the western neighborhoods of San Diego that pause is longer than on a hot inland afternoon. Power washing done right has its own article if you want the detail.

Then, a check of the stucco and the wood

With the surfaces clean, damage shows clearly. Ebenezer checks the stucco and the wood for cracks, holes and anything that needs repair. He tells you what he finds and what it means for the job, and he explains the steps involved.

What he is looking for, in practice:

• Stucco: hairline cracks at window and door corners, areas that sound hollow when tapped, old patches that have come loose.
• Wood: soft spots on fascia, trim and sills, open joints, end grain that has drunk water, paint that is lifting in strips.
• Joints: caulk that has shrunk, split or pulled away from the trim, which is where water gets behind a finish.
• Metal: rusting nail heads, hardware and flashing that will bleed through a new coat if they are not treated first.

This is the step people do not expect. Painting over damage rarely holds up, so repairs come before paint, not after it. It is part of the craft, and it is why stucco, drywall and wood repair sits so close to painting in the work we do. On the older stucco tracts of Chula Vista, this is often where most of the preparation time goes.

Repairs, and the primer that covers them

Repairs are made and given the drying time their label calls for. Then every repair, and any bare stucco or wood, is spot-primed. A patch that is painted without primer soaks up the paint differently from the wall around it and shows through as a dull or shiny spot. The primer is what makes the repair become part of the wall rather than a mark on it.

Next, masking the windows and floors

Everything that is not being painted gets protected: windows and their frames, doors, light fixtures, house numbers, hose bibs, walkways, the driveway, and the edge of the roof where it meets the wall. Plants that sit against the house are covered lightly and uncovered as soon as that section is finished, so they are not left to bake under plastic on a warm afternoon.

Careful masking is what makes a clean line and a clean finish, and it is the difference between a job that looks done and one that looks finished. On narrow lots, where the neighbor’s car or wall is a few feet away, it also protects the neighbor.

Only then, the paint

Now the paint goes on, by spray or by brush. Which one depends on the surface and on your preference, and your preference comes first. Ebenezer uses Dunn-Edwards and Sherwin-Williams, chosen for their quality and finish.

Each coat goes on inside the temperature and humidity range on the label, which in San Diego means following the shade around the house in summer and waiting for the marine layer to burn off on damp mornings. A home exterior takes between one and ten days. The whole process is written out on one page if you would like to read it before you decide.

The point of the order

Wash, repair, mask, paint. Each step makes the next one possible, and skipping one is where most disappointment starts. Paint over dirt and it peels; repair before washing and you miss half the cracks; mask before the repairs are done and the tape gets in the way of the work. Ebenezer manages every project personally, so the person who explains the steps to you is the person who answers for them.

If you would like him to walk your house and show you what each of those steps would involve on your walls, ask for a free estimate. He will tell you, in plain words, what your exterior needs before any paint goes on. You can also read more about exterior painting first.