by Edward Owen

Created on: November 24, 2007   Last Updated: August 19, 2010

There are two reasons that I am qualified to write about this topic. One, I have been a general contractor for the last five years. In that time, I have worked with almost a dozen painters. Second reason: My wife loves to paint our house as a hobby.

First of all, there are four types of painting that will need to be done on your home; interior, exterior, trim and specialty surfaces. Let's look at each one separately as the techniques, materials and skills required vary quite a bit. There are several other variables, such as whether or not your home is single or two stories, the overall size of your home and its age.

Interior walls are by far the easiest for most homeowners to do themselves. Wash the walls, patch any holes, cut in the ceiling and roll on two good coats. Sounds easy enough. Until you try to fit this extra work into an already busy schedule. You will also need to buy some supplies that you may never use again, like drop cloths, brushes, rollers, roller handles, paint trays, etc. Older homes often have paint that is oil based, or worse, lead added. These require special materials and preparation. Let's add in a two story home with stairwells and cathedral ceilings and the fun goes right out the window. Professionals deal with these issues all the time and have the skill and knowledge to make sure the end result is the quality paint job you seek.

Exterior surfaces can present endless challenges to the DIY painter. Here in Southern California, most of the homes have a stucco finish. This surface is very rough and captures dust and dirt over time. Good painters use a pressure washer to clean out the dirt and knock off the loose paint. Also, depending on the age of the home, there can be a considerable amount of repair that is needed before paint can be applied. If your home has siding or a large amount of wood surfaces that have not been painted in a while, the old paint will have to be scraped off and any cracks filled (we'll talk more about that in the trim section). Again, the multi story home compounds these challenges.

Trim can actually be separated into interior and exterior categories. Interior trim like door casings, baseboards and crown molding are usually painted white or some other accent color. This is most often accomplished with a high gloss paint and a brush. There is an art to cutting in the edge of trim in such a way that you don't get trim paint on the wall, or vice versa if the trim is done first. One of my painters, Jeff, is an

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