When you paint the exterior of your home it's all about quality, reveals Sharon Grech of Benjamin Moore, whether that's the quality of the paint of the quality of the application. Here our resident paint expert shares her advice on how to properly prime and cover your outdoor surfaces:
When painting wood and metal doors brick, stucco and concrete surfaces:
Three factors that will determine how successful your exterior painting will be: the quality of product, the quality of the preparation and the quality of the application……so for once don’t just jump right into the colour!
The “pre-primed” metal doors that you buy MUST be painted within a month at most. If you paint within that time frame, the surface will be sound, and you can paint directly with a high quality waterborne product like Aura Exterior. But if you wait longer you will likely notice some bubbling or peeling. In this case you have to spot prime the exposed metal areas with Fresh Start 163 Alkyd Rust Inhibitive Primer before painting. If you find any rust – you must remove it with a wire brush first. After spot priming you can paint with the Aura Exterior colour of your choice – I recommend the semi-gloss finish for doors.
When painting a previously painted wood door it is important to remove any peeling paint and caulking first and create a smooth, sound surface. This can be done with a metal scraper and/or a sander (be sure to wear safety glasses!!) If there are any scrapes or holes, fill with a high quality exterior spackling product, or caulking, let dry and then prime with Benjamin Moore’s Fresh Start Primer. I recommend Aura Exterior in semi-gloss for doors, or if you prefer to work in alkyd for a high gloss, then Benjamin Moore Collection K133 Alkyd High-Gloss Enamel tinted to a colour of your choice.
Brick tends to only be painted on older homes when repair work has been done or when the homeowner dislikes the colour. Brick is hard to replace seamlessly….so painting can mask that problem and renew the façade.
As with any surface, you must clean very thoroughly. Brick is very porous, so you can give it a good clean just with water if you use a pressure washer. Let it dry for a good day or more – but don’t wait too long for it to get dirty again!
Benjamin Moore’s Aura exterior paint is self-priming on most surfaces, so this will save time and cost. Simply use a good fluffy, high nap roller to apply the paint on brick. It should give good coverage unless the brick has extremely deep mortar. 2 coats will give the optimal finish. If you have any doubt about the surface, speak with your retailer and in some cases a primer will be recommended or use of a sprayer.
There are 3 finishes of Aura exterior: flat, low-lustre, semi-gloss. I tend to specify the flatter finishes for the body, and the glossier for trim and doors.
Stucco is becoming more and more popular in Canada, and as a surface it is very easy to paint – same process as with brick and most masonry surfaces. Just be sure it has cured – at least 30-60 days, clean, let dry and paint with a high quality waterborne product, my recommendation is Aura Exterior flat or low-lustre.
Concrete is an area that tends to get ignored, but a painted concrete porch or steps can have a huge impact on your homes curb appeal!
Just be sure it has cured – at least 30-60 days, clean, let dry and paint with either a waterborne product – Latex Floor & Patio or an Alkyd Urethane Porch & Floor.
Metal tends to be more of a decorative accent on a home’s exterior (rail, urn or mailbox for example) – but very impactful when painted. Often people choose black or white for metal rails and mailboxes. If you want a more custom colour, you can use Fresh Start 163 Alkyd Rust Inhibitive Primer, and then custom tint the alkyd high-gloss to any colour you want.
Reminder!
For the best end result you should attempt to paint in the most ideal conditions:
Dry day with dry surfaces (24 hrs without rain is ideal)
Not in direct sunlight
Only when the temperature is a steady 10 degrees
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