How to Paint Your House (and why you may not want to paint your barn)

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When it comes to applying paint, you have several options. When using latex paint, choose brushes that have synthetic bristles. These don’t soak up water from the paint like natural bristles do, so they retain the right amount of springiness to work well. If you’re brushing paint onto large areas, use a 4-inch wide brush. A 2-inch wide trim brush is useful around windows and doors; an angled 1½-inch sash brush is ideal for working around finer details.

Rollers beat brushes hands-down for productivity over wide open areas, but only if you choose the correct length of fuzziness or “nap” for the job. Smooth surfaces like that of planed wood are best tackled using a roller with an eighth- to quarter-inch deep nap; rough wood covers better with a three-eighths to half-inch nap; rough plaster needs a three-quarter-inch to 1-inch nap.

When it comes time to apply paint to large areas, one of the least expensive, high-output methods is an electric paint sprayer. These use an oscillating internal mechanism to propel paint out of the gun tip.

High-volume, low-pressure (HVLP) sprayers offer the ability to coat all kinds of surfaces with minimal overspray. You can use them for everything from finishing homemade furniture with water-based urethane to painting the side of your house with exterior latex paint. For larger jobs, consider renting a sprayer that includes a remote paint reservoir. It saves considerable refilling time. Some are even designed to accept open cans of paint. Just open the reservoir, place an open can inside, then close the lid and start spraying.

Exterior painting is like a combination lock. You’ve got to get all the details right for the lock to open. But with the right information and a commitment to detail, you won’t need to think about painting again for a long time.

Dealing With Lead Paint

Stripping loose paint is an essential part of any effective repainting job, but there’s a potential problem, too. The old paint could contain lead. In fact, if your home is more than 30 to 40 years old, it almost certainly does, especially in the oldest layers. Even small amounts of ingested lead can cause permanent brain and organ damage. It also reduces intelligence and causes behavioral problems in children. Test kits can tell you for sure if the paint you have contains lead­ — just be certain to analyze each layer. If you do detect lead, here are some safe stripping precautions:

1. Wear a respirator (not just a dust mask), gloves, eye protection and disposable clothing while stripping. Shower immediately after each work session.
2. Don’t sand lead paint or use a conventional, open-flame heat gun to soften it. This releases lead into the air and your lungs.
3. Chemical strippers are one way of making lead manageable. Swab the area and keep it wet while scraping. Dispose of all goo as toxic waste at approved municipal facilities.
4. To soften large, flat areas, try a low temperature electric heat gun or infrared paint remover. These tools soften paint without vaporizing lead. Scrape off the mess and deal with it as toxic waste.
5. Work over disposable drop sheets. Lead paint residue can contaminate soil.
6. Don’t sand the wood until all traces of paint have been removed. Even then, wear a respirator, eye protection and a head covering while sanding to protect you from lead that may still be present in the bare wood.

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