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Exterior Staining & Painting

3 Things That Affect the Exterior of Your Home

We always put in a lot of time making the exterior of our home look lovely. Nevertheless, after a couple of years, it doesn’t look perfect anymore. This is because of 3 things that affect the exterior of your home.

3 Things That Affect the Exterior of Your Home

So what happens to be the primary elements that negatively affect the outside of the house? These happen to be:

  • Mother Nature
  • Animals
  • Small repair and maintenance

When it comes to mother nature, animals, and small maintenance and repair, I bet you would certainly agree if me. If you had to stand outside for 365 days from sun-up to sun-down, you would certainly look awful. When it comes to the exterior of your home, it has the same situation happening to it. The exterior of your home certainly has every single weather aspect thrown at it every day of the year. 

What Affects the Exterior of My House

When it comes to mother nature, there is a checklist of some exterior weather-related components that will trigger issues with the exterior of your home if you don’t keep it properly maintained:

Hailstorms – Hail tends to be one of the most damaging elements to a home. Starting at the top with the roof and shingles, down to the home siding, and ending with your deck space. A minor hail storm won’t be an issue. It is when we have those beastly storms that the damage happens. After every storm, make sure you inspect the exterior of your home to see if you have had any damage.

Sun, Heat, Moisture – More often than not, you wouldn’t consider not using sunscreen on your skin while outside. Your house is no different. You are required to correctly protect your home by painting or staining it within an appropriate time frame.

Wind – How can wind cause problems with your home? It is primarily when overgrown trees or hedges are tossed at or gouge your siding, deck, or roof from a big tornado.

Rain – With rain comes decent amounts of dampness. Extra dampness means wood rot, especially if you haven’t adequately secured your home.

Exterior House Problems

When it comes to insects and other little critters, there’s no escape from them. This is because the insects that love to eat the wood in your home are carpenter ants and carpenter bees. The bees drill holes in the cedar, and the ants like to eat the wood. Wasps are another insect that loves to make and attach nests to the exterior of your home. 

Woodpeckers can easily cause lots of damage to the siding of your house, especially if it has wood siding on it. Besides woodpeckers damaging the siding, squirrels, birds, and raccoons will also attempt to take up their residence around your home, especially if there are lots of places where they can easily make themselves comfortable. 

Lotz of Logic

One of the biggest problems that most homeowners deal with is that they don’t do adequate maintenance on the exteriors of their homes. This is due to time getting away from us, or we don’t think about doing it. But whatever the reason is, maintaining the exterior of your home is essential. You can easily take care of the majority of problems that arise if you continue to keep your home’s exterior maintained.

Because so many things are working against your home, you must remember to take care of the exterior of your home. By only taking care of the 3 things that affect the exterior of your home, then you can easily be in good shape even if it’s taking a few minutes to walk around the exterior of your property once a month. When you do that, you will be able to spot any problems that are just starting to happen. And by keeping your home on a proper maintenance schedule, it will be far less expensive for you to fix it than if you wait until it becomes something huge later on down the road. 

Don’t forget, if you need an estimate on the exterior of your home, give me a call. My team and I have been serving Plainfield, Naperville, Lisle, Shorewood, Joliet, Oswego, Yorkville, and all of the Chicago area for 30+ years.

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Preparing Your House for Exterior Painting

Every time you conduct any project around your home, there will always be tasks you want to achieve ahead of time. This is why preparing your house for exterior painting is essential. Because when you do all of the steps, it will make your job run a lot smoother. It will also reduce a lot of unwanted stress that any house project will trigger.

Preparing Your House for Exterior Painting

Before you even start them. Every project, no matter the size, that you are about to do has some preparation to do for it. Especially when it comes to painting projects. If the proper preparation is not done beforehand, you can easily have a lot of unneeded stress and headaches to deal with. So you want to make sure that you accomplish every step in the process. By doing this, you are ensuring that the result will truly be the best.

Top 3 Things

When it comes to preparing to do an exterior paint job, there are three things to remember that not everyone always thinks of doing. They are:

  1. Moving or taking down everything on or around the house
  2. Trimming back all of the trees and bushes
  3. Moving your vehicles away from your house

When you start preparing to paint the exterior of your home, it is important to move any patio furniture, landscape decorations. And anything that is attached to your house. This includes house numbers, the hose cradle, and shutters. Often people will put the furniture and hose cradle on mulch islands that they have. This is so that it doesn’t kill the grass. By moving these items ahead of time will keep them from getting covered in paint while you are working on the house.

How to Paint a House

An important step in preparing the exterior of your home for painting is to trim any trees and bushes that are in front of your home. Doing this will help you in the long run because it can be tough to reach the exterior of your home if you don’t do it. Because no one likes getting poked continuously in the back while they are working. By trimming back the trees and branches beforehand, you will appreciate it in the long run because you will have extra room to move around.

Another thing that you will want to do before you begin painting is to move any vehicles that are parked on your driveway. When you go to move them, you will want to make sure that they are far enough away from your home. While it might not happen, you don’t want to take the chance of paint dripping or splattering all over them. Since accidents happen, even when you try to prevent them. It will make your life easier if you move the cars before you start.

Lotz of Logic

Keeping these three things in mind as you begin preparing your house for exterior painting, you will save yourself a lot of stress. Because when you know these three easy and simple steps. It will make the entire process go smoothly from start to finish. By doing every bit of preparation beforehand will help you get the best results on the project.

Don’t forget, if you need an estimate on painting the exterior of your home, give me a call. My team and I have been serving Hinsdale, Oak Brook, La Grange, Darien, Western Springs, Burr Ridge, Hawthorn Woods, Lake Bluff, and all of the Chicago area for 30+ years.

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Choosing Paint Colors for the Exterior of Your Home

It’s getting to that time of year, and you are starting to look at the exterior of your house to have it either painted or stained. Choosing the right exterior paint color is one of the biggest challenges that our clients seem to have. That is because it is such a significant investment. They don’t want to choose the “wrong” paint or stain color when it comes to choosing paint colors for the exterior of your home.  

 

Choosing Paint Colors for the Exterior of Your Home

When it comes to painting or staining the exterior of your home, the style plays a part in the color selection process. Because colors that work on the exterior of one house might not work on the exterior of another house. And that is because it might look silly or horrible on the exterior of your home. This is because there are five or six different styles of homes that we see in the Midwest. I have listed the six different styles here.

  1. Contemporary Home Style
  2. Cape Cod 
  3. Colonial
  4. Georgian
  5. Tudor
  6. Victorian

How to Select Exterior Paint Colors for a Home

The Contemporary style home integrates beautifully with plants and is designed to flow with the environment. For this style of house, the exterior typically has earth tone colors on it so that it can match with nature. When it comes to picking out paint for this style of house, it is better to stick to a one-color or two-color application. It is best not to be overdramatic with a contrast between the two colors, but to be subtle. The subtle two-color look for this style of home is called tone-on-tone.

Cape Cod homes aren’t seen as often. But people love them for their simple and less ornate look. And with its larger lap siding, Cape Cod homes are often called quaint. Marigold, buttercup yellow, or a light yellow is one of the favorite paint colors for the exterior of a Cape Cod. It turns out to be very stunning. Often homeowners will even paint the corner boards or soffits the same color as the siding. While the dormers or shutters are often accentuated, it is the front door that is the star of the show in a Cape Cod home. The front door should make a bold statement. You can paint the front door a bright red, burgundy, cranberry, deep blue, deep greens, teal blue, charcoal, or slate, and all these colors look great with a yellow home. 

Painting Colonial-Style and Georgian Style Homes

When it comes to the colonial-style homes, they are typically lighter. 7 out of 10 times, most of the colonial-style homes are either white or some version of off-white or Navajo white. But with this white, people typically do a very stark contrast color like a deep color for the shutters like deep plum, charcoal grey, or black. By contrasting the colors like that, it will help pick up the roofline better. Just like with the Cap Cod homes, the front door is the star of any Colonial home. It should make a real pop or impression with a bright, bold color. 

Generally, Georgian style homes are mostly brick with tall columns and white trim work. White is typically the primary color that is used on the exterior. And contrasting colors, such as black or charcoal slate, are used for the shutters.

Home Tips: Choosing Exterior Paint Colors

Tudor Brown is, believe it or not, the typical paint color that is found on the exterior of Tudor style homes. White or a Navajo white is what’s painted on the stucco panels and trim work. A tone-on-tone looks amazing as well. An amazing color to use on Tudor style homes is SailCloth by Benjamin Moore. When it comes to the Tudor style, people are often not huge fans of doing a contrasting color for the front door. 

Victorian-style homes don’t have hard or fast rules when it comes to color. You can pick whatever color you want and roll with it. The exterior paint color options are endless. There are Victorian-style homes that have as little as five colors and up to twenty different colors on them. Otherwise known as Painted Ladies, Victorian homes are another style that looks good with a yellow painted exterior on them. Yellow paint colors give such a classy and unique look to the house. My favorite is Benjamin Moore’s Hawthorne Yellow. Using white, blues, plums, blacks, deep black, or charcoal colors is a great way to accent the yellow. On a Victorian home, the color can be determined by the amount of money that you want to spend on the house. The more colors that you use, the more costly the exterior paint project will become. 

Lotz of Logic

Driving around the neighborhood is a great way to get ideas for choosing paint colors for the exterior of your home. If you find a house that you love the exterior paint colors on, make sure that their roof color matches the roof color of your own home. This is because the exterior colors have to blend well with the roof color. Keep that in mind as you look at other houses in your neighborhood. Once you have decided on what color(s) you want to paint your house, drive over to a professional paint store. Stores like J.C, Licht, which carries Benjamin Moore paint or a Sherwin-Williams store. As multi-billion-dollar companies, they have paint charts up for a reason. Now they typically will have the exterior paint colors selected for you as well the accent colors that go with the siding color(s). 

You can also call up an interior designer who specializes in color selection. Ask the designer if they are comfortable with picking out color choices for the exterior of your home. The designers are great to work with because they can take all the surroundings into account as well.  

Don’t forget, if you need an estimate on choosing paint colors for the exterior of your home, give me a call. My team and I would love to be of service to the Northwest Indiana communities such as Long Beach, Beverly Shores, Lake of the Four Seasons, Schererville, Kreitzburg, Michigan City, Grand Beach, and New Buffalo, and all of the Chicago area for 30+ years.

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Maintaining The Outside Of Your Commercial Building

From a customer’s viewpoint, the exterior appearance of the building, windows, doors, as well as the sidewalks entering into your business gives a powerful first, and often lasting, impression. So if you are the owner or manager of a company or commercial business then you know that maintaining the outside of your commercial building matters as much as the inside does. 

 

Maintaining The Outside Of Your Commercial Building

Good or bad. What sort of impression do you really want to make with your business? The first step is to take a good look at the outside of the building. Is anything falling off? Are the light fixtures rusting? Are the windows clean and does the landscape look nice? These are all important questions to ask yourself. Because you will need to be proactive and stay on top of it all in order to leave a good impression with the people who enter or drive past your business.

If you are renting the space that your store is in then make sure that you speak with the property manager that you are renting from. Hiring an outside service is a good option as well. So whether you speak with the property manager, hire a service or do the work yourself in small sections. You can properly budget for any items that might need to be fixed now or in the future. 

Taking Care Of The Outside

If you live in an area that sees large swings in temperatures or seasonal changes it is important to take a look outside to evaluate the property. Make sure that you take walks around the building regularly. So that you can look at everything from a customer’s state of mind and not just that of the owner.  Take note of things that you noticed at other businesses and keep them in mind as you walk around the building. By doing this it will help you find things that either need to be freshened up or replaced. 

Whether it gets done weekly, monthly, or bi-annually there are some exterior items that need to be maintained and can be forgotten about.

Pressure Washing And Cleaning Windows

Pressure Wash the Exterior of Your Building – Just like with your home, it is important to pressure wash the exterior of your building. This is a great way to keep it clean and to keep the spider webs away from the doors. Birds also like to make nests in the name on the exterior of the building. So pressure washing helps to remove them. While some people might find the nests quaint, you will have to look out for bird poop. Pressure washing the sidewalks and walkways to and from the front door is part of maintaining the outside of your commercial building.

Clean The Windows -It is highly recommended that you have a window washing company come out and wash the windows weekly. While you could have your staff do this job. It is a lot easier and inexpensive to hire a company to come and take care of it. And by using a company the windows can be cleaned without having to think or worry about it. 

Doors, Lights, And Exterior Paint

Doors & Door Handles – As part of making a good first impression it is important to make sure that the doors coming in and out of your building are in good shape. And you can either stain or paint them regularly. Because people touch their hands-on doors quite often they become worn down with time and use. Though if the doors look terrible it is important to know that you can change them out and install new doors. 

Lights – Just like with windows, exterior lights are another item that needs to be regularly cleaned. This is because bugs are attracted to the light and night and make nests and webs next to and around them. Dead bugs are also drawn in as well, which can make a mess and hide the light. So make sure that the exterior lights are rust free and are in a current style. And make sure that you change the light bulbs regularly.

Exterior Paint & Caulk – This step that needs to be addressed every couple of years, especially after every major storm or if you notice an internal water leak. Internal water leaks can be caused when caulk fails and dries out. Early spring is a good time to check for ice and snow damage. And early fall is good for after the leaves have fallen due to storms and wind. 

Lotz of Logic

By checking for water buildup or marks, cleaning gutters and clearing away any leaves and debris helps you to know what condition your building is in. Especially as you slowly start to change seasons. Making sure that you stay on top of taking care of maintaining the outside of your commercial building. We will help you in the future. Especially because it will make a difference to your patrons. As well as get you into the habit of having a continued dedication to your business and livelihood as well as the property. And by hiring someone to help you then you won’t be managed by your maintenance costs. Don’t forget to take a look at the interior as well. Because taking care of the interior is just as important as the exterior.

Don’t forget, if you need an estimate on maintaining the outside of your commercial building, give me a call. My team and I have been serving Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Oakbrook Terrace, Lombard, Carol Stream, Westmont, Willowbrook, Woodridge, and all of the Chicago area for 30+ years.

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Is Sanding Your House Before Painting Necessary

Why do some homes peel? Is sanding your house before painting necessary?  You will find many reasons, but one of them is not getting the exterior of your house ready adequately before painting it. Find out what is probably the most important measure about sanding your residence prior to painting. 

 

Is Sanding Your House Before Painting Necessary?

There are quite a few painters who take short-cuts when pressure washing, caulking and scraping and sanding your house prior to painting it. When you are hiring a painter to come to do your home you want to ensure that you get a detailed contract. This is so that you know what the painter will be doing and so that you know everything will be done correctly. Whether you or a professional will be painting your house there are several steps that need to be followed. 

1: Properly clean the entire house with a pressure washer.

2: Remove any loose and flaking paint.

3: Sand the remaining edges down. A palm sander or a hand sander will get the job done.

4: Follow up with a good primer and paint.

Pressure Washing Your House 

Just like people and animals need them, houses also need ‘baths’ to clean them. This is what the pressure washer does. It gets rid of all of the mold and grime that has collected on the siding of your house. So it is important that you wash your house before doing anything else. If you don’t then nothing will stick and it will just come off sooner than expected.

Removing Flaking Paint and Sanding Edges Down

Just like with pressure washing your house it is important to remove any paint that is loose and flaking. By doing this you are also making sure that anything that didn’t come off with the pressure washer. This helps make sure that the new paint will go on smoothly and won’t look bumpy and uneven. A good tool to use for this is a Prudy 5-in-1 and it gets the job done right.

Older homes tend to have a thicker coat of paint around the edges. So it is important to sand down the edges so that all of the old paint is removed. A palm sander or feather sanding them by hand does the job. 

Good Quality Primer & Paint

Once you have pressure washed your house and removed all of the flaking paint and sanded the edges down it is good to follow all of that up with good quality paint and primer. Since painters often just paint over the old paint, the new paint starts peeling sooner. By painting over a clean smooth surface the primer and paint will stick to it better and will last longer. So always clean and prep your house before you or a professional begins to paint it. 

Lotz of Logic

After you have finished pressure washing, scraping and sanding your house make sure that you have done every part of it before you begin painting. This will help you figure out what might still need to be done or if everything is removed. Your preparation is one of the most important steps so it is always good to do it properly. This will make the new paint or stain last you for many years. So to answer the question is sanding your house before painting necessary. Yes, it is. Otherwise, your home will start peeling sooner.

Don’t forget, if you need an estimate on sanding your house, give me a call. My team and I have been serving South Barrington, Barrington, North Barrington, Inverness, Lake Zurich, Schaumburg, Elgin, Long Grove, South Elgin, Palatine, Wayne, Deerfield, and all of the Chicago area for 30+ years.

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