Preparing your house to paint is a labor-intensive task, but absolutely vital to the project’s success. Once you’ve picked out your exterior paint, you’re ready to begin the prep work.

Thorough house paint stripping and cleaning will ensure that your new house paint is able to grab onto its surface. Paint stripping off of a newly-painted house is often caused by improperly executed prep work.

Step #1: Determine How Much House Paint You Need

A major step in preparing your house to paint is sizing up the job. To figure out how much exterior paint you need to buy, multiply your house’s perimeter by its height. From this number, subtract 20 square feet per door and 15 square feet for each window. The resulting number is the square footage you’ll be painting. The cans of house paint you buy should specify how much square footage they cover.

For woodwork outside the home, consider an oil-based exterior paint. It will mean a second paint purchase, but wood will hold up better with an oil-based exterior paint.

Step #2: Purchase Necessary Supplies

Like any project, the right tools for an exterior paint job will make the job go smoother. You can rent some of the higher-end tools from a home-supply store, such as a power washer, if you don’t have one and don’t want to purchase one.

Supplies you will need in preparing your house to paint include:

• A caulk gun
• A ladder with enough length to get you up to your roofline
• A putty knife
• A scraper
• Brushes and rollers
• Canvas drop clothes
• Exterior-grade caulk
• Exterior-grade putty
• Heat gun paint remover (possible)
• Masking tape
• Power washer (possible)
• Power sander (possible)
• Primer
• Sandpaper and a sanding block.

Step #3: Shut Down, Cover and Put Away

Go around the perimeter of your home and shut down and cover items that could get exterior paint on them. Turn off your air-conditioning unit and gas barbecue grill. Tie back any bushes that could get in the way.

Anything not being painted–shutters, the mailbox, windows screens, storm doors–needs to be removed.

Step #4: Start Scraping

Power washing is not a substitute for hand-scraping. House paint stripping is a tedious task, but one that is crucial for a well-executed exterior paint job. Start with a putty knife and get under and lift the weakest house paint in an area. Then use a scraper to get other loose paint off the home.

Step #5: Fill and Sand

Fill holes with wood filler. If you have large areas to fill, consider auto body filler. Start by sanding with 80-grit sandpaper (or you can power-sand). Sand again with 120-grit paper.

Step #6: Wash and Dry

The last step in preparing your house to paint involves using a power washer on low setting, or hand-washing exterior from top to bottom. If washing by hand, consider using a car-wash brush kit to help reach tough places. Mix water with TSP (trisodium phosphate) per package instructions as a cleaning solvent.

If using latex paint, allow exterior to dry one full day before painting. If using oil-based paint, allow exterior to dry one week before painting.