How to Find the Perfect Home Improvement Contractor

Making the decision to have work done on your home is a big enough decision. You have thought long and hard about what you what to have done and how to pay for it. Home improvements will raise the value of your home and you know this, but hiring the wrong home improvement contractor could turn your dreams into one long nightmare.

But you can find the perfect home improvement contractor by just following a few simple steps and doing your homework. Do not hire the first contractor you come across, even if your best friend swears they’re a dream come true. Always evaluate the contractor from your own perspective. You may have very different standards.

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How to Prep Your House for Exterior Painting

Whether you are going to paint your house yourself, or hire someone to do it, it’s important to know what goes into preparing a house for exterior painting. It will make all the difference in how the paint job holds up over time and will protect the subsurface (siding, wood, etc.) from the effects of weather. If water is allowed to seep beneath the painted surface you will end up with rotted wood that needs replacing and that adds up to more expense in the long run. Properly prepping a house for exterior paint is preventative maintenance that can save you money.

Remove the shutters, downspouts and screens from the house. Many professional painters will skip this step to save time and money. But it will not save you money. The only way to properly prepare and paint the siding and corner boards beneath the shutters and downspouts is to remove them.

Replace any damaged wood or siding. Do not paint over rotted wood. It will not save you money as the paint will peel and the problem will only be more costly to repair in the future.

Caulk any area where water could seep in and damage the wood. This means caulking between the siding and the corner boards on every corner; around window frames; in the joints of deck ceiling boards; gaps in the siding boards. If old caulk is loose, remove it with a 5 in 1 tool and apply fresh caulk. Allow caulk to dry over night before applying paint.

Scrape any loose paint from exterior siding and trim. Sand to smooth surface.

Apply Peel Stop primer to any area where there is extensive peeling or where bare wood is showing. Follow the drying instructions on the can before painting.

Deck Treatment & Pressure Washing

Once March Madness has vacated the Triangle and tax season wraps up, we all start thinking about what needs to be done outside. We cheerfully (or not so cheerfully) start to dig in our gardens, fertilize and mow our grass, wash our cars, and get out the lawn furniture. Spring is the absolute best time to take care of your house's exterior. The weather is not too hot yet, and the days are warm enough to be comfortable working.

Spring is the best time to think about pressure washing your house, decks, driveways and stoops. Hop on it before your shrubs and blooming plants are big enough to be susceptible to water and bleach AND big feet! Pressure washing and staining your deck is an easy and inexpensive way to bring new life to an area of your house that can be enjoyed so much this time of year. Pressure washing will remove unsightly mildew and bring the wood color back to a neglected deck. Treating it with a good quality stain such as a Cabot Stain product will help it hold it's looks through the heat of summer and protect it from the weather.

Unfortunately stain doesn't hold up well in the hot North Carolina summers and decks should be treated at least every other year. Cabot is one of the best stains on the market, unless you want to pay the price of Sicken which will make your deck look like a hard wood floor.

If you're not up for doing your deck yourself, or don't have the time and equipment, give Durham Painting Company a call. You'll be glad you did when you sit back with your glass of ice tea and enjoy your new deck.

How to Save Money When Your House Needs to Be Painted

Having your house painted is often an unwelcome expense. Particularly when money is tight, as it is for many of us right now, there are ways to save money while still keeping your house in good condition. Here are some options to consider.


DO IT YOURSELF: Painting your own house will save you the most money, but only if you have the equipment and the experience to do it right. If you need to purchase ladders and brushes and all the odds and ends that are required, you will quickly eat up the savings. Also, painting a house correctly takes some skill, but that’s another article!

SPRAY INSTEAD OF BRUSH - One of the options most professional painters offer is painting the siding by airless sprayer. This will save you money as it is much faster. It is not the best option for every type of siding but in many cases it will do fine. Just make sure the painter uses a quality paint that is not watered down and sprays only the siding. You will still need the trim painted by brush.

PAINT ONLY TRIM - This is an excellent way to spread the cost out over a period of time. Paint either the trim or the siding one year and the other at a later time. You will get a better price from your painting contractor if you do the whole house at once, but if you’re selling the house or are having a difficult financial year, this may be your best option. Very often the trim of a house needs to be painted more frequently than the siding.

KEEP THE COLOR THE SAME - When you change the color of paint on your house, it usually requires two coats of paint to get complete, even coverage. The second coat will cost you almost as much as the first as painting is labor intensive. Therefore, you will save money by keeping the color the same and applying only one coat of paint.

PRESSURE WASH - If your house is dirty and dingy and you think it needs paint, try pressure washing it first. This may buy you a year and you may find that much of what you thought needed painting, just needed cleaning.

SPOT PAINT BAD AREAS - By painting only the areas that are in bad shape you can delay a complete house painting and save money. Window sills and doors often show signs of needing painting before other areas. If one side of your house receives full sun in a warm climate, the trim may peel within a few years of being painted. Keep on top of these areas by scraping, priming and painting two coats as needed and you can put off painting your whole house until it needs it.

How to Know When It's Time to Paint

Many homeowners are unaware of the actual condition of the exterior of their home. First time home buyers in particular may not know anything about exterior painting. But there are several very easy ways to tell whether or not it is time to paint your house.


The most obvious sign is peeling paint. If your window sills or siding are actually peeling you waited to long and need to call a painting contractor today. Many homes have one side that gets the most exposure to sun, wind and/or rain and snow. This will be the side where the paint begins to show signs of wear first. Your peeling window sills undoubtedly get a lot of sun. Peeling paint allows water to seep into the wood or siding beneath and can cau se the wood to rot. If left unpainted you will have to pay for repairs as well. Preferably, you want to paint before the last coat of paint starts to peel.


If the paint on shows no signs of peeling or checking (spidery cracks that ha p pen before peeling), it may still be time for a fresh coat of exterior paint. Look closely at the siding paint. Does it look chalky? Is their a whitish cast to the paint and when you rub your fingers across it they pick up a bit of residue? This tells you the paint is beginning to break down and it's time to repaint.

Another thing to look for is wood rot. Are there soft places in your corners boards? This will be found typically wherever they are exposed to a lot of moisture, such as at the bottom near the base of a downspout. Press against the wood and see if there is any give to it. If so, the wood should be replaced as soon as possible and two coats of paint applied to seal the wood. If left unprotected the area needing repair will just enlarge. Window trim and sills are another place where wood rot often occurs as well as door sills.

When you purchase a house, ask the seller when they last painted, what type of paint they used and how many coats were applied. Depending on the quality of paint they used, and how many coats were applied, the house will need repainting anywhere from five to ten years or less. New houses are often sprayed with a low grade paint and many need painting within three years.