In today’s post, I am sharing all of the details on how I painted our house ALL BY MYSELF!!
It took about 3 days total to paint our entire exterior. With the prep work, trips to get more paint, and the million breaks I took… I think three days is really reasonable considering I did the whole project completely solo! I promise it’s a lot easier than it seems……. but I’ll just make it known, I don’t plan on doing it again!
MATERIALS & SUPPLIES
– PAINT
So funny story, the day before I pulled the trigger to start painting the house– I saw a post on Pinterest that I could make my own lime wash at home and paint my entire brick home for $30. THIRTY DOLLARS. Then it all kind of snowballed and long story short I wasn’t crazy about the lime washed look and wanted more of an opaque look, which lead to choosing a paint!
I was researching two different products/brands to use.
- ROMABIO PAINT
The first Brand was Romabio . They have a product called “Masonry Flat (BioDomus I)” which is a flat paint that claims to last 20 years with no chipping. It is 2 coat system for unpainted regular brick.
The price point is pretty high but it is a great product! It costs $248 plus tax for 1 gallon. You can special order from any big box store or find a store locator from the direct website.
2. BEHR MASONRY PAINT
The second option was Behr’s Masonry Flat Paint . It claims to last 20 years and is a two-coat process as well. It has great reviews and the price point is AMAZING. For a 5 gallon bucket, it is $98. I also had easier access to it incase I ran out!
After looking at photos, reading reviews, and weighing out pros and cons, I decided to go with the Behr Masonry Paint!
-COLOR
I went to the store a day later and got a ton of samples! (You can see which samples I went with in this previous post!)
I ended up choosing the color Horse Radish – PPG. It is the perfect creamy white!!
-SPRAYER
I used the Magnum X7 Sprayer. and it was a game changer! It made the job a breeze and was actually really satisfying to watch the paint go on. I bought the extender to reach higher areas I possibly couldn’t reach and that was so handy to have as well!
I can’t say enough great things about this sprayer! I definitely recommend using this!
-BRUSHES, ROLLERS, DROP CLOTHS, AND MORE
I also bought the following:
- Paint BrushI used this specific paint brush (aggressively in some areas) to get into the cracks and crevices that my sprayer or roller couldn’t get in! I went with a cheaper brush because just need something to be a little rough with and not worry about the quality or streakiness you would for interior painting.
- Roller***NOTE: Painting your brick is usually a two person job. One person sprays and the other person comes right behind them and rolls out the sprayed paint to make it even! I did this in sections (sprayed and then rolled) and it’s totally do-able! ***
- I used this roller because it is designed for painting brick. It is really thick so it did a great job smoothing everything out and getting into the tiny cracks!
- Plastic Drop ClothsDefinitely one of the most important things to have! I used these and cut them out to size for covering windows, patios, plants, etc.
- Blue Painters TapeI used the tape to tape all of the plastic drop cloths to the windows and it held everything in place really well!
- 5gal. Bucket I used this 5gal bucket for the sprayer (which I will explain why a couple paragraphs down)
- 12 foot and 20+ foot ladder
- Depending on the levels of your home, a ladder is definitely required! If the ladder freaks you out, you can rent a man lift to do the higher sections if you have 2+ stories!
Getting Started
Taping/Plasic Drop Cloth Prepwork
I started by taping all of the windows, garage doors, landscaping, and doors off first. It’s quite tedious, but this step IS A MUST!
An easy way to do this without messing with a huge roll of plastic tarp while taping a window is to measure your windows first. With those measurements I cut out the exact dimensions on the drop cloth and it was SO easy to tape around the window without a bunch of extra plastic hanging there. I would tape first and then do a second layer of tape just in case. The same process goes for the doors and garage as well.
For the landscaping near the house, I had two methods that I used! The first method was wrapping the shrubs/trees with the plastic to completely cover. The second method was using a 4×4 piece of plywood (when I was actually painting) and basically used that as a shield for any over spray for my landscaping.
Start Painting!
PAINTING THE BRICK, & HARDIE BOARD
For the Magnum x7 Sprayer that I used, I used a 5 gal bucket to “prime” the sprayer. You can watch a tutorial online on how to do this but I definitely recommend getting the bucket so paint doesn’t get all of your grass!
I attached my extender and started going to town!
Once you get used to it, this process goes SO fast. As I mentioned before I would spray a section and then roll the same section to ensure everything was coated evenly and got into the cracks and grooves.
I have Hardie board planks on one small side of my home and then on two window sections of the backyard. I asked the paint employee at Home Depot if I could just use the same masonry paint on the Hardie board and he said it would be okay to use so I continued spraying!
I completed both sides and the entire front on day one. Day two I started on the back side of the house with the same process– prepping the windows and doors, etc. We have higher levels in the back so Tony helped hold the ladder while I was painting the second story.
PAINTING THE DOORS, WINDOW TRIM, & GARAGE BLACK
I used this Behr brand of exterior paint for all of the doors, window trim, and garage door. I went into the store and said I want just plain black and this is the code on my paint can if you want to use this exact black color!
I started in the front of the house! I couldn’t find the screw holes where the shutters were attached to the house, and I didn’t want to damage them or the brick trying to remove them for the painting process so I just left them on, sprayed over them, and then went back and hand painted them black.
For the window trim, I started out using a 6″ foam roller brush, but I noticed it was going on very thin, and being the impatient person that I am, didn’t have time for that! I taped them again and sprayed them with my small hand sprayer! This went much faster and provided SUCH a good finish!
***I have gotten so many questions on the window trim *inside* the windows and how I painted those, and here is my hack! I used an outdoor grade ELECTRICAL TAPE ! It sounds crazy but they just stick right on the window! We have had two freezes since I put them on, harsh weather, heavy rain, and heavy sun on them…. no budging whatsoever! So instead of replacing the windows or a pretty penny, I spent $4 for two rolls of outdoor electrical tape and called it a day! …I will say though, if I did this step over again I would’ve ordered a bit wider size of electrical tape to use. My panes are maybe 1/8″ wider than the tape that I used. It’s BARELY noticeable but just a minor detail I probably would’ve changed. ***
Click Here to see how it turned out!
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