H3 Paint Blog

Don't try and DIY your paint job, call the pros!

When it comes to painting the exterior of your home, the temptation to save money by doing it yourself can be strong. However, while a DIY exterior paint job may seem like a good idea, it can end up costing you more in the long run. Here are the top 5 reasons why you should not DIY your exterior paint job:

1. Lack of Experience

Painting the exterior of your home is a complex task that requires a certain level of experience to execute properly. Professional painters have years of experience under their belt, which means they know how to prepare surfaces, choose the right paint for the job, and apply it evenly to achieve a flawless finish. DIYers, on the other hand, may not have the same level of experience, which can result in mistakes and subpar results.

When you’re painting your home, whether you should get premium paint for the job will come up. There are many factors to consider when painting your home, with the most important being the quality of materials you use. But is it worth spending the extra money on premium paint for your walls, or is it better to seek out deals on paint and pay far less?

Countless paint vendors will tell you low-quality paint is just as good as spending extra money on premium paint. But that isn't necessarily true, especially if you're looking for your paint job to last a long time. The quality of the paint you use will matter in the long run, so you want to use premium paint for your home walls.

When you invest in having a physical location for your business, you want it to look its best. Especially because the way a business looks on the outside affects 95% of customers' decisions to go inside or not. 

You work so hard to develop your brand story and create a positive reputation, don't let a tired outdated exterior take away from that hard work. A quick, new coat of paint can do wonders for your space, helping it to match the rest of your company. 

We have all been spending a lot of time in and at our homes since the Pandemic started at the beginning of 2020. Since that time, its been eye-opening what things about our house we want to change and improve.  Recently redfin.com asked us to be a part of their blog for suggestions on how Painting can Improve the Exterior of Your Home.  They have featured us in their blog as a contributor so that folks could understand the primary reasons to take care of the exterior of their home.

While we sit outside on our patios or inside doing our daily life at home or even working from home, there are so many things to do and we notice all the things that could be improved. 

Deep mysterious grays with white accent pops

Over the years, we have had many clients as us about painting the brick on the exterior of their house.  For some people painting brick os an absolute never and they cringe at the idea.  For others, its a surface just waiting for its new color.  Brick provides a timeless look that needs very little maintenance which is what makes it so attractive to have.  It gives a home a solid amount of weight and can look beautiful.  Some would say that brick by itself can become dingy and requires maintenance due to the porous surface allowing for dirt and debris to become trapped and difficult to remove. There are many different viewpoints on painting brick, let's review some of the major points.

Is it Okay to Paint a Brick House?

Yes!  It is for sure OK to paint the brick on your house. When you choose your painting company and you know you want to paint your brick, make sure that you have HOA permission.  Some HOA's will not allow this.  Once you have the permission from the HOA, you will have to make sure that the painting company you work with chooses the right paint.  You will want your paint to be an elastomeric paint, or a stone and masonry paint.  Both of these types of paint will have the ability to adhere to the brick.  In some cases, a primer coat will be needed to cover the brick first so that the paint will stick no matter what. The one thing to note is that when you paint the brick of your house, this is a semi-permanent decision.  Going back to brick would be very costly and potentially not be worth the money.  Before you paint your brick, be sure that this is a decision that you want to make.

Updated Natural Colors to reflect the landscape

Are you considering selling your home and want the best deal possible? In 2019, it was found that the average to paint a home costs $3,000 but this initial cost can increase the sale amount of your home with a great curb appeal!

Not sure what paint colors will go best for your home? Get comfortable, relax, and read on to discover the best exterior house colors for resale value. 

Over the years we have used many paint products, including Sherwin-Williams. Sherwin Williams has really created great line exterior paint products that stand the test of time.  It’s common for a painter like us to choose or Good, Better & Best Exterior paint choices so that we can help you make the right choice for your exterior paint job.  When you hire a paint company like us painting your home, you want to make sure that you are getting the best blend of quality and price and that’s why we help you choose the right paint for your project.

Good Exterior Paint

Paint sheens can be difficult.  We have mentioned this in other blogs as to what sheen is for what purpose, but as we are here in the Spring of 2020, we thought we would do a refresher course.  

For typical exterior work, wood and or cementious siding, we would recommend using a satin for both body of the house and the trim of the house.  Also, when you have an accent, like the front door, this is a good sheen to use.  

On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we make a commitment to you, and the planet, that we will strive to reduce our footprint, recycle materials, reduce waste and contribute to our beautiful planet in a positive way.

In the construction business, there can be a lot of waste, with plastic, trash from prep materials etc.  As a company we have always, not just around Earth Day, but always cared for our environment and taken precautions whenever possible to use paint that has low or no VOC (volatile organic compounds), and recycle the paper that protects the floors or the plastic that protects the fixtures and furniture.  

Check out our latest video ad!

After announcing the 2020 Color of the Year, Behr also released their 2020 Color Trends palette featuring softer colors that were inspired by the natural elements, Earth, Wind, Water, Fire & Sky. These colors are meant to invoke the feelings of travel and adventure through nature.

Bringing these colors into your home will inspire and bring invigorated life into any room. If you are ready to start exploring these, or any other color design options for the interior or exterior of your home for your next paint job, we can help.  Click to schedule a Free Color Consultation

Behr has released their Color of the Year: Back to Nature.  They are hailing this color as "calm, gracious, and balanced".  

As we have been watching the trends happen both from Paint Manufacturers like Behr and Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore and watching trends from our customers, it seems that the latest color trends are leaning towards the lighter shades.  

Painting the exterior of your house is critical.  It is the first line of defense that your home has against the weather here in COLORado.  Paint manufacturers recommend that you paint every 5-7 years and when the climate is harsh, like ours in COLORado, you should paint sooner.

Here are the signs to look for in your house to see if your house is ready for painting:

What is a Paint Sheen and Why Does it Matter?

Paint comes in a variety of sheens:

Okay, All the big guns come out with their predictions of the Color of the Year and this year, Behr is coming out with theirs: Blueprint S470-5.  It's similar to the Color of the Year last year from Sherwin Williams, which was Oceanside, but the color sets are very popular which ever company you choose to use.  

We would love some feedback from the public as to what they think about the Behr Color of the Year.  If you would like to leave your comments below, we would love the feedback.  

The quick answer is yes.  However, there are caveats. 

The temperature must be right, or the paint will fail.  If the temperature is too low, below 45, it gets really sticky, no pun intended.  The temperature of the air is important but also the temperature of the house.  Both have to be above 45 and not just for the application of the paint, but the drying process as well.

Most of us living in Colorado know that with our 4 seasons, the weather can be harsh on our homes.  During the winter seasons temperatures can reach far below freezing and then the summer heat can reach above 100.  Thats quite a difference between temps!

So, now you ask yourself, where am I going with this?  Well, all of those climate changes in our beautiful state of COLORado produce moisture.  This moisture can wreak havoc on your home and here's how.

Hiring a professional painter can be challenging when there are so many to choose from, why not just do it yourself? In this article we will describe the benefits of "doing it yourself" versus hiring a professional painter.  Are we biased, no way, it's just the facts ma'am!

1. Perfect Results

The coating of paint on your home's exterior is the first layer of defense against our harsh Colorado weather!  You know the saying, "If you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes!" With the extreme hot and cold that we Coloradans experience, having a solid coat of quality latex paint paint on your home's exterior is key to keeping your house protected.

Okay here are the top reasons to get your house painted in the Spring!