When the time comes to repaint your home’s exterior, picking the perfect color is essential to the overall appearance of the property. Color can play a role in your home’s energy efficiency, design, and even its value. As you debate over which ones would be the best fit, practice some of these strategies for choosing the right siding color for your home.

Get Ideas from Your Neighbors

When you try to decide what colors would look best on your home, it’s often beneficial to look for inspiration from your neighbors. Though you’re free to paint your home whatever color you choose, picking one that accentuates the rest of the neighborhood is a great way to increase property value. You can examine other homes of similar design and layout to also give you a better idea of what colors will best complement your home.

Think About the Local Weather

Believe it or not, certain color schemes can amplify the local weather and affect your overall comfort level within the home. According to Modern Mechanical, “Darker colored exterior paint can absorb up to 90 percent of the energy from the sun, while a lighter exterior color impacts your indoor comfort more.” So, if you live in a warmer area with plenty of direct sunlight, it would be the most energy efficient for you to use lighter colors, as they will keep the home cooler. Dark colors are more suited for areas with long and harsh winters, as they help the siding hold in heat.

Compare Swatches to Your Roof and Trim

If you only want to repaint your siding, it’s important to remember your siding should complement other exterior parts of the house. Don’t let this hinder your creativity, though. While it’s recommended you pick a color in the same family as your roof and trim, you can adjust the lightness to suit your vision. If your roof is a darker color, for instance, you may want to pair a lighter siding with a white trim to make it appear brighter and more welcoming.

Remember Complementary Colors

Complementary colors are the key to developing a series of beautiful color schemes. With just one color in mind, you can find a list of similar colors for you to choose from. This will allow you to create a color scheme that is unique to your home and maintain a consistent look. Typically, when you use complementary colors, you want to pair a main color with one or two more that are lighter or darker than the original. This will ensure you stick with the same color scheme while you draw attention to certain aspects of the home.

For help with deciding on a color scheme and applying it to your home, Bear Mountain Custom Painting are the professionals you want to reach out to. Our home painters in Cumming, Georgia, know the pros and cons of certain design choices and can answer whatever exterior painting questions you have about your Georgia home.

While painted brick siding can revitalize and modernize an older-styled home, many homeowners are turning to the limewashing method. With the clean appeal of fresh paint and pops of color from your bricks’ surfaces, this technique suits every style of home. If you’re looking for a way to update your brick siding while keeping an aged appearance, study up on the basics of limewashing your home.

An Overview of Limewash

While people use the terms “limewash” and “whitewash” interchangeably, limewash is only one type of whitewash that you can use on your brick. Unlike other whitewashes, this wash comes from powdered limestone which manufacturers treat with water in a high-heat environment. This process produces a lime substance that dissolves in water and turns into the limewash. If you give the limewash enough time to soak into the porous surface of the brick, you can then rinse it off in selected sections to create a custom faded look.

If you’re attempting to make your own limewash, be sure you take the proper measurements to get the right consistency. According to BobVilla, “The correct ratio is approximately 80 percent water to 20 percent hydrated lime (by weight).” By maintaining this ratio, you can easily make however much you need for the project. Using too much or too little of either ingredient may result in a wash that’s too thin or thick to properly soak into the brick.
Not as thick or heavy as paint, limewash is most effective when it’s the consistency of whole milk. When mixed too thin, you’ll have to use more product than necessary to get the color you’re after. Plus, it will wash off easier than it’s supposed to during the rinsing phase. On the other hand, using limewash that’s too thick will simply stick to the brick as paint does and prevent you from creating the antique, faded look you’re after.

The Process: How to Get the Best Results

One of the most crucial basics of limewashing your home is that you take some time to clean the brick you’re going to be using it on. Residual dust and dirt on the surface could act as a barrier between the wash and the brick, making the process less effective in the long run. Usually, homeowners can accomplish this step by simply spraying down their siding with a garden hose. However, if you’re finding that there are persistent sections of dirt and grime, you may need to use an all-purpose cleaner and a stiff scrubbing brush.

Additionally, you’re going to want to make sure that the weather allows for a successful project. Ideally, you should be applying the limewash in overcast weather. Direct sunlight can cause the wash to dry out before it has a chance to soak into the brick, making it more of a paint job than you originally intended.
Once its weather permitting and your brick siding is clean enough, you can begin mixing your limewash. However, before you start, be sure that you’re taking the proper safety precautions to avoid developing potential health issues. Hydrated lime powder can be an irritant to an individual’s skin and eyes. As such, take extra care to put on safety goggles and rubber gloves before you begin handling the materials. After taking these precautions, proceed to add the proper ratio of lime and water, and mix them until you get the ideal consistency.

Apply the limewash with a large paintbrush as you’ll need to work it into various nooks and crannies on the brick’s surface. The most effective way to accomplish this is by using several thin coats to layer the limewash until you get the opaque color you’re looking for. As you finish up with this initial washing, be sure to allow enough time for it to dry. This will ensure that you don’t remove all the wash as you create your design.
When you go to rinse the limewash, re-wet the areas you want to look faded and gently wipe it away. This will expose the brick underneath and leave you with gradual smears of color across the surface. The beauty of this process is that you can remove as much or as little of the wash as you’d like and create a design that’s unique to your home.

As with any home improvement project, it’s important that you consider hiring a professional paint contractor if you don’t feel comfortable taking on the task yourself. While limewashing is an effective and rewarding technique, it’s recommended that you have someone with experience do it to get the best results.

Tips for Maintaining Limewash

Once your limewash fully dries (this takes about seven days), it should calcify enough that it will become somewhat resistant to the elements. However, it’s important to keep in mind that it won’t be entirely weather-proof. So, be sure to utilize these maintenance tips to keep your limewashed siding looking good throughout the years. 

Wash Carefully (If at All)

Though it’ll take more effort to remove the limewash once it’s had the chance to dry, it’s still very susceptible to water and pressure. If you notice that your surfaces have stains or dirt that you want to remove, use a damp rag and dab lightly to get the best results. However, it’s often uncommon that you’ll need to wash limewash surfaces as it typically doesn’t show much dirt.

You May Need to Reapply

Over years of weather exposure, you might notice that your limewash exterior is beginning to wear down and expose more of your natural brick siding. To maintain the whitewashed look you originally sought after, reapply your limewash every five to seven years. You may also want to do continuous touch-ups to stay in control of how the surface erodes.

To learn more about the limewashing process and how you can apply it to your own home, reach out to Bear Mountain Custom Painting. Our exterior painting professionals in Cumming, Georgia, will provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision based on the style and design of your home. 

Whether we’re aware of it or not, we’re exposed to VOCs throughout our daily lives. From within our very own walls to the playground equipment our children play on, VOCs play a key role in the way we use and buy products. However, these vapor chemicals can put us in danger if we’re not careful. Learn the basics of VOCs to protect yourself and your family.

Defining VOCs

Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are common chemical solutions that evaporate in standard atmospheric conditions. Whether it’s from burning fuel, drying paint, or melting plastics, these vapors can invade the air in and around our home. VOCs contain a variety of chemicals, and though they’re needed for several manufacturing processes, human interaction with them can result in various health problems.

Sources of VOCs

Although many know VOCs are present in paint products, it’s important to note that they’re used in the manufacturing process of other products as well. Along with paints and paint solvents, VOCs are also present in wood preservatives, aerosol sprays, and even office equipment such as printers and copiers. Regularly using these products means constant exposure to VOCs, and as a result, one may develop a variety of physical symptoms.

Additional sources of VOCs include:

• Cleansers and disinfectants
• Pesticides and weed killers
• Hobby supplies and children’s toys
• Moth repellants and air fresheners
• Stored fuels and auto supplies

VOC Effects on Health

While many believe that the VOC toxins leave a surface as the paint dries, there are types of paint that hold them for much longer. In actuality, according to How Stuff Works, “paint can release VOCs into the air for years following the initial painting.” This can put your family at risk of developing physical ailments such as eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches and dizziness; and even skin rashes. With prolonged exposure, some individuals even run the risk of developing liver, kidney, and central nervous system damage.

Fortunately, as researchers learn more about what effects these chemicals have on us and the environment, there is an increased effort to invent alternatives to VOC products.

Possible Alternatives

Though VOCs are present in many of our regularly used items, it’s becoming easier to limit our exposure to them. Recent product developments have produced low-VOC or VOC-free paint options for you to explore as well as education alternatives that let you know what products you should be avoiding. You can also take extra precaution by:

• Occasionally allowing your home to air out
• Testing your water for the presence of VOCs
• Storing unused chemical products in the garage or shed instead of in the home

At Bear Mountain Custom Painting, we want to create the best possible results for you and your family by ensuring that we use high-quality tools and materials. We train our house painters in Cumming, Georgia, to use these materials and supply you with the knowledge needed to decide which paint is best for your home.