Interior painting jobs are some of the most common home renovation projects homeowners decide to undergo. With the potential to completely transform certain areas and make them more suitable to your tastes, the possibilities for your home’s design are only limited by your imagination. However, as exciting and effective as a new coat of paint can be, the process of painting itself can take fair bit of time and preparation. In fact, even if you hire home interior painting professionals to get the job done, you should still do several things ahead of time to make the task go more smoothly. This is how to prepare your home for an interior paint job and ensure its success.
Move and Cover Furniture
It’s impossible for the professionals to paint your walls when all your belongings are still in the way. Large pieces of furniture can be particularly troublesome, as they take up ample amounts of space and make it more difficult for the workers to move around. Additionally, having furniture near the fresh paint raises the possibility of a few splatters finding their way onto the fabric and ruining them. To ensure the safety of your items, either move them out of the room or cover them with a thick tarp.
Transition Major Functions to Other Areas
Before the painting can officially begin, you should also take some time to move all major home functions to another space. Since you won’t be able to use this particular room for a while, you’ll need to find other ways to finish your daily tasks. For instance, if you’re painting your kitchen or bathroom, you’ll need to use alternative methods to perform certain activities while the paint is still drying. If you’re only renovating a bedroom, this step may not be as crucial.
Create a Path to the Job Site
We know preparing your home for an interior paint job can be tedious and throw your entire home out of balance. However, it’s important that you maintain some semblance of order if you want to make the working conditions as good as possible. Making a designated path from the entryway to the project room not only limits the paint spatter to a narrow space, but also helps workers better navigate their surroundings. With a clean path to follow, they’re less likely to trip on your belongings and cause an accident.
From keeping the outside world at bay to making our homes look fantastic, our exterior doors have several essential functions. However, even the best door models can deteriorate with prolonged exposure to the elements and need to be replaced. In fact, regardless of whether your door has sustained damage or not, it’s recommended that you install a new one every several years to be safe. These are some of the benefits of installing new exterior doors and why you shouldn’t wait to get this project done.
Increased Home Security
Though exterior doors are made to be strong and durable, they can’t last forever. As the years roll by, the stress that the outside environment puts on your door slowly wears away at the solid materials and causes structural damage. With a weakened door, your home is more vulnerable to things like pest infestations and break-ins. So, by installing a brand-new exterior door, you’re reinforcing your home’s defenses and protecting yourself.
Additional Insulation
Modern exterior doors also provide more insulation for the home’s interior. A few decades ago, it was common for doors to be made exclusively of solid materials such as wood or steel. While sturdy, these resources didn’t trap climate-controlled air very well and would develop heavy drafts. Newer models, on the other hand, have a layer of polyurethane foam pressed between strips of solid material. These extra layers form a barrier that prevents the indoor air from escaping through the porous wood surface. This prevents those annoying drafts from forming and can even save you a bit of cash on your next utility bill.
Enhanced Curb Appeal
Another noteworthy benefit of installing new exterior doors is the fresh, revitalized look they give to your home. Curb appeal is one of the most important contributing factors to overall home value. As such, maintaining the look of the property is just as important as maintaining its functionality. Since the front door is also the first thing that visitors will see when they walk up to your home, it’s the perfect place to make a good first impression. Best of all, these doors come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and designs to fit with any existing home design.
At Bear Mountain Custom Painting, we believe that every home renovation, no matter how small, is a stepping stone to creating your dream home. Because of this, we offer a multitude of services to best accommodate each homeowner’s needs. Whether it’s exterior or interior painting or door installation in Cumming, GA, we want to ensure you’re getting the most out of your renovation experience.
Vinyl siding is among the most common type of siding found on homes across the country. It’s sleek, colorful, and affordable, which makes it a stylish addition to any home exterior, and its protective capabilities ensure that no harm comes to the home’s interior. However, as popular as vinyl siding is, it’s important to remember that it’s also very susceptible to holes and cracks. This makes it likely that you’ll need to repair or even replace it at some point. Try these tips for repairing your vinyl siding to best protect your home from the elements.
Identify the Scope of the Damage
The first step to any successful repair project is to accurately identify how much damage there is and how to best repair it. This not only ensures that the repairs are handled in the correct way, but also that the results are quality and able to withstand future stress. After all, a rushed repair job can leave your home just as vulnerable as it was prior to the work being done. So as you begin compiling the tools and materials you’ll need for the project, make sure you take some time to note all the present damages.
Clean the Damaged Areas
Then take a moment as well to clean off the damaged area of siding in preparation for the sealing agent. The siding is there in the first place to protect the interior of your home from water, insects, and other things that could infiltrate and cause damage to your walls. You’ll want to ensure it’s as clean as possible before you seal it up. In addition, the caulk or patch you use for the repair may not stick as effectively to siding that is covered in a layer of dirt and grime.
Consider Your Repair Options
When it comes to repairing your siding damage, there are different options to choose from that will seal off the hole and keep it protected. Caulk and siding patches are two of the most popular methods because they’re quick to adhere, easy to use, and affordable for any homeowner. Caulk is especially helpful because it can mold to any shape and create an airtight closure over the entire crack. If you’re dealing with a large hole, though, patches are often better at covering the entire damaged area in one shot.
Protect the Area From Further Damage
Another crucial tip for repairing your vinyl siding is that you take the steps to keep it protected even after the project is done. Though the newly patched area may appear stronger than it was before, it’s still susceptible to being damaged again by environmental conditions. Because of this, it’s often beneficial to provide this area with an extra layer of protection in the form of paint. A new coat of paint gives the area an extra watertight seal and supplies a finish that can help wick moisture away. For more additional tips on how to keep your siding protected, consider reaching out to your trusted siding contractors in Cumming, GA.
Your house’s gutters may seem like they’ll last forever, but like any other part of the home, they often needs repairs. With each heavy rain, your gutters slowly loosen and lose their ability to effectively direct water away from your home. Your responsibility as a homeowner is to protect your home by ensuring your gutters are in proper working condition. Use these tips for repairing your home gutters to get the best possible results.
Use Gutter Caulk to Seal Leaks
If your gutters only have a few leaks, simply sealing them might be a better option than paying to replace them. For these jobs, it’s recommended that you remove the gutters, let them dry, and use specialized gutter caulk to ensure the seal is waterproof and likely to hold. If you don’t like how the repairs look after the fact, you can always sand down the excess caulk and repaint to make it more visually appealing.
Re-Secure Gutters to the Roof
Once you’ve repaired your gutters, it’s crucial that you properly reposition them against the edge of your roof. Otherwise, you risk letting water slip through and potentially damaging your roof and home foundation. When you’re refastening your gutters, make sure to screw the bolts in tightly enough to hold—but not so tightly that it could damage the roof. Remember that they’ll loosen again over time and that you’ll need to retighten them occasionally to keep them in position.
Install a Gutter Apron
For increased protection from water damage, you could also install a gutter apron over the back of the gutter to keep it flush against the roof. This will direct any water that otherwise would’ve run down the siding into the gutter where it belongs. However, the installation process is best left to professionals.
Know When to Replace them
In the end, you can only fix a gutter system so many times before you need to replace it entirely, and it’s crucial that you acknowledge when this happens. Opting to fix your gutters rather than replace them when they’re clearly ineffective will only lead to more work and more expensive repairs down the road. Be sure to accept when the time comes to replace them, and hire experienced gutter installation contractors in Cumming, GA to provide you with quality results.
With days of sunshine and warm temperatures ahead of us, it’s only natural that we’re going to want to spend them having fun and kicking back. However, summer is also the perfect time of the year to perform some much-needed home maintenance and ensure your property stays just as beautiful as it was when you bought it. This is why in addition to having your share of seasonal fun, you should also dedicate a few of these days to the care and preservation of your home. These are some of the ultimate summer home maintenance projects you should have on your priority list.
Power Wash and Re-Stain Your Deck
Entertaining family and friends on the porch or backyard deck of your home is one of the most beloved activities of the summer season. Unfortunately, if these areas aren’t well-kept after the long winter, they could end up being more of a hazard than an oasis. Aging decks can be particularly dangerous because stressed wood begins to splinter, thus significantly increasing the chances of someone getting a splinter. As such, before you even think of having people hang out on your deck, it’s crucial that you take the time to power wash it, sand it, and re-stain it to get it up to code. Wood stains also act as a glossy protectant that smooths out the surface to further reduce the likelihood of getting an injury. If you don’t feel comfortable taking on this project yourself, consider calling carpenters in Cumming, GA to properly replace and sand damaged areas of the deck.
Repaint Your Siding
Your siding is also likely to need a bit of a touch-up after a long, arduous winter. Whether it’s the frigid temperatures or the harsh winds, the colder months can wreak havoc on the exterior of a home and often leave it looking tired and worn. The sun can also begin having an impact on the appearance of your siding, causing its color to fade and the current coat of paint to chip and crack. For these reasons, summer poses the best opportunity to freshen up the overall appearance of your home with a few new layers of paint. Before taking on this project, take some time to first identify and repair damaged areas of your siding. This will not only better protect your house from the elements, but it will also ensure that the new paint sticks properly to its surface. Once this is done, you’re free to upgrade your home’s exterior however you wish.
Do Some Landscaping
As another ultimate summer home renovation maintenance project, landscaping is important for the upkeep of your lawn, garden, and property appearance as a whole. Depending on what natural aspects you’re interested in, this can be anything from cutting the grass to planting trees and creating a garden. The point of these projects is to make your home look more visually appealing by using natural elements and making the property look neat. Therefore, what you ultimately choose to do is entirely dependent on your tastes and level of organization. Effective landscaping is proven to increase the overall value of a home and make it easier to intrigue buyers, making it especially important for those wanting to sell their home. It’s also interesting to note that landscaping practices can keep larger populations of pests off of your property. This makes it easier to protect your home from things like infestations and the damage they can bring.
Inspect and Maintain Your Foundation
Regardless of how sturdy our home’s foundation might be, it can still sustain damage that needs to be addressed. Home foundations commonly sink and dip with the natural shifting of the Earth, putting additional pressure on the foundation and causing it to form cracks. These cracks make it easier for pests to find their way into your home in search of food and shelter. Additionally, a damaged foundation does not support the rest of the home properly, which often creates additional problems throughout the house. As such, when inspecting your foundation, it’s vital that you’re thorough in your search for cracks, unleveled areas, and sections that are particularly sunken in. This way, you know which parts of your foundation pose the biggest threat and what needs to be fixed first. Depending on the amount of damage your foundation has sustained, you may need to reach out to professionals to get an accurate scope of work.
Reseal Gaps Around Windows and Doors
As the home’s foundation shifts, exterior-facing areas such as the doors and windows can lose their airtight seal around the frames. This creates drafts that can suck the treated air out of your home and make it harder for you to keep the indoor areas cool in the extreme heat. Ultimately, you could end up spending more money to keep your home cool than it would cost to simply fix it. If you notice that you’ve developed these drafts, taking an afternoon to re-caulk the frames and recreate that seal is well worth it. However, when you go to do this, make sure that there isn’t also a problem with the window or door itself. Damaged or old doors and windows can also create drafts. So, figuring out where the problem truly lies first can save you ample amounts of time and money.
Check Your Roof for Leaks
Your roof also sustains heavy damage over the years that can keep it from protecting the rest of your home as effectively as it needs to. Leaks can form on especially damaged sections of the roof and lead to potential flooding and mold further down the line. Because of this, it’s good to get into the habit of inspecting your roof for loose shingles, holes, or exposed wood. This way, you can plan ahead and know which sections are the most prone to causing problems. If you do notice any of these things, reach out to a trained professional to see what they’d suggest. Roofing projects can be particularly expensive. So, you’ll want to search for the best possible deal.
While summer is, indeed, a time for fun in the sun, it’s also a great opportunity to redesign and update your home with renovation projects. We at Bear Mountain Custom Painting strive to make your dreams a reality this season. With our experienced interior and exterior home painting professionals, we can help transform your outdated space into something you can be proud to show off to your guests. We also offer a variety of other services such as window and door replacement, gutter installation, and carpentry services to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your home.
Though it might not be the most fun home maintenance project to complete, cleaning your gutters is an essential part of keeping your home protected. Heavy rains, particularly in flood-prone areas, run the risk of damaging your foundation, infiltrating your home, and leaving you with ruined possessions and expensive damage. This is why, despite the inconvenience it might present, taking note of the importance of cleaning your home gutter system can keep your home safe.
Overall Gutter Performance
Just like any other piece of home equipment, your gutters won’t work as effectively as they should if you don’t take care of them. From fallen leaves to nesting material and other gunk, a lot of debris can make its way into your gutter system. As your gutters fill, it becomes increasingly difficult for water to flow through them as they direct the rainfall away from your home’s foundation. This prevents your gutter from performing the job they were made to do and greatly increases your chances of a flood.
Damage Prevention
The importance of cleaning your home gutter system is also clear when you think about the amount of damage your home could sustain from storms. Without the help of fully functioning gutters, standing water can begin to seep through the roof and foundation of your home. This weakens it and makes it susceptible to further weather damage. If you allow it to infiltrate your home, this water can spark the growth of mold and other organisms that will require deep cleanings to remove. Taking care of your gutters is key to preventing this damage from occurring in the first place.
Pest Protection
As the water sitting near your foundation begins to make entryways into your home, it also provides pests with places to gain access. Once the foundation cracks, insects and rodents alike take the opportunity to squeeze into the openings in search of shelter and food. If you don’t know that this is occurring, it can quickly spiral into a full-fledged infestation that will be expensive to correct. Since getting rid of pests can be a tedious process, the best way to avoid this is to seal openings and keep water from reopening them.
Whether you’re looking for tips on properly maintaining your gutters or need home gutter installation professionals in Cumming, GA to install a new system, Bear Mountain Custom Painting can help. Our experienced and trained workers specialize in multiple areas of home maintenance and renovation, making them just the people to answer all your questions.
