When looking to paint particularly extensive home exteriors, two tools immediately come to mind. Those being the increasingly popular paint sprayer and the classic paint roller. In fact, the only approach you probably won’t consider at all is that of the traditional brush. For a few precision points maybe, but certainly not for the whole job.
But here’s the thing, when you actually take into account the advantages of painting with a brush, using brushes to tackle the outdoors isn’t quite such a crazy idea after all. Of course, it’s unlikely that any professional would ever wholeheartedly advise exclusively using brushes over and above advanced sprayers and so on. But at the same time, if you’re taken with the idea of getting busy with paintbrushes, you could benefit from going old-school in a number of ways.
Not convinced?
Read on and you just might be:
Painting exterior with a brush conserves paint
First and foremost, if you are looking to spend as little as possible and obtain maximum value for money, painting with a brush could be the way to go. When painting a clean, well-preserved surface, 1 gallon of exterior acrylic-latex paint can apparently cover 400 sq/ft – manufacturers routinely inform us. However, this only tends to be true when using a paintbrush. When using a paint sprayer, it’s surprising how much of the stuff simply drifts off into the air during use. Even when using a roller, there’s a lot of splatter to account for – all of which amounts to wasted paint.
You can stop and start much easier
Another key benefit of using paintbrushes is the way in which you do not have to tackle the entire job all in one go. While some people revel in the idea of getting the entire exterior painted in a single weekend, others prefer to jump in and out of the project for a couple of hours at a time over a much longer period. The reason being that when you paint using a brush, you really only have this one brush to deal with when it comes to cleaning, drying and storing it away after use. By contrast, it’s a much bigger job to set up and summarily clean/dry equipment like rollers, trays, paint sprayers and so on. If you want to take your time, the brush might well be the way to go.
Little to no prep work
When you use a paint sprayer, you have to be pretty heavy handed when it comes to the masking. The reason being that it is pretty much inevitable that an incredible amount of the stuff is going to find itself all over the place during the painting process. On the whole, protecting the surrounding area can be a somewhat intensive and long-winded job in its own right. By contrast, there’s barely any draping or mask ink required whatsoever, when you go about the job with a paintbrush. Given the way in which you can be so much more precise in terms of applying the paint to your home’s exterior, there is really not a great deal you need other than a sufficient drop cloth.
You get to note problems along the way
While it’s definitely true to say that using a paint sprayer or roller gets the job done faster, tackling things with a paint brush can produce better results. The reason being that using faster methods for coating surfaces with paint does not give you the opportunity to go over each and every square inch as you progress, in order to note any imperfections or problems as you go. Instead, you simply end up painting over them and allowing them to continue worsening. Of course, there is always the option of going over the entire property’s exterior beforehand to note any damage, but it’s also largely inevitable there will be bits and pieces you’ll miss.
It’s cheaper
Last but not least, it’s also worth taking into account the fact that if you are looking to produce the best possible results for the lowest possible price, the brush could be the way to go. The reason being that not only are initial costs near-zero…apart from the actual paint of course…but taking your time and going over your entire property with meticulous attention to detail means a higher likelihood of producing the kinds of results that requite no touch-ups and go the distance. Or to put it another way, a classic case of ‘do it right, do it once’.