DIY Refreshing Exterior Repaints

With bright sunny days of summer its important to get outside and get a little bit of sun every now and again. This is a good chance to take a second look at your old furniture and consider a refresher for exterior repainting. Painting in the summer makes it easy to avoid any lingering paint smell. The best part about these sorts of summer projects is that you can tackle them at your own pace! Most exterior furniture isn’t going anywhere, and a little extra sun won’t hurt.

Preparation

Painting preparation is key! If you are repainting exterior furniture, you’ll want to take special care at this stage. We want to thoroughly clean all surface, preferably with a simple bleach/water mixture. Use some water pressure to get some dirt off ahead of time. Once cleaned, you need to run sandpaper and a rag over all the surfaces. You  need to sand down any damaged old paint, making sure to keep sanding until damaged paint no longer chips away. Its also important to rough up the exterior surface completely. We want to break up any stubborn particulate that didn’t come off in the first wash.

Priming

Priming is an important step to get the best results for any paint. Most primers will be suitable for exterior, as its the actual paint coat that will do the blocking. You should always prime if you are painting bare wood or its the first time the object has been painted. This will help all future coats of paint have a sturdy foundation.

Painting

For simple exterior repaints, always use exterior paint. These products are specifically engineered to resist wind and rain and usually have some form of mildew resistance in them. For exterior furniture, I’d recommend two solid coats and following the instructions on dry time. If you want to apply a second coat after a day has passed, you’ll need to clean and dry the surface again.

As always, you can visit your local Mallory Paint Store for help with your summer projects. Whether you want to get your color matched or are looking for suggestions on repairing weather damaged paint, our friendly staff will know what to do!