The importance of checking the previous paint job on a home restoration job

When you perform a home restoration project which is centered around re-painting your home you need to be very careful with the previous paint job.  Yes, we know what you are thinking: I’m going to apply new paint, why should I care for the paint that was applied before? Well, we’re about to tell you why you should care, A LOT.

Well, first and foremost don’t forget, the new paint you apply will form a layer right over the paint that is previously there. It won’t mix with it, it certainly won’t fuse with it, what it will do, is hold it. And this is the key point. Holding it.

If the paint applied previously is of low quality it is an absolute certainty that, at some point, it will react to humidity and other elements, and here is where the real trouble will begin because it will separate from the material it was applied on (wood, cement, you name it) and guess what, it will take whatever it is that it has before it, meaning, the new paint job you did, so you will start to see it peel off, and worse of all, if there is more layers of paint under it, chances are it will take it with it as well.

Imagine the resources you will be throwing away, paint, time, effort, because you will not only need to do it all over again, the results probably won’t be the ones you wanted in the first place. So, how can you avoid this? First and foremost, you need to check the surface before you apply any paint on it for signs of damage or weakness.

Experts recommend to do a thorough cleaning of the surface meaning you need to remove at least a couple of layers of paint before you apply the new one. Once you see that the surface is ready, you can begin painting.

So, as you can see, no matter how simple a home restoration job seems, you need to be careful in order to save time and resources.