Can you DIY exterior paint of your home yourself? I asked myself this while looking at the front of our small one-story cabin whose exterior was a bit past its prime. Here’s what I was looking at:
I don’t know why, besides maybe the fact that I didn’t have a quick timeline and I didn’t want to pay anyone, but I decided that yes, yes you can DIY exterior paint your home yourself! So I got to work.
Paiting Prep:
Before starting this DIY exterior paint project, the siding needed to be cleaned. My husband likes to power wash stuff, so he got recruited for the job. We’ve bought a few power washers over the years now and are still using this one. I recommend a gas-powered one over electric any day. The last electric one we had died after trying to power wash my in-laws cement walkway. It would have been an easy job for the gas one.
After power-washing, give the house at least a day to dry out.
Ok, now check for loose paint. Go around and use a painters tool or putty knife to scrape the siding and check for loose or chipping paint. The new coat needs a solid surface to adhere to, so make sure no loose paint is hanging around. Also scrape out any old, loose caulking. It’s a slow job but necessary. Put on some good music and get it done.
Consider replacing any caulking now too. This OSI Quad Max caulking is the best I’ve found. It’s paintable and held up well.
I decided to caulk all needed joints after one coat of primer because I figured the caulking would adhere better to the primer. But honestly, I’m not sure if it matters either way. So you do you. Ok here we are, ready to paint!
DIY Exterior Primer:
Primer is cheaper than exterior paint, so it’s better to use a coat (or two!) of primer and one coat of paint than the opposite. We “splurged” and used a high-quality Kilz primer. But, as I was focused on keeping this low-budget, I decided that I did not want to buy a paint sprayer, so, by-golly, I painted this house by hand! I used brushes along the trim lines and a roller between the trim and wherever possible. You can do it. It’s just slow-going. I did an hour or two a day when the sun wasn’t too bright. It took about a week for each coat to paint this small cabin.
My husband would jump in and help from time to time. Here is a progress photo of the first coat of primer. I used the ladder to reach the high spots. Not going to lie, this is tough work, especially painting overhead. Put some good music on and power through.
We applied two coats of primer to cover the old green before a final coat of paint. I bought two 5-gallon buckets of primer and had most of the 2nd bucket leftover for other projects after two coats.
Here is the front elevation after two coats of primer. I also primed the front door in preparation for paint.
DIY Exterior Paint:
I decided to paint this house white, but did you know that there are 1001 different “whites”? Lol. I just wanted a clean, true white. So instead of messing with tints and shades, I simply used the base white, ultra pure white, no extra coloring needed. I splurged and used Behr Marquee exterior paint from Home Depot in a satin finish. Since I was painting white on a white primer, only one coat was needed, and one 5 gallon bucket was enough here.
Because this is a small house, and I didn’t want it to look too busy, I decided to use the same paint on the trim. Keep it simple!
The one contrast I did want is the front door. I went for drama and painted it “Blackout Black” (same as the kitchen and bathroom cabinets!) in a satin exterior paint. It turned out lovely and mysterious. Never knew I could love a door color so much, lol.
Without further ado, here is the finished front!
Finishing Touches:
You may have caught that I changed out the exterior lights. They are black outdoor “barn lights” by Hampton Bay that I found at Home Depot. If I do say so myself, I think they are really cute, especially with a soft white Edison bulb. Here is a close-up of the barn light. There is something about the extra horizontal bar I really like.
The best angle on this small cabin is from the side:
I changed out the lights to match in the back as well for design consistency, which is always a good idea IMO, and painted the back door “Blackout Black” as well. Here’s the finished back elevation.
One of the last things I did was spray paint (yes spray paint works great!) the back door sill, that small light above the back door, and the wall heater vent – that round thing below the window. I used a high-heat spray paint on the heater vent and standard spray paint for the rest. It’s all held up great and, hey, easy to touch up if needed.
Project Costs:
Two 5-gallon buckets Kilz Primer: under $290
One 5-gallon bucket Behr Marquee exterior paint: under $150
1-gallon “Blackout Black” Behr Marquee exterior paint: under $60
16-OSI Quad Max caulking tubes: $10 each = $160 total
Misc painting brushes, rollers, drop clothes, tape, trays, etc: under $200
Black spray paint: under $6
High-heat spray paint: under $6
5-Hampton Bay Barn Lights: under $40 each = $200
5-Edison bulbs: under $8 each = $40
Total = $1112 + tax. Pretty good, yeah?
I did not include the cost of tools we already had such as the power washer, ladders, and caulk guns. Be sure to consider those in your calculations if you start a similar project!
Remember I said this project was slow-going? All-in-all, it took about a month. Painting would have gone A LOT faster if I had used a paint sprayer. This project helped me learn my lesson, and I have since purchased this sprayer and used it on the main house here – that project post to come! The sprayer is a true god-send in terms of ease and time saved. You may also be able to rent a sprayer at your local hardware store.
Let me know if this inspired you to DIY exterior paint your home. I’d love to see how it turned out!
