Repainting the facade of your house is part of the long list of renovations that you must do, in order to finally be able to put your property on the market. You then hesitate between hiring the services of a professional or doing it yourself.
Procedures, formalities, legislation… before repainting its facade
Even if you have already contacted a house painter, do not start the painting work until you are well informed about the regulations in force. Indeed, insofar as one touches on the exterior appearance of a building, very strict rules must be observed, especially if the house is in a historic and protected area, by the roadside, or in a residential subdivision.
Failure to comply with the legislation can be punished with a heavy fine. Worse, you will be obliged to redo everything within a time limit set by your municipality. And the expenses will of course be your responsibility. In addition, you may be asked for a prior declaration of work, or even a building permit. Not to mention the authorizations of the owners, for people who are tenants – more info on Service-public.fr.
And it is also the new facade colors that often pose a problem. Indeed, for the sake of uniformity with the architectural style of the district or locality, the Council of architecture, town planning and environment (CAUE) of your region imposes the choice of colors on the owners. It is therefore with the CAUE organization that you should inquire if you wish to paint the facade of your house in different tones from the current one.
Repainting the facade yourself: questions to ask yourself
For many reasons, more and more people are choosing to paint their exterior walls themselves. However, even if this initiative starts from a good intention, this work consists in completely renovating the facade of a house, which is not an easy task. The aesthetics of the building will entirely depend on the result. It is for this reason that the task should only be undertaken by experienced do-it-yourselfers, especially if you want to add decorative touches such as roughcast for example.
On the other hand, depending on the condition of the walls, a coating or the application of an undercoat may also be necessary. And unfortunately, only real house painters are able to assess the need for these small additional works.
As for the choice of paint, the product used must be perfectly suited to the surface to be covered, whether it is wood, concrete, brick, stone… Moreover, constantly exposed to bad weather and climatic vagaries, exterior paints must also meet many technical characteristics, to name only the resistance to flaking and blistering. Without professional advice, are you sure you’re buying the right paint?
The advantage of hiring a professional
Often, after having weighed the pros and cons for a long time, many people prefer to pay for the services of a painter. It’s simply the satisfaction of a job well done while knowing how expensive this type of project can be. In addition, it will offer a guarantee over time, particularly in the event of poor performance.
Otherwise, taking into account the magnitude of the tasks still to be done, others have simply abandoned the idea of accomplishing them themselves, despite their good will. Many actually forget that the paint can only be programmed once the surface has been thoroughly cleaned and above all dry. Hours of scraping, ginning, stripping and washing exterior walls will be expected.
In the event of the presence of cracks and micro-cracks, small repairs may also need to be scheduled. But the renovation of the facade can also be an opportunity to check the drips of the various metal parts and gutters. So many things to take into consideration and which can escape even already seasoned DIYers.