How to Prepare Your Home for Exterior Painting

If you’re booking exterior painting on your Port Stephens home in the next few weeks, there’s a checklist of jobs that fall to you rather than the painter. Done well, they cut the painter’s time on site by half a day, protect your stuff from accidental damage, and let the crew focus on the actual painting rather than tidying up around obstacles.

Done badly, the day-one inspection turns into a list of problems that delay the start.

Here’s exactly what to do — and what to skip — in the two weeks before the crew arrives.

Two weeks before: the prep that matters

The earlier you start, the less stressful the week before painting becomes. Here’s what to tackle two weeks out.

Walk the perimeter and photograph problems

Spend 30 minutes walking around your home in good light. Photograph anything that looks like a problem — visible flaking, bubbling paint, mould, rust on metal fittings, gaps around windows, rotten timber on fascia or window frames. Send these to your painter before the job starts. Most issues are still fixable as part of the quote, but only if your painter knows about them before quoting.

Tell the neighbours

Painting work involves pressure washing, ladders, and sometimes scaffold. If your home is on a shared driveway, close to a fence-line, or in a unit complex, the courtesy heads-up matters. Most painting work makes noise from 7am, which neighbours appreciate knowing about in advance.

Book your pets in (or plan their day)

Dogs, cats, and chickens don’t mix well with painters. Pressure washers spook most pets, gates get left open, and wet paint plus a curious dog ends one way. If you can board pets for the duration of an exterior repaint, that’s ideal. Otherwise, plan to keep them inside in a sealed-off room.

Move what you can move now

Outdoor furniture, BBQs, pot plants, kids’ play equipment, garden ornaments, hose reels — anything within 2 metres of an exterior wall needs to be moved away from the house. You can do this in stages over a few weekends so it doesn’t all hit you the day before painting starts.

One week before: the practical jobs

This is when the rest of your prep gets done.

Trim back vegetation

Branches, shrubs, climbers, and hedges within 1 metre of any wall need to be trimmed back. Painters can’t paint behind a hedge that’s pressed against weatherboards, and the leaves get covered in paint mist if they’re not pruned.

Climbers like jasmine, bougainvillea, and wisteria that have attached to walls need to be detached and tied back. Don’t cut them at the root unless you want to lose them — just gently pull them away from the wall and hold them with stakes or twine.

Clear access to all four sides of the home

Painters need to walk all the way around the house, often carrying ladders, scaffold pieces, or paint tins. If your side passages are full of bins, bike racks, or stored building materials, clear them out a week ahead.

A 1.2-metre clear strip around the entire perimeter is the minimum. 1.5 metres is better if you have scaffold work coming.

Sort the wheelie bins

Bin pickup days might fall during the paint week. Decide where your bins will live for that period and whether your painter needs to move them on collection days. Some clients arrange a temporary bin storage spot at the front of the property; others ask the painter to move them.

Check your power and water access

Painters need: outdoor power outlets (or access to indoor outlets via an extension lead), and an outdoor tap with a hose connection. Check that your outdoor tap still works and that the GPO points are still operational. These can fail without you noticing for years.

Notify the strata or body corporate (if applicable)

For units or townhouses, written approval from your strata is usually required for any exterior colour change. This can take 2-6 weeks depending on the AGM cycle — so if you haven’t started this yet and you’re planning a colour change, do it now.

Two days before: the final pass

The home stretch.

Remove or tape down anything attached to walls

Wall-mounted decorations, hooks, plaques, house numbers, mail slot, doorbells, exterior light fittings if you want them painted around — anything attached to a wall that you don’t want damaged or painted-over needs to come off, or be clearly flagged with painter’s tape.

House numbers and letter boxes can usually be unscrewed easily. Take a photo of where they were attached so you remember which holes to refill or which holes to leave.

Tape over anything that absolutely cannot be painted

Solar panels, satellite dishes, air conditioning units, security cameras, and any fixed electrical equipment. Your painter will mask these as standard, but flagging them with masking tape and a sticky note saying “do not paint” prevents misunderstandings.

Open up the side gates

Check that all side gates open fully and that the latches work. Painters need to move freely around the home, and a stuck gate or a missing key adds 20 minutes to every trip.

Park the cars somewhere else

Cars in the driveway are the #1 cause of paint splatter complaints. Even with drop sheets and masking, pressure washing throws debris and overspray a surprising distance. Park elsewhere for the duration of the exterior paint week.

Inside the house: what to do for an exterior paint job

A lot of exterior painting also affects the inside.

Close windows and lock them

For a full week — or longer if you have specific drying days that need it. Open windows let in paint mist, dust from pressure washing, and the smell of solvents. Close them all and lock them.

Cover anything near windows

Curtains, blinds, and indoor pot plants near windows can pick up paint smell or get sprayed if a window has to be opened during the job. Move them away or cover with drop cloths.

Plan around any opened windows or doors

If you need certain windows or doors open during the day (for ventilation, deliveries, or pets), tell your painter in advance. We work around your needs — but only if we know about them.

What NOT to do yourself

A few things that sound helpful but actually create problems.

Don’t pre-wash the house yourself

Your painter will pressure-wash as the first step of the job. Pre-washing with a household garden hose doesn’t remove what professional pressure washing removes (salt, deep dirt, old paint flakes, mould spores), and it just leaves the surface wet — which delays our start.

Don’t scrape or sand flaking paint yourself

Tempting, but you’re likely to feather edges incorrectly or strip back further than needed. Leave it for the painter — they’ll do it as part of their scope.

Don’t fill cracks with whatever filler you have

Exterior fillers need to be flexible (interior fillers crack under wall movement). Painters use specific products and will choose the right one based on what they find. Pre-filling with the wrong product means we have to scrape it out and start again.

Don’t repaint specific spots to “see how the colour looks”

Sample swatches and brush-out cards exist for this reason. Painting random patches of new colour on an old wall makes prep harder because we have to deal with two different paint chemistries underneath.

The week of: what to expect

Day 1 is usually pressure washing and prep. Expect noise, water on the ground, and the painter looking like they’re not painting yet. This is normal. The actual paint usually starts day 2 or day 3.

Days 2-5 (or longer) are application. You’ll see colour going on. The crew works in sections — usually one wall at a time, then trims, then doors.

The last day is touch-ups and clean-up. Drop sheets come off, masking comes down, gardens get tidied. You’ll do a walk-around with the painter to flag anything that needs attention before final sign-off.

Don’t pay the final invoice until the walk-around is done and you’re satisfied.

Ready to book your exterior repaint?

If your home is on the list for an exterior repaint this autumn or spring, now is the right time to get a quote. Peak booking seasons in Port Stephens (March-May and September-November) fill up 6-8 weeks ahead.

Call Ryan on 0404 435 785 or request a fast free quote.

We’ll come out, inspect, and give you a written fixed-price quote within 48 hours. No obligation, no call-out fee, no sales pressure.