So, you've bought the cans of paint and the brushes. You've laid down the tarps and set out a cooler of cold ones. You've got your friends on hand to help, and a radio tuned on to the right station. You're ready to paint the house…right? Not so fast! Proper painting depends on proper prep work—prep work that can be almost as extensive and labor intensive as the painting process itself. Follow these tips to get your painting job off to the right start.

Clean the House

Paint doesn't adhere to a dirty surface very well. Wash your home with a strong stream of water from a garden hose. Wash all the way around the house, under the eaves and along the ground. If necessary, use a long-handled scrub brush and a bucket of warm, soapy water to clean the siding before getting started. Give your house time to dry before proceeding.

Scrape Off Loose Paint

Use a paint scraper to remove any paint bubbles and loose pieces of paint clinging to your clapboards. Sand down the edges between the paint and the exposed boards underneath. While you're at it, scrape out any old, cracked caulking in the areas around windows and doors.

Patch Damaged Areas

Look for damaged parts in the siding—nail holes, scratches, dents and other flaws. Fill in the holes with wood filler or patch, then sand down the surface of the patch until it matches the surface of the siding. Replace the old caulking that you just removed with fresh caulking.

Wash Off the Paint Dust

Go around your house one more time and wash off any paint dust in the locations where you just sanded. Give your house time to dry.

Apply Primer to Bare Wood

Apply primer to all the areas you've just repaired. Primer will help paint adhere to bare wood, protect the wood from moisture and mask the spots that you've just fixed, so your home's paint job will look more professional and will last longer.

So all this prep work sounds like a lot of trouble, doesn't it? Don't skip these important details. If it sounds like too much work, leave the house painting to a local company, like Yu1 Painting Company. Painting contractors do this kind of thing all the time, so they're good at getting through this type of work quickly and efficiently. While they're transforming your house, you can sit back, drink those cold ones and watch someone else do the painting.