Understanding Painting Rules

Tips To Help You Protect Outdoor Plants During Exterior Paint-Work

13 February 2018

Constance Cunningham

An exterior paint job will give your home a fresh, new look. A project of this magnitude takes some extra planning to ensure that the other things around your home aren't damaged in the process. If you have lots of plant-life around your home, take some time to read through the tips below to learn how to protect the plants during the paint-job.

Prep-Work Protection

Before you can paint the exterior of your home, you will need to prep it. You will need to wash every inch and eliminate any peeling paint from the surface.

Using a pressure washer is the most efficient method of getting all of the dirt and much of the loose paint off of the side of your home. The pressure washer will eliminate the need to use bleach and other harsh chemicals which will kill any plants you have in the ground below.

If you have peeling paint to deal with, get large sheets of plastic to cover the plants in the area in which you are working. You don't want the residue of the paint to stick to the plants' leaves and make them look awful all season.

Paint Process Protection

How will you be applying the paint to your home? Will you be rolling, brushing or spraying the paint? No matter what method you use, you will have to deal with drips and over-spray on the plants and trees around your how. To protect the plants and trees around the home you have several options, including:

Cover small plants with buckets or plastic bins. One-gallon ice cream buckets are very handy to have around. These can be used to cover smaller plants, while larger storage bins and buckets can be used for the larger plants.

Plastic wrap can be used to wrap larger bushes and trees. If all else fails, you can use the small rolls of plastic wrap that you use in your kitchen, but what will work best is the larger rolls of plastic wrap used to wrap around pallets full of merchandise. This type of heavy-duty plastic wrap can be found at your local home improvement store or some office supply stores. As you wrap the branches, start at the bottom of the tree or bush and work your way upwards. This will allow you to pull everything together and get the branches away from the side of your home.

Talk with your local residential painting professional to learn more about protecting the plants outside of your home during an exterior paint-job.

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