How to Paint Exterior of House | A Step-by-Step Order That Works

Painting the exterior of a house fails most often because of skipped prep, not bad paint. The right sequence for how to paint an exterior of a house is straightforward: mask off what you don’t want painted, pressure-wash the siding, let it dry fully, scrape and sand loose paint, patch damage, caulk gaps, spot-prime bare areas, and roll on finish coats from the top down. Rushing any of those steps shows up later as peeling paint and adhesion problems.

Prep Work That Determines How Long The Paint Lasts

Nearly every durable exterior job follows the same preparation order. Plan for a full day of prep for every day of painting; the surface work is what keeps the finish coat bonded for years instead of months.

• Protect the surroundings. Cover windows, doors, lighting fixtures, shrubs, and patios with plastic sheeting, painter’s tape, and drop cloths before anything else.
• Clean the whole exterior. A pressure washer removes dirt, dust, mildew, and loose paint.
• Scrape and sand. Remove loose, chipped, or bubbled paint with a scraper, then sand rough edges with 150-grit sandpaper. Never power-sand lead paint; wet-scrape or use a chemical stripper instead.
• Repair and caulk. Fix damaged siding, trim, holes, and rotten wood, then caulk gaps around windows, doors, and siding transitions so moisture can’t get behind the new paint.

Primer Rules: Where You Can’t Skip It

Primer is not optional on bare surfaces. Bare wood, repaired patches, and any area with visible stains or wood knots need a coat of primer so the finish paint adheres evenly and stains don’t bleed through.

For color changes, priming keeps the old shade from showing through and reduces the number of finish coats you’ll need. A stain-blocking primer is the right pick for knots and water stains; skip primer only where the existing paint is sound and the new color is close.

The Painting Order That Controls Drips And Streaks

Working from the top down is the core rule, because it keeps drips from ruining finished work below. Paint eaves and gutters first, then the siding, and finish with trim, windows, and doors.

For siding, paint horizontally as you work downward and overlap each stroke by 6–8 inches to keep a wet edge — this avoids lap marks where half-dry paint meets fresh paint. Cut in the edges with a brush, then roll 3–4 foot sections while the cut-in paint is still wet.

If you’re spraying, work in sections you can reach comfortably, keep the tip about 12 inches from the surface, and overlap each spray pass by 50%. Back-rolling with a roller after spraying helps the paint bond and gives a more even finish.

Finish coats: 1–2 coats of flat or eggshell exterior paint for the body, and two coats of exterior semigloss for woodwork and doors. If you’re deciding between paint finishes, our roundup of the best exterior latex paint brands breaks down which formulas hold up best on siding.

Weather Windows And Temperature Limits

Set ladders on flat, stable ground, and mix paint from multiple cans into one 5-gallon bucket for consistent color across the whole house. Choose a spray tip suited to your paint, and make sure the tip’s hole size doesn’t exceed the sprayer’s rated capacity.