Choosing Better Wallpaper Hangers

There is often a lot of prep work that needs to be before you can do any painting. This is especially true when painting the outside of your home. With all the moisture that your exterior walls receive, there is a good chance that you might have some mold. Even mold that is barely visible should be cleaned off before you paint over it. This article explains the three most effective methods for cleaning exterior walls before painting them.

TSP Works Wonders

Trisodium phosphate, or TSP, is one of the most effective all-purpose cleaning solutions. It works for heavy duty stains and mold, but it is natural and unlikely to cause any collateral damage. This common cleaning supply can be found at most home improvement stores. You can find it in powder form or in liquid solutions. For large jobs, like cleaning outside of your home, you probably want to buy the powder form to be more cost effective. To clean mold off using TSP you just need a bucket of water and a sponge or scrub brush. Cleaning by hand might take a while, but it is the most comprehensive way to read your walls of mold.

Using a Pressure Washer

Pressure washers can make your job very easy, or they can become a nightmare. You can rent pressure washers on a daily basis from most home improvement stores. If you have never used to pressure washer, you should not be intimidated. All you need is a hose, and gas to run the engine. You just need to be careful that the pressure is not too hot. If your washer is too powerful, it could knock the texture and paint off of your wall. You definitely to be careful when using a pressure washer on wooden or stucco sidewalls. That being said, if you are able to clean your walls without damaging the finish, a pressure washer works well because you usually don't need to use any soap or chemicals.

Some pressure washers have soap reservoirs that make it easy to mix soap into the water as you are spraying it. Just make sure that you test the soap in a discreet area before you run it through the pressure washer. You will probably also need to turn down the pressure because the soap, mixed with extreme water pressure, can be harmful.

No matter which method you choose, you should take your time and make sure you rid your walls of all of the mold before you start to paint them. Contact a service, like Artios Painting, for more help.