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Preparing Surfaces For Commercial Interior And Exterior Painting

It’s critically important for businesses to keep an eye on their exterior and interior, to ensure they’re always presenting the best look to their customers and guests. Periodic commercial interior and exterior painting projects can help revitalize a business, while also making it even more attractive to potential customers.

In these projects, preparation is key. A paint job succeeds or fails largely based on how well the surface was prepared for painting, and any good commercial painting contractor will make it a top priority. Here’s how it happens.

Preparing For Interior Painting

For interior walls, the most important element of preparation is repairs. Interior walls will pick up a lot of minor scuffs, cracks, and other surface-level damage over time. This must be repaired prior to a paint job. They could interfere with the paint setting, or else simply become even harder to repair afterward.

So, some light carpentry or masonry work is often called for, before painting can begin. It may push the costs up a bit, but the long-term benefits of having well-maintained walls make the cost well worth it.

Preparing For Exterior Painting

There are more preparations needed for exterior work. These include:

1 – Consideration of materials

Building exteriors can be made from a wide variety of materials, which may each call for a different type of paint. A good external commercial painter will carefully study the building to understand its material properties, before selecting a paint.

2 – General repairs

As with interior commercial paint jobs, it’s a very good idea to fix any flaws in the exterior and facade before attempting a repaint. This may involve removing old caulking and replacing it with new caulk, removing loose paint, and doing repairs to minor holes and cracks. This helps ensure the new paint job looks as good as possible.

3 – Thorough washing

Finally, it’s critical that the exterior be thoroughly cleaned with a power washer or similar equipment. Buildings pick up a lot of dirt and grime over the years, which will ruin the paint if it isn’t cleaned off first. Plus, periodic power washings help your building look great, and should be a standard part of exterior maintenance.

Preparing Concrete For Painting

Concrete is a special case because it reacts differently to paint than most other building materials. Also, the older the concrete is, the more difficult it is to paint or refinish.

If the concrete has previously been treated, such as being coated in primer or given a paint job, this typically needs to be scrubbed off. Unlike most walls, paint-over-paint on concrete rarely works well, due to how porous the concrete is.

In addition, any defects in the concrete – such as cracks – must be repaired before painting. Plus thorough washing and drying is called for, which could take a couple days.

There’s a lot that goes into commercial interior and exterior painting, but the right contractor can ensure everything goes smoothly. Look for experience and a commitment to quality, and the project should be successful!

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