A fresh coat of paint will improve your home's curb appeal

Spring weather and sprouting gardens can inspire an urge to spruce up the outside of the house — but don't rush it, says Debbie Zimmer, paint and colour expert with the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute, an educational arm of paint-ingredient manufacturer Rohm and Haas.

Here's a summary of her four basic rules for doing a great paint job on your house:

—Prepare the surface properly. Before beginning to paint make sure the surface is clean and free of chalk and dirt. Remove any loose, flaking or peeling paint; spot-prime any bare wood.

—Buy top-quality acrylic latex paint.

Latex paints are favoured nowadays over oil-based paints by many people for "green" reasons, Zimmer said, speaking by phone from the institute's offices in Spring House, Pennsylvania.

"Those labelled 100 per cent acrylic tend to be higher quality," she added. "Choose them for the outside of your house because they are very flexible in changing temperatures, and the colour doesn't fade as much." The no-fade factor is especially welcome now that so many people are opting for bolder, brighter shades of paint that they want to hold up, she said.

—Use the right tools and brushes for your paint. And don't hesitate to ask for guidance in the paint store when you buy your paint. "Paint manufacturers train the people who are selling the paint," Zimmer pointed out.

—Paint in suitable weather — best when it's mild but not too hot; when there is little or no wind; not in direct sunshine.

Zimmer said the institute focuses on studying paint, not selling it. "We do research here, we test paint for the paint-manufacturing community," she said. "Right now outside my window there are 30,000 painted panels on exposure — they'll stay up for about three years."

More advice on painting and colours is available at the Paint Quality Institute site Web site, www.paintquality.com. For the spring tips, click on press room.

Source: Globe and Mail