5 Safety Tips to Know Before You Start Painting Your Home
House painting is the easiest way to transform your home. However, like any home improvement project, it brings safety risks. You may think it’s a relatively safe endeavor, but you still have to take some safety precautions, especially if you’re planning to paint the exterior of your home.
Before you start painting your home, the best painting contractors in West Hartford, CT, recommend you consider some of the safety tips below first.
1. Ensure the Room Has Proper Ventilation
When working on your interior living spaces, you must ensure the room has proper ventilation. Paint, especially solvent-based ones, contains vapor that can harm anyone exposed. Those who accidentally inhale these vapors may experience dizziness and nausea, to name a few.
To avoid inhaling the vapor produced by house paints, the best painting contractors in West Hartford, CT, urges all homeowners to ensure proper ventilation in the entire room. If you’re painting your living rooms, kitchens, or any interior living spaces, open the windows or turn on the fan.
2. Use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Vapors aren’t the only health hazard brought about by paints. The chemicals present in paint products (paint, cleaners, paint strippers) can potentially irritate both your eyes and skin. To protect themselves from the paint’s health hazards, the best painting contractors in West Hartford, CT, always instruct their painters to use personal protective equipment (PPE).
Some of the PPE you should use for your interior or exterior house painting project are as follows:
- Gloves
- Protective eyeglasses
- Respirator or painter’s mask
- Coveralls and shoe covers
- Hard hat
- Fall arrest system
- Fire extinguisher
Investing in protecting yourself while you’re painting is much better than taking no preventive measures at all.
3. Use a Sturdy Ladder
If you’re painting your home’s exterior surfaces, you’d know that you’d have to use a ladder eventually. A ladder is essential for house painters, especially if you have a multi-story home. And if you’re going to use one, be sure to use a sturdy and non-flimsy ladder that won’t easily wobble when subjected to weight. Doing so will help you avoid fall hazards and other potential injuries.
4. Clean Up After Painting
You may be tempted to sit back and relax after painting. However, the job’s not done until you’ve cleaned up the mess you’ve created. After painting, tidy up all the tools you’ve used properly. Properly ventilate the room so it won’t store any paint fumes. Additionally, properly store away excess paint, preferably in cool and dry places. Cleaning up after a paint job is crucial to avoid any avoidable mess that may stress you out.
5. Be Patient and Let the Surfaces Dry
Paint requires some drying time before they’re ready, so be patient and let them cure completely before you bring anything in contact with it. During the paint job, ensure your children and pets aren’t in the workspace, or they might tamper with the wet paint. And once you’re done with the paint job, introduce proper ventilation so the surfaces you’ve just painted can dry faster.
Conclusion
Like any other home improvement project, house painting brings safety hazards that may harm your and your family’s health. And if you’re adamant about painting your home yourself, you can always hire the best painting contractor in West Hartford, CT, to finish your paint job on your behalf. Here at West Hartford House Painting Experts, we can guarantee a professional-looking paint job at an affordable price. Contact us today to get started with a free quote for your paint job!