Safety Tips For House Painting

by Truman Crawford

House painting is a job with certain inherent perils. Nonetheless , some homeowners decide to do the job themselves. By following some basic safety tips, you can seriously scale back the chance of someone getting injured or worse.

Ladders are needed for almost all house-painting roles. Ladder levelers should be installed and employed to avoid instability issues. All ladders should be inspected for sturdiness. Although you need to avoid power lines, if you find you must work around or near them you should use a fiberglass ladder to reduce the chance of electrocution. Ladders should be angled in a 3:1 ratio relative to the surface against which they are placed. To explain, for every three feet of vertical rise, the base of the ladders should be one foot from the base of the work surface. You should generally maintain 3 points of contact with a ladder when you are on it. For example, two feet and one hand or two hands and one foot will provide a satisfactorily stable grip on the ladder. Check your work area for insect nests before climbing a ladder.

If it is not possible to adequately ventilate your work area, employ a respirator that is rated for the purpose to hand. You should use safety glasses and a dust mask when performing preparation jobs like sanding. A respirator, safety glasses and protective gloves should be used when working with corrosive solvents, compounds or strippers.

Don't forget that many of the products you are using may be highly flammable. Store paint and related products away from heat sources. Permit used rags to dry thoroughly before disposing of them.

If you must scrape off old paint, first find out when your house was built. If it was built in 1978 or earlier it's probable that lead-based paint is present. Even if your house was built slightly after 1978, it still may have lead-based paint in some areas. If in doubt, get a testing kit and find out for certain if you are working with lead-based paint. You should hire a professional contractor to do the preparation work if there is in fact lead-based paint at the project site.

House painting could be a deadly endeavor for the do-it-yourself crowd. If these safety guidelines are adhered to, dangers can largely be mitigated. However, if you are unsure of how to safely complete any portion of your painting job, you need to contact a professional painting contractor for help.

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