Painting Exterior Trim

The most satisfying part of painting is putting the finishing touches on the exterior trim. This will tie the entire look of the home together. Just like painting any surface there are a few options that can enhance the overall look.

Exterior trim can be defined as any attached surface that isn’t painted the same as the body, main color, and is highlighted with a contrasting color. These features include assorted wood trim, fascia boards, gutters and downspouts or even the soffits. The exterior house trim can encompass almost any surface and will define your houses outline.

Wrap or Face Off the Trim

After the colors for the exterior trim are decided you will have one more idea to consider. How much of the trim will be the body color and how much will be the trim color?

It is more common to extend the body color to cover the outside edge of the trim. The trim color is applied to the face only. This is "Facing Off" the trim. The other option is to paint the face and the edge(s) that are next to the body with the trim color. This is "Wrapping" the trim.

Facing the trim is the quickest and easiest way to paint exterior house trim. While wrapping the edges can drastically increase the time and effort needed to get the job done. These two options can be combined on the same home. Wrap trim at eye level to add extra depth and use the simpler facing method on the rest of the house.

Brushing or Rolling the Details

Most homeowners and professional painters will choose to use a brush, but for wide trim pieces a trim roller will speed up the process. Use a 3-inch brush, or smaller, for narrow house trim. An angled sash brush is the easiest to on fascia boards, gutters and 4-6 inch trim boards.

Wide fascia boards and miscellaneous exterior trim boards can be painted with a 3-4 inch trim roller. Use the roller on the flat areas and a brush on the edges.

Click To Enlarge

Click To Enlarge

Basic Guidelines

• Large amounts of exterior trim with small areas of siding – Consider spraying the trim and rolling the siding. Always use the easiest application method on the largest areas that need to be painted.
  
  Many Victorian homes have very large wood trim pieces on the front of the home and possibly on the sides as well. The window sashes can be masked allowing the frame and any associated trim to be sprayed. Paint the window sashes by hand with a brush. Using this method can save considerable amounts of time.



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Click To Enlarge



• Assume some touch-up will be necessary in order to have perfect lines. Go ahead and allow a small amount of the trim color to overlap the siding. After the trim has dried use the siding color to achieve a straight line.
• A small paint shield or drywall knife can help with straight lines. Be prepared to experiment.
• Down spouts can be either the trim color or body color. If the downspout is mounted to the trim loosen the clamps and paint underneath with the trim color then remount and finish the downspout with the same color.
  
  This method is easier and will allow a clean straight line on the edge of the trim.
• Downspouts the same color as the body will still need the top, first, elbow painted with the trim color. Stop the color were the first elbow attaches to the downspout.

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