Your Guide to Safely Painting Your Home

Painting is a DIY job that most people probably feel they can handle. You can get professional painters and decorators with color consultation services, if you want the very best results and to save yourself some money. But they’re definitely not required if you want to paint a room or two within your home. However, you do still need to be concerned about a couple of things. Of course, you want the room to look good when you’re finished. You also need to think about how to stay safe, both when you’re painting and when the painting is done. Follow these tips to paint safely.

Ensure Good Ventilation

Good ventilation is a must when you’re painting indoors. You have to make sure any fumes from the paint are able to escape. As well as making it safer, ventilating the room will also help the paint to dry faster. So remember to open up a window and possibly keep the door open to let air flow through. Another option is to use an air purifier to help filter out VOCs (volatile organic compounds). VOCs are found in many paints and can be let off from the paint long after it has been applied. Use your air purifier even after your paint has dried for the best results.

Be Careful on Ladders

Getting up on a ladder is par for the course when you’re painting. You need to be able to reach up high to tape off edges or maybe even to paint the ceiling. You might think that how to stay safe on a ladder seems obvious, but a lot of people really don’t pay enough attention when they’re using one. It’s essential to check that your ladder is stable and in a safe position. If you don’t have someone to hold it steady for you, it needs to support itself. Ideally, you wouldn’t use a ladder when there’s no one else around.

Cover Up Outlets

Taping off parts of the room that you don’t want to paint is pretty standard before you get started. You probably don’t want to paint over electrical outlets, so you’ll want to tape off or even remove the plates. It’s important to be careful around electrical outlets because you don’t want to get any paint or anything else in them. It’s a good idea to turn off the electricity in the room you’re painting if you want to make extra sure it’s safe.

Handle Paint Smartly

How you handle your paint matters too. Firstly, choose a paint that’s as safe as possible. Look for low-VOC paints that will let off fewer VOCs. Be smart with old paint too. If you’re planning on scraping it off, you might need to check for the presence of lead first, especially if your home was built in the 1970s or earlier. And when you have finished with your paint, you also need to store it or dispose of it safely.

Be careful when you’re painting your home if you want to keep everything safe and get good results too.