Construction Knowledge Series: Tip for Painting Exterior Trim

Hot Tip: Only paint the face of your exterior trim!

I had my house painted this summer by Lopsa Painting and it turned out great.  After about a week, I finally noticed a detail that was simple but not immediately obvious to me.  As an amateur painter, when it comes to painting trim, I always painted the face and sides of the trim.  It is not easy to “cut in” the trim lines where the trim meets siding, and it never looks very good.

The professional painters only painted the face of the trim and for the first week I did not even notice that the sides of the trim were not painted.  This tells me that it is not necessary, and this simple technique saves tons of time and I think looks better.