I have known some people around my neighborhood

They do little sections at a time, dividing the work up. Outside decorating can conveniently be divided in to the following ten stages, although it is unlikely that all of them will apply to any one house. For that reason they are not necessarily in strict sequence.

Plan the work

You may be planning to redecorate the complete outside of your house, and if you have a day job and only the weekends free, it's best to do the painting in small stages. Front;Back;Side;Gutters/downpipes;Stucco work. and so on. This is a good way to work and you will feel you are making real progress when you see some finished work. working this way you are less likely to be held up by bad weather for too long.

Necessary Repairs

You will be very luck if there are no repairs to be done when redecorating the exterior.

You must deal with any doors that need easing, rehanging or fitting with a new handle or letter box. Also attend to any leaking gutters or broken gutter brackets, and refix any loose rainwater-pipes by replacing loose wall plugs and finishing the other repairs before painting can commence.

Buy Materials

The writer has no idea of the size of the property to be painted, so i will give only a rough guide as to materials needed. provided all the windows and doors are wood you will need the following: a small tub of ordinary putty, wood filler, tube of decorators caulk, sandpaper and white spirit. If there is bare timber, one litre of wood primer, two and a half litres of undercoat, and gloss. If there is stucco to be painted you will need masonry paint, after deciding the colour.

Arrange for ladders

When painting from a ladder you need a paint kettle, or a paint can with a handle, and a S-shaped hook to hang the kettle from a ladder rung.

When you are working on the ladder, don't try to overreach. Far better to move the ladder each time than to risk falling off. If you don't like heights, try not to keep looking down or round and about.

Clean and prepare gutters

If on your inspection of the gutters and downpipes, you find any bad joints (that will leak when it rains) after cleaning out the gutter, make it watertight with putty or mastic. Clean the outside of the gutter, before repainting. Wire brush any bad rust patches before painting.

Paint woodwork

When the house exterior has been neglected for some time, and the paint work on the windows and doors is badly cracked. The best way is to remove it with a hot-air gun or a chemical stripper.

Paint walls

Does it look like it's going to rain if so don't use water based masonry paint! But it's ok to do the preparation work. Begin by scraping away any loose paint. If there are cracks in the stonework rake them out and fill with toupret. Apply two coats of masonry paint after rubbing down the filler.

Paint metal windows

Metal windows sometime have rust spots, rub these well down to the bare metal and apply a metal primer. Then coat up as usual with undercoat and gloss.

Front entrance door

No effort should be spared on the front door and frame.

Put extra coats of paint on it. Fill and rub down in between coats. Apply a extra coat of gloss. Clean all iron or brass work. Congratulate yourself on a job well done.