COmmon Exterior Painting Problems & Solutions

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TRIM

It is very common for areas on trim to begin peeling. Most trim that is peeling is wood, such as 1x2's used on fascia, door trim, or railings. In addition to any real wood on the house, any areas where moisture or snow accumulates. These areas take on a lot of damage from moisture sitting on them and freezing then thawing, and constantly beating on the paint. Once the paint begins to peel, those areas on your home are exposed to weather. When water gets into the wood and freezes, or water is constantly running through the wood, you will begin to see the wood turn grew and rot. This leads to replacement, which can be very costly. Any areas on your home that are peeling will most likely be the same areas that will peel in the future.

We recommend taking special care of these kinds of areas. By scraping off nay peeling paint, we can be sure not to apply onto a surface that is already peeling. Sanding this area will smooth out the edge between what has peeled off and what has not peeled. Sanding will also create a better surface for use to apply the paint onto. Finally, after the area has been scraped and sanded, we recommend using a high-quality primer to seal this area. The sanded wood creates a rough surface for the primer to bond to, and the primer will create a better surface for the paint to adhere and bond to than if we just applied paint to the wood.

SIDING

If siding is peeling, it can be very costly if not taken care of properly. On many homes that are first built, there is a very thin layer of paint applies. After 7-10 years, many times the underside of the siding will start to peel, specifically on the North side of the home. The North side of the home experiences less sunshine, so moisture is more likely to stick around longer. This moisture slowly wears away the paint on the underside of the siding boards. Each time it rains or snows, more moisture runs down the side of the house, wearing down the paint. The lower siding boards experience this more than the siding boards on the 2nd story. Eventually, the underside will start to peel, leading to an exposed board. If this is not taken care of, your siding boards will begin swelling and can lead to replacement. Replacing siding can be very costly.

We recommend to sand off any peeling paint on the bottom of the siding boards. After sanding, we would prime those areas to seal up the boards before applying any paint. If this is not done properly, you can expect the job to only last about 2-4 years before these areas start to peel again. If done properly, you can expect it to last around 5-7 years.

Builders often use inexpensive and low-quality caulking when painting your home. As the temperature changes, your house expands and contracts. As this happens repeatedly, the caulking does not hold up and begins to break down and crack, leaving your home exposed. When this happens, moisture can get into these cracks and goes back behind your boards leading to the boards warping away from the house or boards rotting from the inside out.

In order to properly protect your home, we recommend resealing all of those cracks with a siliconized acrylic caulking. Silicone is more flexible than standard contractor caulk, so it will breathe with the house and last longer. However, paint will not stick to silicon caulking. This is why we recommend siliconized acrylic caulking that will hold paint and last longer.

Fading or chalking is another very common problem. Sunny days blast your home with UV rays that break down the resin in the paint. Resin is the primary component in paint that protects the home while pigment gives it the color. When the house starts to fade, this is an indication that the resin has broken down in the paint and there is minimal protection on your home. Without protection on the house, moisture will get into the boards (usually siding boards) and lead to warped siding boards, which can be very expensive to replace.

We recommend a power wash to wash off any dust and residue from the chalking. For sides that experience the most sunlight, we also recommend a second coat for extra protection. This will provide a higher level of resin and protection for that side of the home, ensuring that it will not fade as quickly so you can avoid costly replacements in the future and a longer lasting paint job

Moisture can sit in nail holes around the house and do damage to the trim and siding. You will see areas where there are nail holes beginning to swell due to moisture getting into those areas. If you only paint over these, there will still be a small pocket for water to sit.

We recommend caulking these nail holes to leave an even surface for the moisture to flow off of, rather than sitting there breaking down the paint.