Exterior Painting: 1 or 2 Coats of Paint?

Determining which type of paint is most suitable for you and your paint project’s needs is an important step of completing your project. Check out the below information as we break down the difference between water and oil based paints, and help you determine what current coating is used in your house.

Most experts say that you'll need to paint every five to ten years, depending on factors such as where you live, climate and weather, and the previous paint job. Also, keep in mind that every surface will be a little different. For example: Wood siding - every 3-7 years, or every 4 years if it's stained. You don’t need to be a professional painter to know if your house needs painting. Of course, whenever you get an estimate, the painters will always tell you that you should paint. But are they telling the truth? We want to get to the bottom of it in this article so you can decide if you need your house painted. There are 3 common paint problems on homes. Simply take 5-10 minutes to walk around your house to identify any of these problems. Problem #1: Fading Paint You’ll notice the paint on your house fading on the areas that get the most sun…. typically the south and west sides of the house. If you wipe a dry, dark colored rag or towel on the house, you’ll notice some chalking paint come off the house. If your are noticing this happening, your wood is not very well protected any longer. Moisture can get into those boards and cause warping. The solution is to get a new coat of paint on there to protect it! Problem #2: Peeling paint This problem occurs on all parts of the home. The first places to peel are the areas that get the most moisture. Examples of this are window sills, bottom of the garage trim, bottom of the door trim, or other places that snow sits. Once paint peels off, the wood is no longer protected. Moisture gets into the wood and can rot the boards. The solution to peeling paint is to scrape the loose paint off, sand the area down to create a good texture, apply a full coat of primer to protect the wood, and a finish coat. Problem #3: Cracking paint and failing caulking Cracking is a very common problem you’ll notice in the joints of the house where boards meet. Check around door frames, window frames, and anywhere the siding meets the trim. If you notice cracks, this is where water can get behind the boards and rot them from the inside out. The solution to this is simple: recaulk those cracks with fresh caulking. Now that you’ve found problems and identified, do you need to paint? The answer isn’t a simple yes or no. The purpose of paint is to protect the house, and beautify your home. If the house LOOKS bad, and it’s embarrassing, you should paint. If you’ve noticed problems listed above, it doesn’t mean you have to paint. If you choose to wait, you can expect those problems to get worse, you can expect more damage to be done to the wood, you can expect your paint price to go up the next year, and you do risk having to repair boards. Repairing one board on a house could cost up to an extra $50-$100 per board. If this is the first time you are noticing the peeling paint, fading paint, or cracking paint… it’s probably not that urgent. Our recommendation: If you’ve noticed problems on your house, now is a good time to paint. It’s only going to get more expensive. The longer you wait, the lower quality the job will be (because the surface is in poorer condition). Contact Painting Perfection now.