Exterior Paint Maintenance Every Homeowner Should Know
Exterior Paint Maintenance You Must Know
If you’ve had your home painted two years ago or longer it’s time to check for damage and do simple but important maintenance to keep your paint job doing its job longer.
There are 3 types of damage easy to detect and fix but left untreated may cost you hundreds.
- Cracking or missing caulk around windows, doors, trim or between side boards. Caulk eventually uses elasticity when exposed to the elements or cracks when a home settles. This unavoidable damage WILL allow moisture to destroy your paint job.
- Dirt or other substances on your paint job. These are abrasive and corrosive and can compromise your paint job and usually appear on the bottom 10’ of the paint job.
- Loose or damaged siding boards or trim. Paint is a coating that prevents moisture and pests from destroying building materials. When a board is loose or obviously damaged the coating has been compromised.
We now offer annual maintenance services to extend the life of your paint job.
The cost of maintenance that extends the life of your paint job is significantly less than repainting your entire home. The more time your paint job does its job, the more money you can keep in your pocket. Each year at the end of Spring we offer a limited number of maintenance appointments.
Based on the damage we find during an inspection we can:
- Re-caulk all windows and doors.
- Re-caulk and touch-up paint gaps between side boards and trim.*
- Power wash up to 10’ high.
- Replace loose or damaged boards, touch-up paint, and caulk.*
Contact us to book your inspection NOW. Appointments for maintenance work are offered on a first-come-first-serve basis during a 1-2 week period at the end of Spring and is determined by forecasted weather.
*Note: Touch up paint may not be an exact match and “flashing” may occur due to the effects of the elements on your existing paint job. The match will be as close as possible and the cost is less than repainting the entire home.
Things That Make or Break Exterior Painting Time Tables
When gathering paint estimates here are a few important factors to keep in mind when asking for a timeline.
1. Damage. More specifically, the amount of time it will take to repair the volume of damage. This is the single most important factor in timeline. We can paint a large home with minimal damage (1 day prep) faster than a medium sized home with extensive paint damage (2-3 days prep).
2. Weather. In Colorado Springs we have a window of warm weather to paint exteriors and have them cure properly. Summers can have daily storms and a brief monsoon season. Most of the time, though, our crews can make progress each day.
3. Size and shape of home. If you have a large home it will take longer to paint than a smaller home. Even if your home isn’t large, but you have 2-3 stories it will take longer to paint than a larger ranch style home.
4. Crew size. The contractor just starting out by themselves with no help is going to take longer. The painting crew of 2-4 is where maximum efficiency is reached. Crews larger than that actually decrease quality control.
Check out our recent article Typical Timeline for Exterior Painting in Colorado Springs for more specific information about how long it could take to paint your home.
Typical Timeline for Exterior Painting in Colorado Springs
“How long will it take you to paint?”
You’re not the only one who wants to know how to plan for the disruption of a crew painting the exterior of a home.
We are happy to share some timeline estimations so you can plan ahead. Please note these are generalized time frames based on our 12 years personal experience painting homes.
On average most homes in Colorado Springs take 4-7 Days to prep and paint. The longest we’ve been on an exterior is 2 weeks, but that was a 6,000 square foot home in very bad condition.
Here’s the breakdown:
Power Wash: 1 Day
We gently power wash the ground level of most homes to get rid of dust, dirt, wildfire ash, cobwebs, and some loose paint. The house must be dry before we prep.
Proper Prep: 2-3 Days
The most important step of the process is prep work. This will make or break your paint job. We mask off windows, doors, and other things that shouldn’t have paint on them. We sand and prime, nail in loose siding boards, and replace caulk to make sure your home stands the test of time.
Painting: 2-3 Days
This step requires painters to get on and off ladders and move paint, pumps, brushes, and other tools around. We do two full coats of paint (translation: 2 full passes around your home) or the proper mill depth for other coverings. We also clean up in this phase, which is about half a day.
While it my seem like a long time, understand that most people in Colorado Springs repaint their home exteriors every 8-15 years. One week to make your house beautiful for years is a pretty small investment.
Contact us to arrange an estimate TODAY!
Use Fun Bold Colors to Accent Your Home Exterior
To spice up your exterior and stand out from the crowd, use fun, bold paint colors to make a statement! Express your personality with great shutters, doors, or accent trim in your bolder color. This gives you impact with less expensive upkeep. And you can change colors more frequently.
From desiretoinspire.net
HOT TIP: It’s much less expensive to remove shutters or a door every few years to repaint than it is to repaint the whole house. Trim and gutter paint jobs also cost less than entire house repaints.
The most popular bold paint colors of 2013 are mimicking fashion runways. Saturated colors like lemon, cobalt, tangerine, and the official 2013 fashion color of the year…Emerald.
Check out our Pinterest board Bright Exterior Accents for inspiration.
Quick DIY Inspection Can Save BIG on Exterior Painting
The BIGGEST budget-buster for exterior paint jobs is the prep work.
This property was in bad shape from years of damage. It required extensive prep work.
Untreated damage can lead to costly repair.
While proper prep makes or breaks the duration of your exterior paint job, what makes or breaks how much you spend on it is how much damage the painter must repair!
SECRET PRO SAVINGS TIP
The less time a painter spends repairing damage, the less money it costs you.
A simple annual check for these four common types of damage can save you big money on repainting costs. That is, of course, if you get your home repainted when the damage is minimal.
It’s super simple, too! Simply walk around your home and look for these four types of damage: peeling paint, trim and siding board damage, fading paint, and cracks between boards where they meet or overlap. (Photo examples are provided below.) Don’t forget to check your deck and fencing as well for signs of wear and tear!
#1 Peeling and chipped paint.
#3 Fading or Uneven Color (notice the garage area)
#2 Badly damaged siding
#3 Gaps between siding boards where moisture can get in
#4 Fading especially on garage doors
When you notice one of these types of damage on your home call a local painter. Start gathering bids.
When you take care of your home’s exterior before damage gets out of hand, you save money year after year. When you choose a painter that does great prep and applies two coats of paint you will provide your home the best protection paint offers.
Disclaimer: This article assumes normal wear and tear for the Colorado Springs area and weather patterns. Massive weather events like hail, tornadoes, blizzards, etc. can accelerate and cause major damage. For more extreme weather events that cause damage, we suggest you check with your homeowner’s insurance carrier to see if they cover repairing the damage.