How to Know When Your Home Needs To Be Painted

by Geoff Sharp
(Columbus, Ohio U.S.A.)

The average two-coat paint job will last about 5 years on trim areas (soffits, eaves, fascia, trim boards) Some siding areas can last up to 10 years (brick, stucco, aluminum siding that has been painted, hardie plank, rough cut cedar).

Here are some obvious reasons your home may need to be painted:

Peeling - You see bare wood beneath the current paint surface.

Cracking - The paint is dried out and has an alligator skin look to it.

Fading - The original paint color has chalked away from sunlight, and now the color is lighter than when originally coated. Often, the chalking, which is a milky and chalk like substance can run down onto other surfaces below the painted surface, like onto brick or the roof. This causes permanent staining of unpainted surfaces. You want to make sure you paint prior to this irreversible damage occurring.

Time for a Change - You have decided to paint your home because you dislike the outdated color and you just want to spruce up your home. A new color can make an old home feel new again.

Protect Your Investment - In my opinion the best reason to paint your home is to protect it. A new coat of paint on your home will protect it from the sun and rain elements and help to hold your homes value. If you are considering selling your home within 3 years of painting, realtors note you usually get 96% of the paint job cost back in the sale of your home. Painting is one of the cheapest, easiest and most return on investment home project you can complete.

Keeping a fresh coat of paint on your house will also help you to avoid other costly repairs like replacing rotted wood and caulking failure that causes interior water damage. Bare wood is more likely to rot then wood that has a solid coat of paint on it.

A fresh coat of paint is also beneficial to other painted surfaces. For example, if have metal on your home you can prevent rusting and if you have a stucco home painting it will help to seal the stucco and keep water out.

Geoff Sharp, owner of Sharper Impressions Painting, has been in the house painting business for 18 years. He was able to pay his entire way through college with the money he earned from painting houses. Upon graduation, he stuck with his love of painting and created his own business.

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