Signature Paintinginc

How Often Should You Paint The Exterior of Your House?

The answer to how often you must repaint your home depends on several factors, of course, but if you want to keep a well-maintained and beautiful home, add routine house painting into your maintenance plan and budget.  Read on to determine when you should plan on painting again.

How often you paint the exterior of your house depends quite a bit on the materials on your house. Different materials require different maintenance schedules.

Wood siding – Plan to repaint every three to seven years, or stain it every four years.
Aluminum siding – Plan on painting aluminum siding every five years.Stucco – Stucco can go five to six years between paint jobs.
Cement fiberboard siding – This newer material can last 10 to 15 years between paint jobs.
Painted brick – Painted brick only needs to be repainted every 15 to 20 years.  Unpainted brick just needs to be cleaned, not painted.

There’s no argument.  A quality paint job, done with quality paint, will last longer.  Trying to save a few dollar by doing it yourself when you don’t really know what you’re doing is going to cost you in the long wrong. Purchasing a lower-quality paint because it’s cheaper is only going to cost you more money when you need to repaint too soon.

Why does quality paint matter on the exterior of your house?  Since the house is not protected from the sun, the ultraviolet rays in the sun degrade the chemical compounds in paint.  Dark paints can lighten quickly because of this.  This happens more quickly with oil-based paints and with low-quality paints.

But updated, acrylic latex paints are more durable against this weathering.  Quality acrylic latex paint is less likely to blister, crack, or harden over the years. I t’s even less likely to attract mildew growth.

Glossy and semi-glossy paints are durable, but expose flaws in the materials.  Flat finishes don’t expose imperfections, but they tend to run chalky over time.  A satin finish, however, works well on many types of exteriors.

Watch for these signs that the exterior of your home needs to be painted, even if you haven’t yet gone the suggested amount of years between paint jobs.  Damaged paint, Exposed patches of wall, Faded paint, Blistering paint, Peeling paint or Chalky, powdery paint.

When you’re ready to repaint your home, give Signature Painting a call at (402) 679-9235.  Our highly-trained technicians will take the time to properly prepare your surfaces before using proven techniques to paint your house.  Contact us today for a free estimate.