If a painting is worth a thousand words, a well-painted home can be worth a lot more.
Exterior painting can increase the value of your home by $6,000. Most paint jobs won’t cost more than a few hundred bucks. That’s a massive return on investment.
Yet not all paint jobs are alike. To save some money, homeowners take home exterior painting upon themselves, and they wind up making a lot of mistakes.
Don’t worry. You can identify and fix exterior painting mistakes in no time. Here is a quick guide to five common problems.
1. Alligatoring Exterior Painting
When your paint develops deep cracks, your paint is alligatoring. The surface of your paint has cracked all the way to what you were painting on. Water and dirt can become stuck in your cracks, increasing damage to your wall.
A few different things can cause your paint to alligator. You may have applied a second coat of paint over a previous coat that didn’t dry.
The second coat might also be incompatible with the previous coat. Hard oil enamels will crack when applied over latex-based paints. Your oil-based paint may have aged, causing it to lose its elasticity.
You need to remove both coats of paint. Sand the surface to remove any remnants of the old paints. Sanding will also allow your brush strokes to be more even.
Apply a primer appropriate to your surface. Then paint your surface again with a flexible, latex paint. Use as high-quality a product as you can find.
2. Bubbling
Bubbling occurs when small bubbles or blisters appear under your paint film. Most cases of bubbling occur on wood surfaces, usually siding or trim.
The most common cause of bubbling is heat. Wood contains water that evaporates in direct sunlight. However, when the wood has paint on it, the water cannot escape, bubbling up under the paint.
A house can release moisture through its walls. This moisture can get trapped underneath the paint, causing bubbles. Rain can also seep beneath the paint, generating bubbles as it streams down.
You will need to remove the paint. Sand the wood down and keep it as dry as possible. If you are painting your walls, direct your gutters to carry water away from them.
When you paint, provide shade for the surface. Make sure the conditions are not humid, so moisture cannot get caught behind your paint. Use latex paint that can stretch over a surface without tearing.
Install ventilation in your house to avoid leaks of moisture. Caulk your windows and doors to reinforce your ventilation.
3. Chalking
Chalking occurs when a fine powder forms on the surface of the paint. Some paints produce chalk to clean themselves after a rainstorm. However, excessive chalk can indicate a fault, especially if you live in a dry environment.
Low-quality paint contains high levels of pigment extenders. These extenders increase the durability of the paint, but they produce a lot of chalk. Manufacturers often thin down their paints, leading to heavy chalk production.
Wash all surfaces that have chalk on them. Scrub the surfaces down and sweep any residues of chalk away. Let the surfaces dry, then paint them over with high-quality paint.
Chalk can stain bricks, discoloring and softening them. Scrub the surfaces of your bricks with specialized cleaning solutions. If you notice additional stains, contact a professional who can clean your bricks.
4. Mildew
Mildew is a fungus that can feed through paint. Mildew is not destructive, but it can produce ugly spots of brown, green, and black.
Mildew grows in areas of high moisture and little sunlight. It can grow through paint, and it can feed off of paint that doesn’t have mildewcide.
Primer can block water that bleeds through coats of paint. If you don’t apply primer on wood, water can seep through. This can allow mildew to develop.
Expose your surfaces to as much sun as possible. Trim trees that block sunlight and remove gutters that cast shade on your surfaces.
Scrub the surfaces with bleach and water. Allow the bleach to settle on them, then rinse the surfaces off. Scrub the surfaces again and then wash them.
Once the surfaces are completely dry, look around your house. If you notice any signs of mildew, apply the bleach solution to them. Look through your house to see if there is any mildew inside.
Paint your surfaces over with high-quality latex paint. Keep your eye on the exterior of the house and remove any mildew you find.
5. Peeling
Peeling is the most common problem of exterior painting. Poor adhesion and moisture build-up can cause the paint to peel.
If a surface is dirty or wet, the paint will not be able to stick to it. Oil-based paints float on top of water, so they will peel off of wet surfaces.
If moisture seeps behind the paint, the paint will peel off. Moisture can seep through leaks in walls or gaps in caulk.
If your paint is peeling in small pieces, you have an adhesion problem. If your paint is peeling in large sections, you have a moisture problem.
To promote adhesion, scrape away the peeling paint. Sand the area down, then apply primer over the bare areas. Repaint the bare areas with high-quality paint that matches the color of the other areas.
To reduce moisture, scrape away the peeling paint and remove all sources of water. Install downspouts that direct water away from the paint. Fill holes in your caulk and reinstall ventilation in your house.
How to Avoid Exterior Painting Mistakes
Exterior painting doesn’t have to be a pain. Recognize a mistake when it occurs, and you can fix it in little time.
If your paint alligators, remove the paint coats and apply latex paint. If your paint bubbles, close off all sources of moisture and heat.
If your paint produces chalk, wash down the walls, and then apply thick paint. Clean your surfaces with bleach to remove mildew. Scrape off peeling paint and apply a new coat.
Avoid mistakes by going to expert painters. Accurate Painting of NW Florida is Northwest Florida’s premier exterior painting service. Contact us today or call us at 850-689-2177.