Let’s start by saying just how much of a classic paint color white is. It’ll work for most rooms in a house, from the living room to the bedroom, and also the exterior of the house.
With just a fresh coat of exterior white paint, your house can transform from just another building in the neighborhood to a timeless and chic house.
The truth about painting your home’s exterior white
Granted, white is classic but rather expensive. For starters, unlike darker colors that might need fewer coats and not even require a primer, you have to go all out to get a good white paint job.
Secondly, maintaining white is a bit tough. Still, that shouldn’t prevent you from painting your home white if you want.
On the subject of how long exterior white paint will last or how often you should paint it, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer here.
Basic research would show you that exterior house paint should be repainted every 7 to 10 years.
But does the same apply to white paint?
Well, with white paint, how long it lasts depends on several factors.
Such factors to consider include –
- White gets dirty pretty easy
If you live in a particularly dusty neighborhood, perhaps a house with a dusty track road leading to it, you shouldn’t expect your white paint job to last as long as it would in a relatively dust-free area.
You can either steer clear of white paint or be prepared to repaint it more often than you’d usually paint other colors.
- Quality over quantity
This is another thing that greatly determines how long your white walls last. Experts advise you get the good stuff – both in primer and actual white paint.
At the end of the day, it will be money well-spent for several reasons.
For starters, the primer will hold the paint better, thereby, increasing its life on the walls. Also, it’s less likely to fade quickly. That way, your white paint will last a bit longer before you have to repaint.
- Consider yellowing
White paint has the potential to turn yellow over time. A few things are responsible for this including aging paint, oil-based paint which yellows over time, light (or a lack of it), moisture, and other factors from the elements.
The effect of “light (or a lack of it)” isn’t felt so much on exterior house painting. White paint yellows due to a lack of sufficient light to break down chromophores.
Unless there’s a huge structure blocking part of your house’s access to light, you should worry about the other causes of yellowing white paint.
If there’s such a structure, you might have to remove it to allow light shine through.
Also, using water-based paint as opposed to oil-based ones will prevent oxidation, so it lasts even longer.
Generally, a few things that affect exterior paint includes surface effect by dirt and debris, temperature and humidity, paint type, paint application, etc.
For white exterior walls, you just have to be a bit more careful. Fortunately, most stains on a white wall can be removed by professionals.
That said, with proper maintenance and treatment of white paint, the 7 to the 10-year range should still hold.
However, instead of trying to figure out the perfect timeline, let your house “tell you”. Pulling into the driveway to a dirty white house should make it clear enough that it’s time to repaint the house.
Your concern should be how to maximize the paint job and make sure it lasts for as long as possible.
Other signs on when to repaint your white house include –
- When the paint is peeling
- If the color looks dull and faded
- If you’re doing some woodwork on the walls
- If you put the house up for sale
- If it’s been over 10 years since the last paint job.
If you need exterior house painting in Atlanta, whether with white paint or any other color, then reach out to us at Fillo Painting. We’ll use only the best quality paint and also do a good job of ensuring it will last long.
We’re experts in all things exterior painting. Other exterior painting services (such as cleaning white walls) are not left out of our job description.
Contact us here or call (770) 769-7941.