Painting your home can be a big undertaking, whether you try to do it yourself or decide to hire exterior painting services in Canton, GA. However, painting your home’s exterior regularly is important because it can help protect your home and keep up its curb appeal as well. Here are some factors you should consider when determining how often you need to hire painting contractors to paint your home’s exterior.

Basic Timeline

Unfortunately, there’s not a hard, fast rule about how often you should paint your home. That’s because there are many factors to consider that can make the frequency vary widely. Most professionals will recommend painting every five to ten years, so that’s quite a large range to work within. Fortunately, there are signs you can watch for and other factors to consider to help you better gauge the best timeline for your home.

Exterior Material

One thing to consider is what your home’s exterior is made of. Wood siding needs to be painted the most often out of all the typical exterior materials. It should be painted every three to seven years, or about every four years if it’s just stained. Aluminum siding usually lasts about five years between painting, and stucco is about the same, or every five to six years. Cement or fiberboard siding usually needs to be painted every ten to fifteen years, while painted brick can last up to fifteen or twenty. The quality of the original paint job plays a big role as well. There are specific signs you can watch for to know when it’s time to get your home repainted.

Faded Paint

Faded paint is common after a few years because it gets bleached by the sun. The darker your house color is, the sooner you’ll probably have to have it painted because darker colors fade more noticeably than lighter colors. You’ll notice that the fading is more severe on areas of the house that are less shaded, but if the shaded area is significantly faded too, it’s likely that you have a water leak problem that needs to be addressed as well.

Damaged Paint

The sun’s UV rays cause the chemical compounds in the paint to degrade, which is what causes the fading. But in addition to fading this degradation can also cause the paint to blister or become powdery and chalky. Another cause of damaged paint is mold or dry rot, which means you need to have a professional repair the damage before you have the house painted again or you’ll be dealing with the same problems prematurely.

Prolonging Paint Life

Paint Cans and Swatches There are a few ways you can help the next paint job last longer. One thing to remember is that the quality of paint you use makes a huge difference. New acrylic latex paints are more resistant to weathering and to moss and mildew growth. How well prepared the surface is makes a big difference in how long the paint lasts as well.

This can be very time consuming, which is why most homeowners choose to hire a painting company in Canton, GA. They’ll ensure the preparation is done properly so that the paint will adhere better to the exterior. After getting your home painted, make sure you check the surface of the home every year to look for moisture damage, peeling, or cracking. It’s important that you identify damage early so that repairs can be made. To get a quote for your home, contact Fillo Painting today.