A Warning to all home buyers regarding exterior home maintenance
Homebuyers need to carefully evaluate the paint job of their prospective home.
Ten to fifteen years of exterior neglect is an extremely poor decision for any homeowner. Unfortunately, we come across this nowadays because most people are under the assumption that painting is all about changing colors, when in actuality that is far from the truth. We understand that painting your house can seem quite expensive, but a properly prepared exterior will make it so that you do not have to deal with much more expensive problems. Painting and exterior home maintenance are about protection first, aesthetics second.
One must always remember that a professionally prepped surface includes the use of an actual primer as a crucial first step. Along with that, making sure to seal any and all gaps and cracks found on the outside will alleviate moisture penetration. Do not be tempted to skip the priming stage even though the paint can says it's a paint and primer in one. Bare surfaces always need to be primed first before any paint product is applied. In this particular scenario, the previous homeowner failed to abide by this rule only to sell the property as quickly as possible and cost the new homeowner a fair penny in remediation services.
If you do not address the problem or choose to skip steps only to save yourself money, you will eventually pay for it in the long run. If you want to save yourself a lot of money, do not let your home's exterior get to the state of this project.
A common practice
Situations such as these have become more commonplace with the state of the housing market. A homeowner will either choose to paint the exterior themselves or hire a fly-by-night painting company to come in and paint everything for a minimal cost. The homeowner and said painting company both win, but at a cost to the incoming buyer. A home inspector would also not flag this because the problem may not be visible until six months to a year down the road, well after the house is already sold. Letting a new homeowner deal with another person's problems isn't very ethical in our books.
Exterior home maintenance checklist
A proper inspection in any situation is always advised. We have arranged some quick bullet points for you to follow as a reference. These are various stages of failure to look for on your home’s exterior:
- At stage 1 nails will begin to pop out of place and caulking around trim will start to fail and crack. This also includes discoloration or color fade, which is never covered under a warranty
- At stage 2 paint will begin to peel and underlying siding and trim will begin to deteriorate
- At stage 3 siding and trim pieces become exposed with holes in siding becoming prominent as well as bowing, and/or squishy substrates. This likely leads to interior or exterior water damage. With this level of failure, it is possible that an insurance claim will be denied due to a failure to maintain the home's exterior properly.
After about a week of prep work, we brought this house to nearly excellent shape by:
- Performing a full exterior pressure wash before beginning the project
- Scraping as much remaining loose or failing paint as we possibly can
- Using a special primer to level surfaces and tightly bond surrounding areas
- Resetting nail-heads and/or boards as well as caulking failing trim and nail heads to alleviate moisture penetration
- Extending the life of the new paint job with upgraded products from Sherwin Williams. We do not recommend using BEHR for your exteriors.
- Eliminating the need for an entirely new paint job in the next 10 years if not longer. Continued maintenance is always recommended to avoid future expense.
How long will the paint last
While that is a great question it’s important to note that a home’s protection should never exceed the recommended timeline that a specific paint provides. This timeline drastically varies depending on the quality of the paint, color, and weather as well as the condition of the substrate. On this particular project, we used the absolute best materials possible through Sherwin-Williams: Emerald exterior acrylic latex and PrimeRX peelbond primer.
If you have any questions about how a quality paint job can help with exterior home maintenance, call Front Range Painters and schedule a free consultation! Let Front Range Painters become your preferred Colorado Springs home painter and give you the quality results your home deserves. We provide both interior and exterior painting as well as refinishing services in order to accommodate mid to large-sized projects.
Locally owned, Front Range Painters enhances and protects your investment with unparalleled standards. With our expert product knowledge and workmanship guarantee, we educate our homeowners on the most appropriate products that lead to better longevity and durability of your project. We don’t just paint, we are your paint and design solution!
Front Range Painters, LLC