Maintaining Exterior House Paint

Painting the house exterior is an expensive and time consuming task that can be prolonged if the paint is maintained from year to year by touching it up between complete painting applications. Environmental factors and fair wear and tear caused the finish paint on your house to look tarnished from year to year. A little DIY work along the way will help prolong the period between the necessity for complete paint jobs and keeping the paint looking fresh as long as possible.

As exterior paint ages it tends to lose its original adherences and begins to peel in areas, particularly around high use areas of doorways, dryer vents, and where shrubs are in close proximity to the house. Mildew or mold also forms in places where there is little direct sunlight if you live in a high moisture area. Mildew or mold forms as a gray looking fungus that should be removed periodically.

In addition, the bottoms of trim boards begin to peel because they absorb moisture from the butt end of the boards. These troublesome areas need to be touched up from year to year between complete paint applications. Mildew or mold can be removed by washing with a detergent and water or by using a pressure washer. Maintaining the exterior pain on your house is a great DIY project that doesn’t take a great deal of time and can postpone the expense of a complete house painting by years.

How to do it:

Sand chipped or pealed paint using 100 grit sandpaper.
If bare wood is showing after sanding apply a coat of primer before applying touch up paint.
Apply the finish touch up paint using a paint brush.
Over paint the touch up area by at least six inches in all directions with a light coat of finish paint.
If there is mildew or mold accumulating wash the area with a mild detergent and water. It may not be necessary to wash the entire house.

If mildew or mold is extensive consider pressure washing the entire house.

Exterior House Painting

Exterior House Painting Preparation

Latex Enamel Paint

Pressure Washing the House

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