Total Home Painting Evaluation
Your home’s paint does more than accentuate the natural beauty and architecture of your home.
Paint provides a barrier that prevents surface deterioration, water infiltration, mold and mildew growth, infestations from pests, and so much more. With Arizona Painting Company’s Total Home Painting Diagnostics, we will analyze the exterior and interior paint of your home, which is the first step to improving your home’s performance and creating a healthier home.
Most people think of painting as a way to increase the exterior beauty of their home, but the truth is that the exterior paint protects your home from the outdoor elements. The outside of your home is exposed to many adverse conditions here in Arizona, intense heat, ultraviolet rays, ultra-low humidity levels, and heavy monsoon winds all cause damage to the exterior of your home. Arizona Painting Company is here to find, diagnose and repair exterior painting defects on residential and commercial buildings to improve your property.
Unlike many things in life that show signs that they are in need of attention or repair, the exterior paint of your home can be much more elusive. In most cases, by the time your home does start to show visible signs that it’s in need of repair, the damage has already begun to occur.
Isn’t it time you asked yourself: How long has it been since I last painted the exterior of my home?
A fresh coat of paint on the exterior of your home can improve its overall curb appeal and add to its value. However, knowing if it’s time to paint the exterior of your home can be a tricky conclusion to come to. Of course, if you are just looking to update the color, then you have probably already decided it’s time. However, if you are just trying find out if it’s been too long since the last time you had it painted, then there are several factors that come into play.
There is no single way to determine how whether it’s been too long since you last painted the exterior of your home, in fact, it depends on several factors such as the climate in your area, the continued care and maintenance, and the quality of the paint products that were previously used.
Exposure to Elements
Living in a location, such as Arizona, where your home is subjected to hot, sunny, days will take a toll on your home. The strong Arizona sunshine can cause paint to bubble and fade more quickly, especially for darker hues, synthetic pigments, and oil-based paint. The fading of paint color occurs when the ultraviolet rays from the sun start to break down the paint skin.
Maintenance to Protect Paint
It’s important that you regularly inspect the exterior paint of your home for warning signs. Some of these signs include dampness, rot, chalkiness, termite or other infestation, and mold.
Quality of Paint Products Used
A major factor in knowing the durability of your exterior paint is knowing the quality and color of the paint your and your contractor used the last time, as well as the number of coats that were applied. High quality paint in lighter shades tend to last longer, especially when multiple coats have been applied to the home’s exterior surface. If a lower quality of paint was used, your home may need to be repainted sooner, rather then later. If you are in a new home, unfortunately, you are not excluded from this. Often times, new homes are painted with low grade paint and could need repainting in as little as three years!
Exterior house paint problems can occur in any environment for any number of reasons, the important part is having these problems diagnosed and fixed before they cause further damage. Are you noticing any of the below warning signs in your home?
Mildew
When moisture doesn’t evaporate, it causes mildew to set, which paint will not adhere to properly. Mildew must be removed properly from the exterior surfaces of your home to ensure that no further damage to your home will occur. Many times people think that they can simply paint over existing mildew, however this is only a temporary fix that will eventually create expensive repairs for you later on. When it is simply painted over, mildew continues to live and spread beneath the paint’s surface, and in time will eventually bleed through.
Warped Siding
Warped siding is a condition caused by the accumulation of moisture followed by baking in the sun. Once warped, these areas cannot be nailed or screwed down to flatten out these manipulated areas, this would just continue to cause further damage. If warping has started to occur, your options are to replace it, or otherwise, have the areas properly prepped and painted with a quality paint.
Chalking Paint
Chalking, to the untrained eye, may appear as fading. However, chalking is actually the result of a deep chemical change. This change is caused by ultraviolet rays, which cause molecules in the top coat of your exterior house paint to transform, resulting in a white film of dust over the wall’s surface. This causes problems because when new paint is applied on top of it, it may not adhere to the surface properly.
Blistering & Bubbling
A blister, or bubble, in your exterior paint means that the paint has lost adhesion in that particular spot. When the paint begins to pull away from earlier coats or from the painted surface, it’s usually caused by heat from the sun interfering with drying times. Preventing blistering and bubbling is done by never applying paint to a hot surface because it will cause the paint to dry before it has adhered to the wall.
Peeling
The leading cause of peeling paint is due to the damaging effects of the sun on the paint’s surface over a prolonged period of time. Peeling is the result of blistering, or bubbling pockets bursting open. These exposed pockets will then become larger, peeling over time. Once the blisters have been exposed, this leaves the areas unprotected against the sun’s rays, moisture, and other outdoor elements that can continue to make the problem worse.
Fading or Bleaching Paint
Fading paint color is dependent on how much exposure your home gets to the sun. Intense heat and ultraviolet rays from the Arizona sun is severe and will begin to cause damage to most any color over time. While we use only top quality paint that guarantees your color to last as long as possible, some paint colors simply fade more quickly than others. Fading, or bleaching, happens slowly. Often times, you might not even notice that the color of your home has changed drastically from the color you chose five years ago. Dark colors are the most likely to fade noticeably, but even bright colors can take a beating from the effects of the Arizona sun. Some of those colors include: reds, blues, greens, and yellows.
Cracking & Staining Stucco
If you have started to notice cracking in your stucco, it must be attended to, or it will continue to worsen over time. Cracking stucco is not normal and should not be ignored. When these cracks are left unattended to, they will only continue to get worse as water enters, forcing them to crack further and leaving stains on your exterior walls as the moisture begins to escape.
Watch this video to learn about the best time to paint your house in the summer and winter seasons, and when to avoid it all together. You can also gather important information about your house and signs to look out for when your house starts to experience chipping, bubbling, chalking, and peeling. A big thing to look out for in Arizona is Paint Failure, it’s important to not try and remedy it yourself. Let Arizona Painting Company, or a painting professional, give their opinion on what needs to be done. Learn why it’s so important to paint your house and how the benefits can save you money in the long run.
Contact us today to schedule an Total Home Painting Evaluation from the experts at Arizona Painting Company.
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