When To Repaint Your Home

What To Look For and How Often Should You Repaint Your Home

Every homeowner loves a freshly painted home. Keeping the home exterior painted not only keeps its curb appeal and property value but it also keeps the home protected. We are going to discuss how often to repaint and some options when it comes to repainting your home. We will even discuss when using a wood stain makes more sense than paint.

Recently we were asked by a customer “how often should I repaint my house?” This question inspired this post and we’re going to dive into this topic of how often a homeowner should examine the exterior painting of their home and consider a repaint.

How Often To Repaint

When it comes to how often a home needs repainted, there are a lot of variables from:

• What is the climate like?
• What paint/paint quality did you use last?
• What type of siding material do you have?
• How was the surface prepped before painting?

On average, if you have wood siding you can expect to repaint every 3-7 years. If you have aluminum siding or stucco, you may need to repaint every 5-6 years. Many of the more modern homes that use cement fiberboard can have a longer lifespan that may need repainting every 10-15 years.

However, don’t get too hung-up on the years because certain variables will affect the life of your exterior paint. Different paint manufacturers have different warranties and guarantees on their exterior paint products. If the surfaces of your home were not prepped correctly, it will affect the longevity of the paint. It is better to focus on the type and quality of paint you use as well as the prep work involved before any painting takes place.

Ideally, if your home was prepped correctly, painted properly and to the manufacture standards – assuming normal wear and tear of weather elements you should plan for a new fresh coat of paint every 10 years. But if your home is showing cracks, bubbles, peeling, severe fading, chalking – it is time to start looking into repainting the home. Use your best judgment or seek the opinion of a professional.

Now that we have determined a ball-park in how long paint should last and a few things to look out for in determining when your home needs to be painted, let us look at some paint options with repainting your home.

Exterior Paint Options

Acrylic vs Oil

One main factor in determining the life of your exterior paint will be what type of paint you choose to use for the type of climate the home is located. Ultraviolet rays from the sun can affect your paint over time. As a result, oil-based paints can lose color quickly and blistering and chalking can occur. If you live in an area with a lot of direct sunlight, an acrylic latex paint may not be in your best interest.

Here in central Indiana, we have found that Sherwin-Williams (SW) SuperPaint® and Porter Paints (PPG) Acri-Shield® are quality paints that work well for our climate around Indianapolis. Both types of paints are good at resisting frost, mildew, peeling, blistering, fading and cracking. Since we have our share of hot days, sunny days, and cold days with snow and ice, these paints will do the trick.

For the later Fall and Early Spring house painting jobs, we have found SW’s Resilience® and Duration® perform and hold up well when painting around the 40°F temperatures. These paints are also a high quality – long lasting choice for home exterior painting.

If you are unsure of the best type of paint you should use for your specific project, ask a professional.

When to use stain instead of paint.

As Indianapolis Painters, we will paint what you want us to paint, but when it comes to painting certain trim areas, decks, fences, or areas with bare wood – we always recommend going with an Oil-Based Solid Color Stain instead of any paint. If your home has cedar siding or you live in a log home, using an oil-based stain may serve you better than applying paint. It will last longer, it’s more durable and you will be more satisfied with the long-term results using a stain rather than a paint.

Type of Sheen

Another factor to consider when choosing your paint type is whether to go with glossy, satin or flat finishes. Each type has their pros and cons:

• Glossy Finish. A glossy finish makes a home or certain parts of the home shine and pop. The downfall is this a glossy finish also makes imperfections like cracks and bumps more noticeable.
• Flat Finish. Using a flat finish can bring a modern look and serve beneficial if making bumps, cracks or gouges less noticeable. A negative of using a flat finish will begin to break down sooner and appear chalky. Flat paint is also more susceptible to mold and mildew.
• Satin Finish. The most ideal and most popular finish is a satin finish. Satin is durable and is a happy medium between glossy and flat. As professional painters, we apply a satin finish paint to most of our Indianapolis house painting projects.

Benefits of Hiring a Professional House Painter

When you hire a professional painting company to repaint your home, you are making certain the job is done well and they have the professional tools and skills to apply the paint in order to achieve the best results.

A professional painter will:

• Have the right training and equipment
• Be fully insured
• Warranty their craftsmanship
• Properly prepare every surface
• Always be scheduled few weeks out or more before beginning your project. If they can start right-away – that’s a potential red flag.

If you’re looking for Indianapolis Painters for Residential Painting or Commercial Painting, consider Legacy Painting.

Call (317) 426-7228