How long should paint last on the outside of my home? (Loaded Question to Ask!) I first had to reply back to clarify the question. That reply was, “Do you mean the color lasting? The reply was yes, that is what I meant.
OK! Here goes!
Paint color on your exterior is controlled by the ultraviolet rays from the sun. Ultraviolet rays are extremely damaging to everything. With that said, there probably will be some scientists reply and inform me that ultraviolet is beneficial to something on earth. But in the case of exterior paint, ultraviolet rays from the sun is what causes fading of your paint and the breakdown of the surface of stucco or wood finishes.
So how long should paint color last on the outside of your home?
If your home is at sea level and with lots of large year around shade trees somewhat protecting from direct sun rays, paint color should last at least ten years without noticeable color change. However, if your home is in, let’s say, Sedona Arizona with the altitude of about four thousand feet and beautiful clear skies and closer to our beautiful suns rays including ultraviolet rays things will fade much faster.
One caveat, paint is damaged by the ultraviolet rays no matter whether you paint with a light color or a dark color. The deterioration from the damaging rays is called oxidation. All oxidation results are with a white residue forming on the surface of this sub straight. If you have a light color on your exterior you will not see the damage because the oxidation residue is white. However, if you have a dark color on the surface of your home you will see this residue as fading when it is actually the white oxidation residue makes the surface look lighter.
Because this has been my life’s work dealing with coatings on everything, I have experienced countless surface conditions and issues. Bottom line, ultraviolet rays from the sun causes lots of destruction. Just ask my dermatologist.
In conclusion, most of the time the oxidation from the rays are prominent on one or two sides of the house. That means that you will need to just repaint half of your home every other time. Unless you decide to change the color altogether.
PS: This is a dangerous last comment because doing this procedure you really need to know what you are doing and what product to use to be successful. So here goes.
When the exterior paint has deteriorated because of oxidation and for the most part the paint is sound, I have used a clear sealer to just saturate the surface of the exterior sub-straight and renew the life of the paint color. In fact, the paint looks as good as new, sometimes even better than the original paint job. Because the original paint was a flat finish and when I applied this top dressing on the surface it has a slight eggshell sheen. This brings out the color even more.
This hundred percent acrylic is going to last as long as the original color did and sometimes looking back on projects I completed in years past the color held up even longer.
The reason I say it is dangerous is the clear sealer needs to be applied evenly and the product needs to be the right product for the sub straight you are applying it on. I have seen projects that the contractor didn’t have any experience with applying this process and it turned out blocky and with uneven color so the results were you needed to repaint.
Ultraviolet rays from the sun are damaging to everything.
Roger Merrill Painting will also be glad to give you a painting estimate: www.RogerMerrill.com