3 Signs Your House Needs Paint

by Kevin Smith Author

Sometimes, it’s obvious whose house on the block is in the most desperate need of paint. Large, peeling patches that leave scars of a different color are unsightly and bring down the overall appearance of the neighborhood. Other times, it’s impossible to judge the book by its cover and the inside of any one of your neighbor’s houses might look like the wall of a gymnasium behind the basketball hoop. Here are some glaring signs you should consider house painting near Tempe.

The First Sign

Paint that is cracking, chipping, peeling off the walls or trim either on the interior or exterior of your house is a big sign. If paint is failing on the exterior of your home, you may blame the quality or the application only if it was just recently applied. If it’s an older application, then the blame rests squarely on the back of mother nature. Fluctuating temperatures cause substrates to move under the grasp of paints and coatings that become increasingly brittle with age. Ultraviolet light from the sun breaks down the structure of the paint and the result is a failure and loss of adhesion. If the problem is inside your home, then there’s an additional issue that must be addressed that is causing the paint to fail such as excessive moisture.

A Second Sign

Sometimes, you clean and clean, but eventually, the surface just doesn’t come clean anymore. Microscopically, what you have done is worn away the surface of the paint. It’s now much thinner than the day it was applied and is likely to show previous colors and stains through its surface as well as allow new stains to penetrate more deeply. Products with the least amount of shine wear the earliest. The result is blotches of discoloration and an unsightly, uneven sheen.

Mold

When the area of the house is exposed to excessive moisture and limited air movement, mold can grow and fester. The linseed oil that is an ingredient in some products may even act as food for the mold. In this case, the reason for the moisture should be addressed first. The mold should then be removed. If using bleach, the surface must be rinsed extremely well before painting because tiny, dried bleach crystals are corrosive and leaving them on the surface will cause the paint to fail prematurely. Bleach will also help keep your painter’s whites bright when you’re house painting near Tempe.