If you put off painting the exterior of your home this summer, don’t fret. Early fall, not summer, is actually the best time to paint house exteriors or stain the outside of your house, according to leading brands.
Early fall is the best time to paint house exteriors and caulk your home as the weather in Connecticut as weather turns cooler. The temperature ranges are great, based on manufacture preferred temperature to apply.
If it’s too hot outside, the coating will dry too quickly, leaving behind brush marks, causing blisters and preventing the paint or stain from properly adhering to the surface.
Curb Appeal: Make your house stand out.
Make your house stand out.
We all want our homes to look as great as we know they are. The best way to ensure your home makes a lasting impression is to keep the outside looking sharp. A quality exterior paint job is the most important step to creating an overall curb appeal. Make sure you go with a color that best fits your home’s overall aesthetic, and fits nicely with the landscaping of the property.
It’s also a good idea to look at neighboring homes to make sure your new color won’t clash or be too close in color or tone. For example, two houses with the same color, next to each other could make one look more washed out, depending on the specific colors.
Neutral colors, such as grays, whites, tans, or browns, are always a safe bet. Don’t be afraid of using bold accents on the front door or trim to add a distinct look for your home.
Key in on your door. Painting your front door a vibrant color not only jazzes up your entrance way, but it also adds interest to your entire home, creating a welcoming feel.
ASSET MANAGEMENT: INCREASE ITS VALUE.
In addition to boosting curb appeal, one of the main benefits of painting your house this fall is the increase in value it can create. Buyers are far more likely to pay a higher price if the house creates a great first impression. Buying a house that requires obvious maintenance can drive down offers significantly.
However, much you pay to have your house painted, you can be sure the results will be worth it. The perception of a house’s beauty skyrockets with fresh paint. Painting your house is also an excellent choice if you plan on putting your house on the market. The exterior paint on a house also ensures it will look fresh for years to come, which is important in case you choose to sell later.
SECURITY: PROTECT YOUR HOME FROM NATURE AND NATURAL ELEMENTS.
There are plenty of pests that are naturally drawn to wood. These include yellow jackets, carpenter ants, termites, carpenter bees, powder post beetles, and woodpeckers. Paint makes wood less attractive to insects by masking its scent and detectability.
Insects are also not attracted to paint itself, so it will help deter them from harming your wood by making it an area they actively avoid. This prevents burrowing, nesting and other problems associated with wood-boring pests.
When water gets into the cracks where paint and caulk should be it becomes trapped and when it gets down around freezing it changes from wet to ice. Ice expands, thus making the cracks bigger. Not only does paint and caulk help keep out water and insects, it also adds a barrier against wind and cold temperatures.
ASSET MAINTENANCE: REPAIR DAMAGE.
All homeowners come to know the lifelong journey of keeping a house from falling apart.
Painting your house not only protects it from the elements, but it also provides you with an intimate look at every square inch of its siding. Having a professional paint your home’s exterior is especially helpful because professional painters understand the ins and outs of the substrate beneath the paint.
That means if there is a problem, you can be sure they will spot it. If, painting your home uncovers a problem, fixing it in a timely fashion will save you from more extensive damage in the future. This is all part of staying on top of maintenance instead of letting it get out of control. Repainting is a lot cheaper, than replacing or repairing. So when you see signs of wear or the paint is getting old.
How to Tell if Your Home Needs to Be Repainted
There are several important signs that your house’s exterior needs some attention. While you have probably heard of some of them, others may come as a surprise. Regardless, it bears repeating that painting before big problems occur is the best way to keep the cost of repairs down.
However, if problems have already presented themselves, a professional team like Infinity Painting, can fix them and restore your house’s beauty.
The Paint Chips, Flakes or Has Bubbles in It.
Paint is working around the clock to protect wood from extremes in moisture, temperature, solar radiation, wind and particulates in the air. As a result, it eventually wears out. This can manifest as chipping, flaking, bubbling or peeling, all of which are clear signs that the house needs to be repainted.
Note, that these problems are often symptoms of a larger issue such as mold, fungus, or dry or wet rot. This can be the result of weatherproofing that has failed.
If the paint on your house is doing this, you will need to perform prep work before repainting.
Simply painting over old paint that is not bonding to the wood beneath will not fix the problem, and it will often result in a paint job that does not bond. This paint job will not look as good and will need to be redone sooner.
THE CAULKING HAS GROWN HARD AND BRITTLE.
Caulk is a critical line of defense against water and insects. Without it, water can infiltrate behind your siding and become trapped, releasing moisture that contributes to mold and rot. Insects find these holes and cracks and set up a home or worse, a dinner.
How-to test your caulking, simply poke at it and see if it has grown stiff. Hard caulking cannot expand and contract with your house, which is a crucial part of its ability to keep water out. If the caulking is hard and does not depress under your finger at all, call Infinity Painting LLC to re-apply it.
THE PAINT HAS FADED DUE TO SUNLIGHT.
It is common for paint to fade under sunlight, as solar radiation naturally interacts with the paint’s pigments and bleaches the hues. Additionally, dark paint colors will show more visible fading than light ones. However, some shades of paint can morph into other shades due to sunlight. One common victim is the color beige, which UV radiation can transform into pink in no time at all. To ensure paint stays its original color for as long as possible, make sure you choose high-quality paint that is meant for home exteriors.
THE PAINT HAS FADED DUE TO SOMETHING MORE MYSTERIOUS.
If the paint is fading on the sunny sides of the house, there is no need for alarm. A more concerning alternative, however, is fading paint on the side of the house that doesn’t get sunlight. This can be either a northern exposure or part of the house that is shaded by trees or rooflines. If paint fades under these conditions, it is symptomatic of a faulty vapor barrier or with water infiltrating the siding.
Inspect any such areas for strange stains that seem to have dribbled downward on the siding. A sign of water leakage is if a substance that is water-soluble and meant for the indoors somehow winds up on the exterior. If you are having trouble figuring out the cause, call Infinity Painting, LLC to assess the situation.
THERE ARE CRACKS IN THE STUCCO OR BRICK.
If your house is coated with stucco or brick, you may find that cracks appear after a while. This is natural but provided they are not too big, it is probably not time to re-stucco the whole house. Rather, you can save time and lots of money by patching the cracks and then applying a new paint job to the exterior.
If you do try to spot-treat the cracks alone, the paint on these cracks is not likely to match the surrounding paint. The older paint will have faded and changed color in the sun, this will make it difficult to not have the new paint streaks stand out. By patching and painting the whole house, you will be starting over with a new-looking exterior.
YOUR HOUSE IS LACKING CURB APPEAL.
Curb appeal is a buzzword of every realtor.
It is a direct measure of how inviting, beautiful and appealing your home is. This affects how it fits into or stands out from the neighborhood and is directly related to real estate.
If you don’t feel the same spark driving up to your house as you used to, it’s probably because something is lacking that once was there. It’s time to freshen things up with new paint. Similarly, you can often gauge a decline in curb appeal from friends and visitors. If people coming to visit don’t react to your house the way they used to, consider reinvigorating your house’s exterior with a beautiful new coating.
We’ve heard so many people talk about how great it is to have a freshly painted home right before the major holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas. This is another reason why we say fall is the best time to paint house exteriors.
IT HAS BEEN AT LEAST SEVEN YEARS SINCE THE LAST COAT.
Exterior paint has an expiration date, and it’s always wise to heed it. You shouldn’t wait until the paint looks nasty to put on a new coat. By painting your house before the problems are too severe, you are minimizing damage and reducing the amount of time and effort needed to complete the job. As soon as paint starts flaking, chipping or peeling, there is extensive preparatory work that will need to be done before painting can begin. By painting early, you are lowering the overall cost of the job immensely.
CONCLUSION – When is the best time to paint house exteriors?
If you missed the summer, just purchased a home or are noticing any of the signs that it is time to paint, give Infinity Painting a call. Early fall is the best time to paint house exteriors in New Haven County, Connecticut. We will be glad to give you a FREE consultation.
- The weather is just right at the end of summer, early fall in CT
- A fresh coat makes your home stand out
- It creates a protective seal for the whole house
- Adds value beyond the cost of painting
