Paints and Finishes,Part I: EXTERIORS
March/April 1988
By Richard Freudenberger
Mother's Handbook
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Take this simple test: When it comes to home maintenance, do you wish to devote little time to a project but want maximum results? Do you keep your eyes peeled for wonder products that save time, money and effort? Would you like to fly through a job to be done with it once and for all?
If your answers to those questions are yes, you'd better look for a professional contractor when the time comes to paint your house, because you'll probably be the most disappointed do-it-yourselfer on the face of this earth if you tackle the job on your own.
Why? Because, as easy as painting appears, the job is actually more involved than many other skills that look considerably more complicated. And because the answers to problems aren't always obvious, a lot of time can be just flat wasted doing work that may only last in terms of months, not the hoped-for years.
The Decision
Believe it or not, a good many people don't really know when their house needs a paint job. Only a procrastinator could overlook a badly weather-beaten finish—in which there's more wood showing than paint—but there are a number of other clearly visible signs that point out when it's time to shed the old coat for a new one.
Unfortunately, age is only one source of sorrow for a painted surface. Moisture, poor preparation, faulty paint ing techniques and just plain bad paint can reduce the life of a finish drastically—sometimes to as little as one season. If the problem is not corrected before the re paint ing's done, it will invariably show up again to ruin the job a second time around. Here, then, are some symp toms to look out for when evaluating your home as a can didate for a repaint job:
Peeling. Paint that's peeled away or blistered has either been used without a primer, slapped over a glossy or chalky finish, applied to a wet surface, or pushed off the surface by water that's found its way in from beneath the coat. The water problems are exasperating in that it can be difficult to determine exactly where the moisture came from. Rain-damp or uncured lumber will dry eventually, but an overly humid house, an improper vapor barrier or poor ventilation can be sources of difficulty that might call for diagnosis by a professional.
Cracking. This condition develops with time into scaling and is generally caused by the use of brittle or nonelastic paint or by painting without a primer. The coat cracks when the wood expands and contracts, allowing moisture to get behind the coating and lift it off:
Checking. The surface of the paint is marred by a network of fine, crisscrossed lines; in worse cases, the lines are coarse and deep. Checking results from the application of a second coat before the first has dried, or from the use of a paint incompatible with a previous finish.
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