Most of us wash the dishes every day, put out the trash once a week, and get a dental cleaning every six months. How often should a home exterior be painted? It is important to know how long an exterior paint job is supposed to last, so that you can take good care of your home. If you repaint the exterior too often, you are spending more than you need to, but if you wait too long, you risk paint failure. What, then, is the right answer? How often do you need to paint your house in the Washington, D.C. region?

Cutting right to the chase, an exterior paint job can be expected to last 5-7 years in the greater Washington, D.C. area, including northern Virginia and suburban Maryland. There are numerous factors that can influence this, however, so it is important to know a little more about the topic. Keep reading to make sure you are ready to make an informed decision about painting your home exterior.

What Influences the Lifespan of Exterior House Paint?

The climate in which you live plays a major role in the life expectancy of exterior paint. UV rays from the sun will slowly cause paint degradation, but rain, ice, snow and temperature changes do even more damage. You may find that the exterior paint on some areas of your home tends to wear out faster than on others, due to the direction it faces.

Another factor that influences how long your paint lasts is the condition of the substrate. For example, if wood siding or trim has any decay under it, or if painted metal has any rust on it, the paint will not last as long.

Potentially the biggest factor that extends or reduces the life of your exterior paint is the quality of the previous paint job. If the prior exterior paint jobs were completed with thorough surface preparation, quality paints, and enough coats of paint, you can expect to get a significantly longer lifespan from your house paint.

How Can You Tell When a Home Needs Exterior Painting?

Even if you think you know when the next paint job should happen, it is important to recognize the signs of paint health or impending failure. If you wait too long to paint, and the exterior paint begins to fail, you can end up with a difficult (and expensive) remediation process on your hands, before you can even begin the next paint job.

A paint job that is in good health has consistent color and an unbroken, sound surface. On the other hand, you know that paint is nearing the end if its useful life when you see any of the following indicators:

• Chalkiness
• Fading
• Cracking
• Bubbling
• Peeling
• Flaking

If any of this is apparent on the exterior surface of your Washington, D.C. area home, it is important to speak to your local house painter before the problem gets worse.

Williams Professional Painting

Based in Alexandria, Virginia, Williams Professional Painting has been serving northern Virginia and the Washington, D.C. region since 1979. We provide our exterior painting crews with regular training, and we always insist on methodical, excellent work. Additionally, we emphasize attentive customer service.

Besides our exterior painting, we also offer carpentry, interior painting, kitchen cabinet painting, molding installation, and more. For your free exterior house painting estimate, use our online estimate request form, or contact our office today. We look forward to working with you!