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FAQ's
Ask a painter the right questions
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Many homeowners don't think about
painting their houses until they see their neighbors painting, or
worse, find evidence of damage to their siding or stucco. While most
homeowners repaint for appearance, it's important to remember that
paint's primary value is in its function of waterproofing, protecting
and preserving your home |
Q: My house is only four years old, but some of my neighbors are
already repainting their homes of the same age. Isn't four years a little
early?
A: Although a properly prepared paint job should last about five
to seven years, repainting a tract house a few years sooner is usually a
good idea to protect your investment. Most production homes in Indiana are
often painted
with a single coat of low-grade paint. Often there are no shade trees to help protect
them from the sun or wind. Within a couple of years some of the paint may
wear away, exposing bare wood.
This is particularly evident on the less expensive vertical siding
typically applied to the sides and backs of houses. Since the paint
on the horizontal siding on the front of houses usually holds up longer,
homeowners often don't notice deterioration occurring sooner around the
rest of their home.
Also, production homes may not be properly sealed with caulking around windows,
doors, where the trim meets the siding or stucco. As the house dries out in the summer heat, the wood shrinks and
forms gaps, which expand over time to allow rain water into the walls. This can also cause drafts and affect your energy bills by
allowing heated or cooled air to escape.
Having a professional painter seal and paint your house now help your wood siding and trim last longer. If you
have stucco, painting will preserve its insulating value to keep your
house cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
Q: Would it matter if I put off painting another year?
A: Most homeowners wait too long to repaint their homes, and
this procrastination can really cost them money. Investing in a good paint
job now, including a complete power wash, thorough caulking, necessary
scraping or sanding and well applied quality paint, will protect your home
for far less money than it will cost to make repairs a couple years from
now.
The most important, timely and labor intensive part of painting a house is
the preparation work. The more damage found on the home, the more
expensive preparation and repair will be necessary before painting. If the
paint is peeling, we have to scrape, sand and apply a primer coat before
repainting. If paint has worn off siding or trim, that exposed wood often
cracks and twists and needs to be entirely replaced, primed and repainted.
If wood has been exposed to water, dryrot develops and spreads to healthy
wood. The longer dryrot goes unchecked, the more wood will need to be
replaced before painting.
Buyer Beware - If you hire
an uninsured contractor for work over $300 and he gets injured while
working on your home, YOU will be responsible to pay for his medical and
possible rehabilitation bills.
If a nonprofessional contractor just paints in the summer to make extra cash,
he probably doesn't invest in his own quality power washing or painting
equipment as full-time professional painting contractors do. Plus he won't be
around in the fall to fix his work.
Established
contractors have accounts with their paint suppliers, but a
non-professional may ask you to pay for his materials before he starts
working. Don't do it.
If an nonprofessional painter runs into unexpected problems on the job and
lacks the experience or ability to solve them, nothing prevents him from
walking away from a mess with your money. Even if he intends to be fair,
his cheap prices won't allow for any warranty work months or a year from
now, if you can even find him.
The True Cost - Finally, you have to
consider a painter's costs. Since all painters pay about the same for
paint, does the lower cost reflect use of thinner or fewer coats or a
lower quality or watered-down paint? Most likely, the difference reflects
labor costs. If a cheaper job means he won't do all necessary prep work,
the new paint is only as stable as the deteriorating wood or flaking paint
it covers. It is only a matter of time until that starts flaking and
peeling and looking worse than before you had it repainted. You may have
to pay another contractor even more to redo the job next year than you
will pay to have it done right the first time.
Rainey's True Value - It is important to
consider the true value of the job you will be paying for rather than
choosing by price alone. Make sure you walk your property with each
contractor who comes to give you a bid, discuss what needs to be done and
why, and include everything, including warranties, in the written
contract. If a cheaper price means the painter is skipping things like
proper preparation before painting, thorough caulking around all windows,
care of your landscaping, etc., you are hardly saving money!
Rainey's
Painting List of
Services:
- Residential
- Commercial
- Interior
- Exterior
- Painting
- Decks
- Wallpaper removal
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