​It’s Spring, Time To Liven Your Property Up.

Spring is almost here.  It’s time to start thinking about spring cleanup, indoors and outdoors, in order to wash away the winter buildup of mud, grime, salt and any other wear and tear that comes from the winter months.  In fact, fall debris may still be present making clean up all the more important; rotting leaves, peeling paint, aging shingles, these are just a few of the things to look for.  Our previous blog talks about the right conditions for residential exterior painting, but here we want to widen that to include decks and gazebos or other structures around the property.

Decks and fences take a beating from cold weather and precipitation over the winter not to mention the high winds and driving snow.  They are living breathing assets that require more attention than home surfaces and the earlier, the better, if you are going to get the most use from the deck and so on.  We can usually begin work a bit earlier than painted surfaces as there is more prep and less specific drying or curing requirements involved.  Repairs need to be done as soon as possible to avoid further rotting and damage.
      
Paint is by far the most impactful and accessible change that can be looked at.  Chances are if you haven’t re-painted in a number of years you can see the paint aging as it starts to crack, take on a faded and very bland appearance and may even have begun to separate and peel from the painted surface.  This is caused by age of paint (it was never meant to last forever), and by the elements that bombard your home or place of business on a regular basis. 

We know that the sun can be particularly harmful to surfaces with the constant UV rays that, on one hand make our live so enjoyable, but wreak havoc on all surfaces that are constantly exposed.  Car paint fades, prefinished surfaces fade, and home surfaces fade.  If you do an inspection you might find things like brittle caulking around windows and has begun to crack, or you might find crackle patterns on painted surfaces that indicate more aggressive cracking and peeling are coming. 
​
It isn’t just weather that can cause these problems.  The quality of workmanship of the finished surface must be considered if it seems that the current paint job did not last as long as perhaps you feel it should have.  Factors like time of year your home was painted, quality of the preparation including cleaning, sanding and priming, and quality of the materials that were used.  This doesn’t mean you need to use the most expensive paint, but rather to make sure you are using the best but affordable materials and practicing best prep work either yourself or with the professionals you are hiring. ​

What About Time Of Year For Exterior Painting?

Since we are talking about Spring time, is it the best time to paint outside surfaces?  Our answer to that would be, check the weather.  Rule of thumb for deciding to do some exterior painting is making sure the temperature range is between 45/ 50 degrees and 80 degrees on a fairly consistent basis.  When temperatures are too low, paint cannot ‘cure’ properly, it doesn’t set as hard as it should.  Yes, there are paints available that profess to cure at lower temperatures but there is no significant evidence to us that it is worth taking a chance on when it’s just as easy to be patient for the right temps.
 
Not only should the temps be in the comfort rage described, the moisture in the air should be on the lower side of the humidity measurement.  That is why the fall tends to be more popular but all you need to know looking ahead when planning to paint is projected precipitation and humidity levels.  There are fabulous days in spring and early summer to paint where the preparation and caulking work if necessary can be done to perfection.    
 
Scorching hot summer weather should always be avoided; our tendency is to stay busier with interior painting projects or staining jobs on decks and gazebos.  There tends to be more humidity on hot summer days and the skies can open without warning at times.  Besides, you probably want to enjoy any new exterior painting as early in the new warmer weather season as possible. 
 
It’s spring, imagine the new look, the fresh updated colors and the feel of something new and how it raises the spirits. Curb appeal is such an important factor in home ownership or retail appearance.  Plan your new look as soon as you can, there's no reason to wait.     ​