San Diego Exterior House Painter Tips: Your Home vs the Sunshine
The exterior paint job on your house has more responsibility then to just look good. It's also the defensive barrier between your homes construction and the weather elements. A large number of our work every year involves exterior home painting due to our beautiful San Diego Sunshine. Having this fantastic weather unfortunately means your exterior paint is relentlessly being eroded, heated, and even altered on a chemical level.
Out of all the weather elements, the sun is one of the largest culprits of paint aging. On a molecular level, the ultraviolet radiation is breaking down the chemical bonds in your house paint every single day. Currently, it’s impossible to entirely cancel out the harmful affects of the sun on exterior paint, unless you repaint of course, but selecting higher quality paints with UV resistance will slow down the impact of the sun’s rays. Here are a few tell-tale signs to look out for that may signal it’s been too long since your last exterior paint job.
Fading or Bleaching:
The technical term for color fading caused by the sun is photodegradation. This process is gradual, so you may not even realize that the beautiful color you selected four or more years ago is nothing comparable to the transformed color that’s on your exterior walls today. Many homeowners experience this when they attempt to mend a small spot with the original color and it is no longer is even close to matching.
Chalking:
To the untrained eye, chalking can simply look like fading, but chalking is actually the result of a deep chemical change within your paint layer. UV rays cause molecules in the top coat of the exterior paint to transform, and this chemical change leaves behind a white film of dust over the wall’s surface. Chalking can make repainting a problem because new paint can’t adhere to the surface properly – special prep is needed before putting on new paint.
Blistering & Bubbling:
A blister or bubble in your exterior paint means that the paint in that particular spot has lost adhesion – paint is either pulling away from earlier coats or from the painted surface. This is often caused by heat from the sun (once again looking at you San Diego) interfering with proper drying times. The best way to prevent blistering and bubbling is to never apply paint to an overly hot surface because the paint will dry before it has adhered to the wall. This will cause all sorts of issues that will lead to bubbling and blistering.
"Every house is unique in the amount and type of exposure to the natural elements it receives. A coastal house in Encinitas, CA will differ entirely from a house located inland in Poway, CA in regard to the exterior preparation, painting technique, and tier of paint used."
Peeling:
Our San Diego sun can cause peeling in a few ways. Blistering and bubbling turn into peeling when the pockets pop, letting other elements into the spaces left behind, which gradually become larger and larger. When incomplete adhesion allows moisture to get between paint and the exterior wall surface, causing separation, the heat from the sun’s rays can make the problem worse, again leading to peeling.
Pro Tip: Colors
During an estimate, an experienced house painter will advise you on colors and tones best suited for your climate. In San Diego, earth tones and other natural colors tend to weather sun exposure the best and may even add a few years to the life span of your new paint job.
The good news is that paint technology is constantly improving, so be sure to ask your local San Diego painting professional about what UV technology they are using in their exterior paints (there are multiple tiers) to increase the longevity of your paint jobs.
At SR Painting, each and every one of our San Diego exterior painting jobs are completed with UV resistant exterior paint to maximize your dollar and the time between paintings. In addition, every house is unique in the amount and type of exposure to the natural elements it receives. A coastal house in Encinitas, CA will differ entirely from a house located inland in Poway, CA in regard to preparation, painting technique, and paint used. We are here to guide you through that entire process and assist you with selecting the best paint technology for both your situation and budget.
For more information head over to our exterior painting page or call us today for a free estimate at 858-945-7059 today.
