At A.G. Williams Painting, we firmly believe exterior maintenance prolongs the life of your existing paint surface. Maintenance painting will help prevent small damages from becoming major repairs, which as you know, turn into major headaches. It also helps your home maintain that freshly painted look. There are several components to a strong exterior painting maintenance program that will help keep your home in great shape for years to come.
Annual powerwashing is one of the most important aspects of maintenance. Now, this does not just mean spraying bleach and water onto your home. A thorough powerwashing, performed by professionals with the correct products, will cleanse the surface of your home to help remove mold, mildew, fungus and other surface pollutants. These surface pollutants can damage paint film, thus causing it to peel. When neglected, mold and mildew will become embedded in the paint and will become much more difficult to remove in time. Powerwashing will help prevent peeling and will also keep the house looking clean. Sometimes, however, powerwashing with too much pressure can loosen the existing paint film and leave your home’s surface uncovered in areas and susceptible to damage. This is why it is important to have a professional painting contractor or powerwasher clean your home. A professional should notice, before they begin washing or in the early stage, that the powerwashing may cause your paint to loosen or flake off. They should notify you before continuing so that you have the option to properly coat those areas, repaint the house or perform a much lighter powerwash. The paint loosening up is not necessarily bad, it just means that the bond between paint and surface has been loosened in those areas and you should have touchups performed.
Gutter cleaning is usually a service that is bundled in with the powerwashing. The outside of your gutters should be handleaned to remove any drip marks from water spillage. More importantly, the inside of the gutters should be cleaned out to remove any debris which can cause clogging. A clogged gutter can cause water backup which eventually can cause interior damage. Cleaning the leaves and debris out of your gutters during the fall season is important to prevent the debris from freezing during the winter months, thus, causing ice damming. Leader baskets should also be checked for overflow and replaced as needed. Leaders can also be flushed clean to allow proper water flow.
What would maintenance painting be without the actual painting? Well, a good maintenance painting program should mostly entail cleaning to prevent the need for painting, however, there is no such thing as a maintenance free paint coating. Therefore, some room should always be allowed for touchups. In many cases, the window frames need to have the caulking checked and recaulked to prevent drafts and water seepage. Sometimes, a few spots may show signs of peeling and may need some attention. It is smart to build some hours of touchups into your maintenance program so you can handle some unexpected damages to your home.
Ask your local professional painting contractor about a custom tailored maintenance program for your home. If you, the client, are in their best interest, they should jump at the opportunity to make sure your home is in good hands.