If you apply good paint to bad wood, that paint isn’t going to make it through a year.
Before you paint, inspect your siding, wood or stucco, for cracks, holes, water damage and other problems, and repair them before you paint. If you don’t, the paint will flake off in no time, and the underlying problem could result in severely damaged or rotted wood.
Two tips:
- Walk around your house twice a year to look for cracks in your siding, and patch them before they become major problems. Adjust your sprinklers so they don’t soak the wood or stucco parts of your house. Stucco is not a waterproof barrier.
- Inspect your fascia board before painting. Fascia board is the flat piece of wood right below the edge of the roof. If you have gutters, they’re attached to the fascia board, which is one of the first parts of a house to get wet and damaged. If you see rot or mold, replace the fascia board before you paint. Protect it with an elastomeric compound, which creates a flexible, water-resistant film over the wood. Then apply a double coat of acrylic paint, not elastomeric paint. Tip: Apply the compound to the front and edge of the fascia board, but not to the back side. Moisture needs a path to escape.
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