As far as the life span of a paint job of course there are many factors to take in. As others have said, prep and primer are key, but also having a good substrate to base the finish coats on also. This could be things you would never see such as damp wood, wrong type of wood for a certain application, end grains not being properly primed or moisture trying to escape through the paint. Hardiplank is an excellent product that holds paint very well. Once painted and backbrushed, it should last for many years. Of course once again if the quality of the paint is poor,mold, mildew, and a list of issues could come up. It's always better to spend the few extra dollars on quality!
The reason your home looked like it needed painting within three years is because it was sprayed and not gone over with a brush. Hardiplack is a very porous surface "think brick". It covers very well even in one coat and "looks" fine, yet what you don't see is all the empty pockets of substrate underneath. Being that hardiplank is pourous and these pockets may not have been filled in with paint, that leaves room for air, moisture ext to act as a barrier between the paint and the base substrate. Think of it in the terms of if you had a canvas that you took a rattle can of a color and sprayed it over, then did the same but used a brush and worked it into the canvas.They would look the same, but which do you think would last longer and why.
When you say "You can rub the paint off with your hand" do you mean it comes right off and you see bare wood? Or do you mean it's chalky and dulls the color?? I could tell you a lot based on your answer.
If it is peeling and just coming right off in small sheets and/or pieces, we have a certain moisture problem on the original substrate. It may have appeared to be bone dry when painted, but it wasn't. Heavy moisture in the air, painting to late in the evening, or simply the wood was not cured when it was instaled could all be factors. The primer and paint, "no matter how good it was" needs a dry surface. If it's moist, the pours inside that wood "think bricks again!" are wet and filled. Paint covers over and creates a barrier locking in that moisture in. When moisture dries, it expands pushing out on anything it comes in contact with, ie coats of paint! Take a piece of the flaked paint and turn it over. Does it have a cedar color staining to it?
The hardiplank is not going to have this problem because it breaths really well. Don't worry, this problem can be fixed. Yet, don't try to just put on more paint till the moisture issue is solved! It will make it worse! yikes.
I hope this wasn't way too much info all at once. I've been painting for a very long time and I deal with a lot of homes with issues and pride myself on finding out what those are and stopping them. When it comes to paint, everything has a reason, everything has a solution.
I'll be back home on island soon if you would like to meet up. In the meantime, please feel free to ask away!!
Mahalo!
quote:
Originally posted by frossie
This is probably a very stupid question. But how often do houses need o be painted? Our house is hardiplank siding with wood trim and Trex (I think) decks. The hardiplank is fine, but the wood seems to need painting again. We last painted 3 years ago. When we bough the house it was only 3 years old and already it looked like it needed painting - you could just rub the paint off the trim with your hand. I was asking around for a painter as the last guy we used no longer paints, and a friend of mine said "What? You only need to paint every 10 years!". Is that true?? We used good quality paint and everything. I am wondering if the house was never primed right to start with.
Anyway if anybody can recommend a reliable painter who can also make minor repairs to the worse-off bits of wood, please let me know. It would be best if he/she has no fear of heights as this is a very tall house.
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