by Jeannine Anderson

Created on: April 04, 2011   Last Updated: April 06, 2011

Peeling paint on the exterior of your house can result from high exposure to sun, rain and wind.  Previous coats of paint that were not properly removed when the house was last painted can also cause new paint to bubble, crack and peel.  This can also be a problem with some cedar siding as the oils in the wood prevent the paint from penetrating enough to get a good hold on the wood.  If cedar siding turns out to be the issue, you may need to consider either re-siding the area with the problem using something other than cedar, or sanding all of the paint off and starting over with a good oil based primer coat.  Even then, you may have to do more frequent maintenance on the paint than would be the case with other types of siding.

Anytime paint cannot make a good, deep connection with the wood it will create the environment for peeling paint.  As the weather heats up the house and cools in down, drenches it with rain and freezes it with sleet and snow the paint on the outside of the house is subjected to stress.  High quality paints contain ingredients that allow the paint to expand and contract with the wood during these changes, but even high quality paints break down over time.  The side of the house that receives the most weather exposure will show signs of wear and tear much sooner than the rest of the house.

Even if you have paint left over from the original job, when you attempt to "patch" a paint job there will inevitably be a difference in the color and sheen of the new coat over the old.  This is due to the effects of weather on the old paint.  While a beautiful paint job is everyone's goal, just protecting the house from weather damage is the primary job of paint, and there isn't always time or money to repaint the whole house, so patching is sometimes necessary.

Before applying paint to any surface, the surface needs to be clean of dirt and loose debris.  The first step in prepping for fresh paint is to scrape and/or sand away any loose, peeling paint.  It is necessary to get anything that is loose off of the house before painting because as you apply the new paint the moisture and solvents in the paint will tend to lift up any loose edges, leaving an opening for air, wind and rain to get in and work at peeling the paint away from the surface of the wood.  Once scraping and sanding are completed, a pressure washer or garden hose with a high pressure nozzle should be used to rinse away the regular build up of air born dirt, as well as any debris left behind from sanding and scraping.

If the paint is coming completely away from the siding, leaving bare wood exposed to the elements, a coat of primer will first need to be applied before the color coat goes on.  In most cases an acrylic based primer will work on any wood surface.  Remember though, if the siding on the house is cedar an oil primer will be a better choice as it will penetrate and hold the wood more effectively than acrylic.  Primer is not intended to do more than provide a base for the color coat.  Apply the color coat within 36 hours of the primer coat, and for the best, longest lasting results, use two coats of color paint on top of the primer.  Your patch may look more shiny and have a richer color than the rest of the house, but the house will be better protected and that is the ultimate goal of painting it to begin with.

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