Well, here we are again at the change of another season, and how welcome it is! For me, fall is a time of reflection and thanksgiving, and as Christmas draws near a time for family and friends.
On the Outer Banks, fall is typically a time anticipated by anglers worldwide. For homeowners however, fall is the time to plan your improvements and execute your maintenance program in preparation for the upcoming summer rental season. What? You don't have a maintenance program!
As you may already know, the Outer Banks is an area that may try your patience when it comes to getting required maintenance work done (or any other work for that matter). There seems to be a relaxed work ethic by the standards of many, which translates into unreturned phone calls and eventually frustration on the part of anyone wanting a certain task performed.
This area also has definite cycles in the way construction and maintenance is performed, all of which revolves around the upcoming rental season. Consequently, if you intend to wait until March or April to get estimates on the exterior or repaint that you need to have done it may be too late to have a professional job performed! I mention "professional" only because this area is saturated with unprofessional painters. You may want to review some previous articles for the gaggle of reasons not to use these folks!
Consider using a painting company that offers a maintenance program. Dealing with fewer contractors leaves less room for errors and should provide you with more personalized service.
Cost effectiveness is always the goal with planning and with any representative that you choose to manage your property. You'll be surprised how versatile a professional painting contractor can be in the scope of services they may offer! This can be a welcome addition to the services offered by your rental company and in most cases provide you with a much more complete and professional interior and exterior maintenance package.
With any job there is a logical starting point, and with yearly maintenance, exterior cleaning and power washing will provide great "bang for your buck". For instance, you should find that it may be difficult to know what even needs to be painted until some of the ocean gook, mildew, and spider webs have been cleaned from the siding, trim and soffits.
Once these have been cleaned, you can begin prioritizing what needs to be done in order of importance, in accordance with your budget. Often, cleaning is all that is needed to make the outside of your property look fresh and suitable for guests, but certainly this process makes other problems readily evident.
While cleaning the house your professional may notice rotten siding, missing roof shingles, bad caulking, peeling paint, broken windows, and a myriad of other potential problems. This is the best time to have these problems reported to you so that they can be dealt with. They need to be on the top of your "to do" list. While these items may seem minor, they can lead to more costly repairs if ignored.
Because rotten siding is often a problem, a good professional painting contractor should have the ability to replace it before a paint job is performed. Peeling paint is a problem that can be addressed improperly and may become a recurring issue if this happens.
Peeling paint is often an issue that is addressed improperly and can be a recurring issue if this occurs. Peeling paint is very frustrating to homeowners who may spend money year after year only to have this not corrected. Power washing alone is not enough to resolve this issue.
The proper preparation in this case is to chemically treat all affected areas to kill any mildew growing in the bare wood crevices, accompanied with power washing to remove any loose paint. After this dries out, there will be lifting of the adjacent painted surface which you must then mechanically strip or hand scraped to remove any additional peeling. Feather sanding will round out this prep and is needed to reduce the bad appearance of scraped areas.
In the case where cedar shakes are peeling, these shakes must be completely stripped to guarantee that no peeling will occur in the future as shake shingles are much thinner than lap siding and are much more susceptible to thermal shock as the siding expands and contracts with the temperature changes.
Please take a suggestion from someone who knows: when dealing with peeling paint, do not skimp on preparation as you will be disappointed with the results! Peeling paint can however be put off until later if your budget does not allow for the complete and proper repairs. A professional painting contractor can serve you well in the maintenance arena and take some of the hassle out of your exterior chores.
We're not finished yet; we still have to address the interior of your home! The most misunderstood issue that we address each year on the interior of homes is in the area of touch-up versus repainting.
You should understand that unless you know the exact product and color that was used in the painting of your interior, it's not likely that you'll be able to touch-up. With interior touch-up, the end result should be that you cannot see where touch-up was performed. Most people don't know that one paint line will not touch-up another.
For example, if you were to purchase a contractor grade flat paint in basic white (no tinting at all) and tried to touch-up your original top of the line flat white, you will be able to see where you touched up because of the difference in sheen, rather than the difference in color. Most homeowners find this unacceptable but you may be able to live with this.
All is not lost if you don't know what product or color you have in your home. With a bit of work a professional may be able to get you close enough to meet your approval with a bit of work. Your contractor could remove a sample from inside a closet and have the paint store match color and sheen close enough to satisfy you, but very often repainting is the only solution to the most discriminating customer.
Be sure that when repainting the contractor leaves you with some touch-up paint marked to show where each color was used and also includes a document detailing products and colors in case the touch-up paint freezes or is lost.
You may also want to discuss with your contractor which finish best meets your needs and where to use them. There are a variety of finishes to choose from: flat, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, and gloss. Each finish has its own unique benefits and draw backs. For example, if you are renting your home during the summer and find that each year or two your walls need to be touched up, you may want to consider using flat paint for all the walls.
While flat paint doesn't offer scrubability, it is easily touched-up, and is the most cost effective solution. I don't recommend using eggshell or satin on walls in a rental property: when you try to scrub a flaw from a wall coated with these finished you will burnish the surface. In other words, you will leave a shiny spot on the wall that most people find unacceptable.
Flat paint is usually the least expensive material in relation to the other finishes, and is the least expensive to apply, requiring two coats for coverage. It offers the ability to hide minor flaws in drywall surfaces and is the easiest to touch-up. All other finishes (eggshell, satin, semi-gloss and gloss) are considered enamels.
A common misunderstanding with homeowners is that eggshell is a paint color; eggshell is actually a sheen level. It is the least glossy of the enamels and is most used as an upgrade from flat paint. Enamels offer varying degrees of resistance to moisture and scuffing, but do not touch-up easily and often cannot be scrubbed without burnishing.
Often, when trying to touch-up enamels, a painter must paint entire walls or paint to breaking points to avoid being able to see differences in sheen. Each successive coat makes the surface shinier than the original and is very obvious when everything is dry. Homeowners usually find this objectionable and unacceptable.
However, if you do not rent your property, these enamels are often a great upgrade considering that homeowners will work a bit harder to prevent scuffing than say, a renter!
Semi-gloss paints are commonly used in bathrooms and kitchens due to their resistance to moisture. Gloss paints are usually reserved for trim work and offer a high degree of resistance to fingerprints and moisture. A consultation with a professional will help you determine which is best for you given your requirements and should be very helpful in determining which method and finish best suits your individual needs.
See how versatile a professional painting contractor can be in regards to your maintenance plan? They can provide you with more personalized service than you might get using several contractors for a number of small jobs. It just makes a good sense to use as few contractors as possible to achieve your goals, and is more cost-efficient. Who knows, you might even get your phone call returned! But remember, timing is everything, so don't wait - call now.
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