The most common reason homeowners choose to re-paint a room or the entire house is for a home décor update, how often you paint the interior or exterior of your house can not be based solely on what paint colours are trending every year but rather for the good reasons of maintenance too.
Hiring painting companies every year just to keep up with what is in fashion for colours can be expensive, and that is why there are recommended time frames for the frequency of how often you should paint the interior and exterior of your home.
To help keep your interior spaces looking fresh and well maintained along with ensuring the exterior of your home is protected from environmental elements. General upkeep to ensure your home always looks great is recommended at 3 to 5 year intervals. Read on to find out why it’s important to paint, and how often do you need to paint.
How Often Should You Paint The Interior
While the frequency varies from room to room because some spaces are more “lived in” and therefore require more frequent updates, other rooms like bedrooms can go without painting for several years longer. The decision to repaint can be more driven by décor choices rather the recommended time intervals that you can follow for painting to maintain your property from the inside out.
While there are no set rules as to how often you need to paint the interior or exterior, situations like preparing your house or condo for sale, having had some needed renovations or repairs, then the need to repaint may come sooner than expected or planned for.
While the frequency of painting the interior is mostly based on a personal choice, the exterior is more important for maintenance reasons as recommended by professional painters.
Personal reasons can range from simply wanting an updated look to the home décor. Modernizing the look of every room by trying different paint colour samples before choosing the perfect one.
The typical life expectancy of a professionally painted room can be anywhere from five to ten years, while the more lived in open concept spaces like the family room, living rooms and dining rooms, kitchens and bathrooms will require repainting at lease every three to four years. Recommendations for how often bedrooms need to be painted would be for every five years or longer as bedrooms are not highly trafficked spaces where as bathrooms will require a refresh every 3 to 5 years due to the high levels of moisture and humidity to prevent issues with mold.
We also recommend repainting the hallway entrance areas every three to four years instead of just a touch up as this is one area of any home that really takes a beating with the every day wear and tear. From scuff marks, to major dents the entrance makes that first impression to any home.
Interior Painting
Apart from some of the obvious reasons like peeling paint, chipped, cracking or bubbling paint, minor drywall imperfections like dents or holes can be just a few of the problems with paint that may arise and would require repairing and patching. To ensure the best adhesion of paint you should definitely start by preparing the walls before repainting to make sure you get the perfect end result.
If you have recently moved in to a newly constructed home you may want to repaint after a year due to the common problems of the house shifting and settling. This normal process of the house shifting is brought on by the wood framing of the building constricting with warm and cold temperatures and just the way the house settles into its new location.
Although the urge might be to repaint after moving in or the year after, most professional painters would often recommend waiting at least 2 to 3 years, as this gives ample time for the house to settle into its forever location. By not waiting the two to three year interval after the house is constructed will only create the issue from re-happening and if the necessary prep-work is not done before any of the painting, the problems will continue to exist. Those nail pops, cracks in the ceiling joints, and drywall joints will start to settle at about the 3 year mark after construction.
From the popular trending colours to the dark and light neutrals, todays paint products are made to last. Specially formulated interior paints are created to be environmentally safe and long lasting and the quality is of a high standard.
Hiring a painting company to do the professional painting of the interior of your home is a wise investment, as they will have all the necessary tools, equipment and experience to get it done faster and easier to help you move in to your home faster.
How Often Should You Paint The Exterior
Painting the exterior of a home can be a big job especially if it is done all at once. The frequency of how often the exterior needs to be painted are at least every 3 to 5 years as recommended from a professional painting company.
Because the exterior surfaces are constantly exposed to the harsh environmental elements like the frigid cold and extreme heat, along with scorching sun, snow, ice, rain and anything else mother nature throws our way it would be highly recommended at the three to five year intervals to maintain it’s beauty and curb appeal.
A quick change of colour to the front door can change things up dramatically and as a homeowner it is good practice to follow a yearly maintenance list at least every spring or fall to make sure everything is in optimal condition.
When you are ready to hire a painting company to paint the exterior of your home make sure you hire the right one that provides all the exterior painting services for a complete and professional look that will add curb appeal to your homes exterior and the quality work your home deserves.
Exterior Painting
The frequency and maintenance of how often painting the exterior of your house occurs is dependent on a couple of factors. Every three to five years is recommended to ensure the outside surfaces are well protected from all environmental elements. A rough guideline to follow for painting the different types of exterior surfaces is that wood siding is recommended for repainting every three to seven years, while stucco can usually be painted every five years to keep it looking its best and aluminum siding every five years as well.
The decision as to how often should I paint the exterior is based on good maintenance practices. By maintaining paint on the outside of your home it will not only ensure it is always looking its best, but will also add value to the property if it to be listed on the real estate market. Research has it that painting your house before selling it can help push the decision of the buyer in your favor.
Exterior House Maintenance
To help maintain the look of the exterior paint on your home, take preventative measures by spotting problems before they get out of control. Maintaining your property with good upkeep will make the difference as to how often the major things need to be done and prevent major problems from occurring.
General maintenance consists of walking around your property at every spring or fall to make sure there are no major issues such as water leaks, mold or rodent infestation and that all areas are properly sealed and caulked to prevent water and rodents from entering the premises.
Prepare your home to help the new paint last longer by making sure that any rotted wood is removed and replaced , all bubbling or peeling paint is scraped off before any primer paint is applied over the right type of paint finish.
Exterior painting can be an overwhelming do it yourself project, that can be best left to the best painters near you. Professional painters will be able to recommend the right paint, estimate how much paint will be needed, offer you advice on buying paint, and what types of primer.
Expert painters will recommend the best types of paint finish or sheen necessary so that lighting effects do not disappoint the end result of expectation in the paint colour along with provide you with other painting tips and advice.
For all of the reasons above it is recommended to paint the interior every five to seven years and the exterior between three and five year. When you are ready to hire painters in Ottawa for your next interior or exterior home painting, contact us to arrange an in-home consultation.
Call 613-656-5865 for Painters in Ottawa
This post was originally published on Sep 2, 2018 and edited on May 11, 2021
