Maintenance of exterior trim, A home in Andover

Beautiful homes either large or small in New England have one thing in common.

The extreme New England weather takes a toll on the exterior of the home, especially the trim.

The areas of the home I would like to concentrate on in this article is the exterior trim.  Not all the trim, but the trim that comes in contact with the ground or surfaces that are prone to have the presence of water and or moisture.

The failure of the paint on these areas are due to the following factors:

• Water (snow, rain, ice, sprinklers)
  • Water erodes rock structures, wood is no match for water.
  • the temperature fluctuation  and the movement of the wood over time loosens and attributes to the paint failure

• untreated areas of the trim boards
  • loose, missing, worn paint allows water to penetrate the wood.
  • We often see unpainted trim where carpenters have made cuts with the saw or but joints especially where wood comes in contact with the ground
  • The untreated wood allows water to wick into the wood causing paint failure
• insects
  • some insect love wet wood. untreated wood allows the water to penetrate and provide a new home for bugs
• Failed caulking
  • as the wood swells and contracts with the temperature and airs moisture content caulking over time will fail.  This will not be obvious at times due to the swelling of the wood but as the wood contracts you will notice openings at seams where two pieces of wood abut together.
  • caulking must be removed and reapplied at this area.

All though painting in New England usually runs in cycles of five years, maintenance painting on trim boards usually have to be performed on a more regularly basis.

Prevention Tips

1. Keep lawn sprinklers from constantly spraying on the trim and house as moisture is their enemy.
2. If caulking is needed, purchase a high quality caulking, approximately $6.00 a tube of caulk.
3. A yearly maintenance walk around concentrating on the condition of wood and if painting is needed.

Ramsden Painting offers free maintenance walk thru and a detailed report at no charge in regards to all your painting and wood replacement needs.

Please visit us at RAMSDEN PAINTING WEB PAGE or 978-683-9119