[jht]

Would appreciate any info on how often, on the average, the owners of a stucco exterior home have to have their homes painted? Thanks.

[swrinfla]

My house is three years old (I closed 01/24/05). Despite the several calls I've had from various services out there, urging me to hire them to repaint (one came only a couple of weeks after I actually moved in!), I do not intend to even consider outside painting until 2010 at the earliest. That'll be 5 years. Of course, I conduct my own careful surveillance now and then, but have seen no reason, so far, to even consider looking for a painter.
Barring severe storm damage or some other unexpected event, I actaully think I can probably go beyond my 2010 estimate!
SWR

[golfnut]

with swr, we closed in Feb 2005, house was probably painted in summer 2004 and I see no evidence anywhere of needing to paint, 2010 or beyond sounds reasonable to me.

[bamafan]

Golfnut, This may be a little off topic, but what about power washing. Sales agents pointed out that a frame home needed washing a couple of times a year. Does CBS need this? I kinda thought if I saw some mildew I would just mix a bleach, water, and soap spray and spray the house down.

[JohnN]

Bama, you're a smart guy, I bet that would work fine.

[The Great Fumar]

BAMA
Thats what most people do here in the Villages...I did it once a year , A cup of bleach in a to about three gallons of water , slosh it on with a mop, wait 15 min. rinse it off with a hose , House looks brand new,,,,,,,,

Fumar

[chuckinca]

We just paid a few bucks to have the stucco power washed. The guy said it was recommended that stucco be done once a year; siding twice a year.

The stucco color is in the stucco - not painted on. It should last longer than paint.
(recently read that the color coat stucco will maintain its color for as much as 40 years or more)

We had our summer house in Calif painted two years ago with Sherwin Williams Exterior paint guaranteed 25 years!

[golfnut]

I've power washed mine once in three years, there was no mildew anywhere so I just used plain water.

[jht]

Thanks for all the information.

[REDCART]

Forgive me if it seems like I'm hijacking this thread but there was an earlier mention of Clorox and vinyl siding. I remember when the builder did our walk-through, he mentioned that someone had cleaned their siding with Clorox and then tried to get Warranty to replace the siding because it took a lot of the color off. Now of course, this story has been retold and who know 1) if it's true; 2) was it a 50% mix of Clorox; or 3) maybe theyleft the Clorox on too long and between the bleach and the Sun, it bleached out the color. In any case, Ace Hardware recommended Simple Green which I've used diluted in a bucket of water and a soft car-wash type brush. The Simple Green took off the dirt and mildew from the siding and no effect on the color. I do use a heavy Clorox solution to clean mold from around the tub area in NY, although I hear there are better products for that as well. George

[chuckinca]

George: I believe you are correct about using bleach on the vinyl siding. I also heard that it can be misused and fade the siding color.

[Talk Host]

Also, the clorox will "KILL" your shrubs around the house.

[lm01]

The sun will do more damage to the siding. Over time the sun will make your siding brittle and faded.

To clean I've used deck cleaner by, spraying on let stand for a min or 2 min and hose off. Works great for me with out damage to the siding. Never use a pressure washer on old siding you might have breakage.

[phylissdavis]

We worked closely with Sherwin Williams and a Contractor to get ours painted. The Stucco should be painted at least every 6-8 yrs. The cracks should be filled with elastomeric patching and the windows should be recaulked to ensure a good seal. Our contractor Linderman Recoating did a good job. If you need to speak to them call 352-569-4231