The county seat and its houses
Bradley County, Tennessee, was established in 1836 after the 1835 Treaty of New Echota, and the legislature required only that its county seat be named Cleveland, in honor of General Cleveland. That's the city's own account of how the place got its name. What it doesn't tell you is anything about your siding, which is what this page is about: how the common exterior materials take paint, and what to look for when a painter prices yours.
The weather figures behind this page
Cleveland's figures here come from NOAA's engineering weather data for the Chattanooga/Lovell Field station, and they are that station's: a 50-year basic wind speed of 90 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet), a 100-year rainfall rate of 3.4 inches per hour and about 48 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year.
For a painted wall the useful reading is short. Heavy rain finds every gap in the cladding, and repeated freezing and thawing works on any water that gets in. So the seams, ends and edges of your siding carry more of the job than the flat faces do.
Wood lap siding
Wood is the classic painted siding and the most demanding. It moves with moisture, and its weak points are the bottom edges of each board, the butt joints and the end grain at corners. Good prep means scraping loose paint, sanding the ridges smooth, replacing soft or split boards, priming bare wood the same day it's exposed and caulking the joints that should be caulked. One caution: the horizontal gap under each lap board lets the wall breathe, and a crew should not seal it shut.
Fiber cement
Fiber cement boards usually arrive factory-primed or pre-finished. They hold paint well, but cut ends that were never sealed at installation can soak up water and swell. Ask the painter to look at the board ends at corners, windows and along the bottom course, and to prime any that are bare.
Vinyl
Vinyl can be painted, but color choice is the limit. A paint much darker than the original can make the panels absorb more heat and warp. Ask for a vinyl-safe paint line, and expect the painter to steer you toward shades close to or lighter than the existing color. Cleaning comes first, since chalk and grime on old vinyl stop paint gripping.
Brick, block and stucco
Masonry needs a coating that lets moisture vapor escape, or the paint can blister and the surface beneath can be damaged. Painted brick is also hard to undo. If you're thinking of painting brick for the first time, ask about masonry primers, elastomeric or breathable masonry paints and how efflorescence (white salt deposits) will be cleaned off first.
Trim, soffits and doors
Whatever the siding, trim usually takes a higher sheen than the walls so it sheds water and wipes clean. Soffits and porch ceilings are slow, overhead work, and doors may need to come off or be painted in stages. Our paint sheens and finishes guide sets out the choices.
Paint on houses built before 1978
The full text of EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule as EPA states it is in the source card on this page; it reaches paid work that disturbs paint in homes, childcare facilities and preschools built before 1978.
If your house predates 1978, ask the painter whether their firm holds RRP certification. Then listen for how scraping debris will be caught on sheeting and cleaned up, rather than left in the flower beds.
What a siding proposal should say
- Siding type on each wall, and the condition of each
- How the house is washed, and how long it dries afterward
- Boards to be replaced, and who supplies them
- Which joints are caulked, and which gaps are left open on purpose
- Primer, finish paint, sheen and coats for siding, trim and doors
- How plants, windows and walkways are protected
For more on each step, see exterior painting and the pricing guide. If you'd like a painter to look at your siding, send us a callback request and we'll hand it to one independent local contractor in the Cleveland area.