Start where paint fails: the joints
Walk around almost any house with tired paint and you'll see the same pattern. The big flat walls are faded but intact. The failures are at the edges: where trim meets siding, at the bottoms of door casings, around windows, at the cut ends of siding and along cracks. That's where water gets in and where movement opens gaps. A paint job in Lubbock lasts or doesn't largely on how those places are handled.
The Lubbock figures
NOAA's engineering weather data for Lubbock lists about 60 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year, together with a 50-year basic wind speed of 90 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet) and a 100-year rainfall rate of 3.5 inches per hour. The same data counts, in an average year at Lubbock, about 52 hours with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 1,183 hours above 67°F.
Read together, those numbers point at two things. Very few muggy hours means paint generally gives up its water quickly. A high count of freeze-thaw cycles means any water that does get behind paint, through an open joint or into end grain, has many chances to freeze and push the film loose. The wind and rainfall figures are design values for rare events rather than everyday conditions.
Sealing comes before color
On an exterior, good joint work is the cheapest protection a paint job can get:
- Rake out failed caulk rather than smearing new over old.
- Use an exterior sealant that stays flexible and is paintable, sized to the joint.
- Prime bare end grain on trim and siding; it soaks up water like a straw.
- Leave the right gaps open. The bottom edges of lap siding and weep holes in brick should not be caulked shut; they let water out.
- Fix the source of any water running down a wall, such as a gutter overflow or a sprinkler.
Inside, the same idea applies at a smaller scale: caulk the joints where trim meets walls, fill nail holes and tape cracks before painting. Our guide to drywall repair and surface preparation explains how.
Working with fast drying
Low humidity makes paint skin over quickly, which can leave lap marks, brush strokes and thin spots:
- Work smaller sections and keep a wet edge.
- Avoid painting surfaces in full sun; let them cool first.
- On wind-exposed sides, ask the crew how they'll keep dust and debris off wet paint.
- Some paint makers offer extenders or slower-drying formulas; ask whether your painter uses them on hot, dry days.
Cold-day limits
Every exterior paint has a minimum application temperature on the label, and many need that temperature to hold for hours afterward. With frequent freeze-thaw cycles in the record, late-season exterior work needs a careful eye on overnight lows. Ask a painter how they decide when it's too cold, and whether the price assumes work can be rescheduled if a cold snap comes in.
Products that move with the house
Flexible acrylic exterior paints and elastomeric caulks handle the expansion and contraction of a house better than brittle products. On trim and doors, a satin or semi-gloss enamel sheds water and cleans easily. The paint sheens and finishes guide goes further, and our exterior painting page describes a full exterior job.
Older paint and lead
On houses built before 1978, scraping and sanding at windows, doors and trim may disturb lead paint. Under EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, anyone paid to do work that disturbs paint in homes, childcare facilities and preschools built before 1978 must hold RRP certification, firms included, even sole proprietorships, and their workers must be trained in lead-safe work practices. Ask whether the painter's firm holds RRP certification before any old paint is disturbed.
What to ask on the walk-around
- Which joints will you caulk, and with what?
- How will you treat bare wood and end grain?
- What will you do on a day that's too cold or windy?
- Which products, how many coats and on which surfaces?
See the pricing guide for how scope turns into a price.