The numbers behind this page
In an average year at Topeka/Billard, NOAA counts about 731 hours with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 1,855 hours above 67°F. NOAA's engineering weather data for Topeka/Billard lists a 50-year basic wind speed of 90 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet), a 100-year rainfall rate of 3.8 inches per hour and about 71 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year. Census QuickFacts counts Topeka households in 2020–2024 at 54,837, with 2.21 persons per household.
Moisture, temperature swings and wind-driven water are the usual suspects when exterior paint fails. Before anyone paints, it's worth reading what the old paint is telling you. Each failure below has a usual cause, and repainting without fixing the cause brings the same failure back.
Peeling down to bare wood
When paint lifts off in sheets and the wood underneath is bare, water is usually getting into the wood from behind or from an edge. Look for open joints, missing caulk, a leaky gutter above, or moisture from inside the house. About 71 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year at Topeka/Billard means water in a joint has many chances to freeze and push. The fix is scraping to a sound edge, letting the wood dry, sealing joints and priming before painting.
Blistering
Blisters are bubbles in the paint film. If you cut one open and find water, moisture is pushing out from the wall. If you find bare wood or old paint with no water, the paint may have been applied in direct sun on a hot surface, or before an earlier coat had dried. Muggy hours can slow drying between coats; ask your painter how they time recoats when the air is heavy.
Chalking
Rub the siding with your hand. A powdery residue is chalk: the paint's surface breaking down over years of sun. Chalky surfaces must be washed and, often, primed before new paint will stick. Painting over chalk is a common cause of early peeling.
Cracking and alligatoring
Fine cracks, or a pattern like reptile skin, mean the old paint has lost flexibility, often because many layers have built up or an oil-based coat has aged. Light cracking can be sanded and primed. Deep alligatoring may need the paint stripped back.
Mildew
Dark spots that come back after cleaning, often on the shady sides of the house, are usually mildew. It must be killed with a cleaner made for it and rinsed off before painting; paint over live mildew and the spots return through the new coat. A paint with a mildewcide helps.
Streaks and stains below the roof line
A 100-year rainfall rate of 3.8 inches per hour at Topeka/Billard is a design value for drainage. When gutters overflow in heavy rain, water sheets down the same patch of wall. Rust streaks from nails, or tannin stains bleeding from cedar or redwood, need a stain-blocking primer.
What a good inspection covers
- Probing sills, fascia and trim for soft wood.
- Cutting into a blister to see what's under it.
- Rubbing for chalk.
- Checking gutters and roof edges for overflow.
- Noting which side of the house fails first.
A painter who explains failures before quoting is planning to fix them, not cover them. Our exterior painting page explains the preparation steps, and the pricing guide shows how they affect the cost.
Wind and the work day
The 90 mph wind figure is a design gust, not a working condition. On ordinary windy days, painters may avoid spraying and switch to brushing and rolling, and dust can blow onto wet paint. Ask how they decide whether a day is workable.