When the paint is coming off
A house whose paint has faded is a repaint. A house whose paint is curling, flaking and lifting in sheets is a restoration, and the price reflects it. Most of the cost of a peeling exterior isn't the paint. It's the hours spent taking failed paint off and getting the wood ready to hold a new film.
This guide is for owners of a wood-sided house in Burlington, in Alamance County, which the county's history says was formed in 1849 from the western half of Orange County. It quotes no prices and names no companies.
The station figures behind the peeling
These weather figures come from NOAA's engineering weather data for Greensboro/Piedmont Triad, not from measurements in Burlington. NOAA lists for that station a 50-year basic wind speed of 90 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet), a 100-year rainfall rate of 3.5 inches per hour and about 56 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year.
Paint on wood peels mainly because water gets behind it. Hard, wind-driven rain finds open joints, and every freeze-thaw cycle works on water sitting in wood and cracks. That's why prep on a peeling house concentrates on where water gets in, not only on where the paint looks worst.
How far the paint comes off
The biggest single driver of price is how much of the old film has to go.
- Spot scraping: loose paint scraped to a firm edge in patches, the edges sanded smooth, bare wood primed.
- Heavy scraping: most of the surface scraped, more sanding to blend thick old layers, more primer.
- Full removal: taking the house back to bare wood, by hand tools, sanders with dust collection or heat tools. This is the slowest and most expensive option, chosen when the old film is failing everywhere or so thick that new paint won't hold.
Ask the painter which approach they propose for each side of the house and why. Sides that face the weather often need more.
Priming bare wood
Wood exposed by scraping should be primed soon after, before it weathers. The primer has to suit the wood and the finish going over it. A proposal should say whether priming covers only bare spots or the whole surface.
Rot, caulk and nails
- Rot at board ends, sills and the bottoms of corner boards must be cut out and replaced or repaired; paint won't save it.
- Caulk goes in the joints that should be sealed, around windows and trim, but not in the laps of siding.
- Nail heads that have rusted and bled through need setting, spot priming and filling.
Ask how extra rot found during scraping will be priced. Some always turns up.
Coats and product
Two finish coats over a properly primed surface is a common standard. A higher grade of exterior paint costs more but usually holds better on wood. Our exterior painting page explains the products.
Scraping pre-1978 paint
On a house built before 1978, the paint being scraped may contain lead. The EPA rule on the card below applies to paid work that disturbs it. Lead-safe prep adds sheeting, dust control and cleanup, and it adds cost. Ask the painter how they would handle it; that's a different and much longer job than scraping a newer film.
Access and height
Two-storey walls, gables and steep grades need taller ladders or staging. Each setup takes time. Ask whether staging is included.
Where a state statute appears
If the repaint is part of a bigger set of repairs, North Carolina General Statutes 87-1 require a general contractor license from the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors when the cost of a construction or improvement project is $40,000 or more; the statute does not name painting. We quote it only as written.
Weighing the bids
The fair comparison sets removal method against removal method, then the priming, the repairs and how extras are priced, the product and the number of coats. The pricing guide explains more.