The more appealing your house looks from the outside, the better impression it sends to everyone passing by while also increasing its curb appeal. If you live in the Vancouver BC area, then you already know it has tropical rainforest weather, which means a lot more moisture than normal.

So in these conditions, you will have to take some steps to ensure your house’s exterior paint job looks flawless throughout the year. Here are a few tips to doing so:

5 Tips to Maintain Your Exterior Paint Job in Vancouver

1. Wash Your House

Although Vancouver receivers a lot of rain, even more rain than snow, it is still imperative that you wash your home. This is because rain might not cover all the areas of the house adequately. Plus washing on your own means you’ll be thorough with scrubbing and brushing the surfaces and corners where there is mould, mildew, bird poops, air pollutants, and dirt, etc. This will not only provide your house with a cleaner and fresher look but will keep the paint from fading. Here’s how you can wash it:

• Manually: You can perform the wash of your house using a soft scrub brush or a sponge. We recommend going with the long-handled or telescopic scrub brush with soft bristles and mild soapy water solution. Gently scrub the surfaces with the soapy solution and then use a garden hose to rinse thoroughly. If there are any mildew infestations, then make sure to add a few teaspoons of bleach to the solution.
• Using Pressure Wash: The second option is going for the pressure washing where you can either rent one or use a professional pressure cleaning service. We suggest that you work with a professional as the use of pressure wash involves safety concerns for nearby people unless you are trained to use it. Plus, if you don’t know the proper balance of distance and pressure, you might end up damaging the property.

Whichever route you take, make sure to wash your home periodically. Avoid washing too much in winter as Vancouver receives more rain in winter than summers, so too much moisture can settle in the walls.

2. Repainting some areas

Every part of your home, especially on the outside, will be in different weather conditions. Some areas will be more exposed to the sun and rain while some will be to the dust, mould, mildew, and other pollutants. Furthermore, some areas have different materials like wood, while some might be of metal or concrete. So depending on the position and material of a particular area, its paint job will be affected differently.

So if you are determined to keep the affected parts of exterior paint looking like as good as new, then you will be painting some parts sooner than needed. Whereas letting other parts stay without any touchups for longer before painting them again. Either of them is going to be an issue as some parts will then look like freshly painted while others won’t.

The best way to do the touch-up painting is by painting the whole house’s exterior each year. This can considerably increase the life of its paint job. You can even hire a painting service to do this for you.

3. Work on Landscaping

The landscaping near your house can affect your home’s exterior’s longevity. The most important thing you need to do to prevent the landscaping of your house from affecting its exterior paint is to keep your house dry, especially in the humid Vancouver atmosphere.

If the side of the house is kept wet, it will promote the growth of mold and mildew. Plus, moisture will also cause the wood to rot and metals to corrode. Furthermore, the insects from the landscaping will likely eat up the wood or make their homes in it.

So to avoid these issues, we suggest that you trim the shrubs, trees, and bushes near your house so that more air can flow and more sunlight can reach the walls allowing them to stay dry. Keeping them trimmed will also keep insects away from the sidings of the house.

Also, make sure to check if there are any sprinklers around your house that are making its sidings wet. If so, then redirect them so that the spray doesn’t reach the house.

4. Ensure your Gutters are Working Properly

If the downspouts and gutters are working fine, the moisture will be channeled away from your house, and the paint will stay protected. Since the weather of Vancouver is already very moist, you especially need to take measures to avoid the collection of any extra moisture.

So if you neglect the gutters, the water can overflow in different parts of your home and damage the exterior paint and the surface underneath.

5. Check Caulking and Sealing

Windows, vents, doors, and other areas that interrupt your home’s sidings are most likely the leak points from where the air can flow under the surface and cause the cracks to get bigger. This will result in chipping and peeling of paint as well.

So make sure to work with a professional painting company to get these cracks caulked on a yearly basis. Furthermore, all the areas made of wood should be sealed/waterproofed every year to not allow the moisture to set in.

These five aforementioned tips might seem a lot of work, but since they are to be done on a yearly basis only, you can easily spread these tasks over the gaps of two to three months throughout the year.

This way, you will not even feel like you are making extra efforts maintain the exterior paint job of your house while also keeping in neat condition.