Exterior Maintenance Tips for an Older Home
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Regular maintenance is essential to protect your home from weather damage. This is especially true for older houses in Wisconsin, where humidity, freeze-thaw cycles, and four seasons of weather extremes take their toll on home exteriors. Proactive maintenance typically costs far less than repairs in older homes, which often have historic wood that can be difficult to find and expensive to replace. Many homeowners forgo low maintenance vinyl siding to maintain the character of their older home.
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Do a “Walk Around” Exterior Home Inspection Every Year
Walk around your entire house at least once a year and inspect every surface for damage, including the house siding, entry doors, window frames and wood trim around windows and doors. Don’t forget the horizontal surfaces above and below you, including the deck boards, porch flooring, soffit and fascia. Inspect for damaged paint, probe for rotten wood, and check for holes or other damage from woodpeckers and other wildlife. Look for missing or damaged caulking between siding joints and around windows and doors.
Weather Seal to Prevent Expensive Home Repairs
Holes in house siding, cracked masonry, damaged or missing caulk around windows or doors – all of these seem like minor issues, but they create places for moisture or pests to enter your home and cause damage. Long-term moisture intrusion can affect the insulation or even rot the wood framing in your walls, causing extensive damage. Proactively addressing weather sealing issues is far less expensive than fixing water damage.
All Exterior Wood Needs to be Weather Sealed
No matter the age of your home, all exterior wood should be protected with paint or stain. Even pressure-treated wood needs to be sealed to prevent rotting. Signs of damage include blistering, cracked or peeling paint, fading or discolored stained wood, mold or mildew, and soft spots. Damaged wood should be cleaned, repaired and sanded as needed, and repainted, stained or sealed to protect it from moisture.
House Siding Needs Annual Maintenance
Siding is the second biggest surface area protecting your home (only your roof is larger), so it’s important to weather seal it properly. Wood, metal and fiber cement siding all require protective coatings to prevent moisture rot or rust and keep them looking good. It's not just about curb appeal - weather sealing protects your home. Inspect your siding for fading, cracking or peeling paint, and missing or damaged caulking between joints and around windows and doors.
“If the finish on your siding is cracked, peeling or has mold growth, that’s a maintenance issue that should be promptly addressed,” says Schwaller. “If wood is not protected from moisture it will rot. Exposed metal will rust. Mold can discolor and damage siding. It costs far more to replace these things than it does to keep them painted and clean.”
How Often Does Wood Siding Need to be Painted or Stained?
A good quality semi-transparent wood stain should last 2 to 5 years. A solid color stain should last about 8 years (the pigment provides more UV protection). Professional grade exterior house paint should last 10 years or more. “The longevity of any finish depends on selecting the correct paint or stain, along with proper surface preparation and application. Exterior house painting isn’t generally a good DIY project,” says Schwaller.
Wood Decks Need Annual Maintenance
Inspect decks, fences, pergolas, and other wood structures for damage like protruding nails, loose boards, rotted wood, rusted hardware, and cracked or peeling paint. If you pour water on your deck and it soaks in instead of beading on the surface, your deck needs to be resealed or repainted. Wood decks need to be cleaned and sealed every year or two for UV protection and moisture sealing.
Weather Seal Exterior Doors and Windows
Check for missing, cracking or peeling caulk around windows, doors and trim. “Any gap is a path for moisture to get into your home, with the potential to cause water damage and even encourage mold growth inside walls,” says Schwaller. Sealing gaps in siding and around window and door frames also helps keep unwanted pests such as ants, spiders and other bugs out of your home, and can reduce your cooling and heating costs.
Garage Doors Also Need Maintenance
Inspect your garage door for rust, especially on the bottom panel, which gets the most exposure to winter snow and salt. Surface rust can quickly become structural damage and should be addressed promptly. Professionally cleaning and repainting a single garage door panel is far less expensive than replacing the door or even a single panel.
Clean Gutters and Downspouts to Protect Your Home
Gutters collect water from your roof and carry it away from your home’s foundation. Clogged gutters can cause landscape erosion, foundation damage, and even interior flooding. In winter clogged gutters can lead to ice dams and roof damage. Gutters full of debris are also a haven for unwelcome critters.
Have Your Roof Inspected
Damage to roof shingles is hard to see from the ground, so have a qualified roofing contractor inspect your roof at least once a year, after severe weather, or if you notice roof shingle granules in your downspouts. Catching and repairing problems early can extend the life of your roof.
Exterior Painting Season in Wisconsin Can Be Short
Most acrylic latex paints can be applied when it’s dry and above freezing (including overnight), typically mid/late April through November. Oil-based stain products used for decks, cedar siding and log homes require overnight low temperatures 50 degrees or higher, so the window for those projects is typically late May to June through mid-October. That leaves a five to seven month window for exterior painting projects in Wisconsin, so plan ahead and schedule as early as possible.
Walk around your entire house at least once a year and inspect every surface for damage, including the house siding, entry doors, window frames and wood trim around windows and doors. Don’t forget the horizontal surfaces above and below you, including the deck boards, porch flooring, soffit and fascia. Inspect for damaged paint, probe for rotten wood, and check for holes or other damage from woodpeckers and other wildlife. Look for missing or damaged caulking between siding joints and around windows and doors.
Weather Seal to Prevent Expensive Home Repairs
Holes in house siding, cracked masonry, damaged or missing caulk around windows or doors – all of these seem like minor issues, but they create places for moisture or pests to enter your home and cause damage. Long-term moisture intrusion can affect the insulation or even rot the wood framing in your walls, causing extensive damage. Proactively addressing weather sealing issues is far less expensive than fixing water damage.
All Exterior Wood Needs to be Weather Sealed
No matter the age of your home, all exterior wood should be protected with paint or stain. Even pressure-treated wood needs to be sealed to prevent rotting. Signs of damage include blistering, cracked or peeling paint, fading or discolored stained wood, mold or mildew, and soft spots. Damaged wood should be cleaned, repaired and sanded as needed, and repainted, stained or sealed to protect it from moisture.
House Siding Needs Annual Maintenance
Siding is the second biggest surface area protecting your home (only your roof is larger), so it’s important to weather seal it properly. Wood, metal and fiber cement siding all require protective coatings to prevent moisture rot or rust and keep them looking good. It's not just about curb appeal - weather sealing protects your home. Inspect your siding for fading, cracking or peeling paint, and missing or damaged caulking between joints and around windows and doors.
“If the finish on your siding is cracked, peeling or has mold growth, that’s a maintenance issue that should be promptly addressed,” says Schwaller. “If wood is not protected from moisture it will rot. Exposed metal will rust. Mold can discolor and damage siding. It costs far more to replace these things than it does to keep them painted and clean.”
How Often Does Wood Siding Need to be Painted or Stained?
A good quality semi-transparent wood stain should last 2 to 5 years. A solid color stain should last about 8 years (the pigment provides more UV protection). Professional grade exterior house paint should last 10 years or more. “The longevity of any finish depends on selecting the correct paint or stain, along with proper surface preparation and application. Exterior house painting isn’t generally a good DIY project,” says Schwaller.
Wood Decks Need Annual Maintenance
Inspect decks, fences, pergolas, and other wood structures for damage like protruding nails, loose boards, rotted wood, rusted hardware, and cracked or peeling paint. If you pour water on your deck and it soaks in instead of beading on the surface, your deck needs to be resealed or repainted. Wood decks need to be cleaned and sealed every year or two for UV protection and moisture sealing.
Weather Seal Exterior Doors and Windows
Check for missing, cracking or peeling caulk around windows, doors and trim. “Any gap is a path for moisture to get into your home, with the potential to cause water damage and even encourage mold growth inside walls,” says Schwaller. Sealing gaps in siding and around window and door frames also helps keep unwanted pests such as ants, spiders and other bugs out of your home, and can reduce your cooling and heating costs.
Garage Doors Also Need Maintenance
Inspect your garage door for rust, especially on the bottom panel, which gets the most exposure to winter snow and salt. Surface rust can quickly become structural damage and should be addressed promptly. Professionally cleaning and repainting a single garage door panel is far less expensive than replacing the door or even a single panel.
Clean Gutters and Downspouts to Protect Your Home
Gutters collect water from your roof and carry it away from your home’s foundation. Clogged gutters can cause landscape erosion, foundation damage, and even interior flooding. In winter clogged gutters can lead to ice dams and roof damage. Gutters full of debris are also a haven for unwelcome critters.
Have Your Roof Inspected
Damage to roof shingles is hard to see from the ground, so have a qualified roofing contractor inspect your roof at least once a year, after severe weather, or if you notice roof shingle granules in your downspouts. Catching and repairing problems early can extend the life of your roof.
Exterior Painting Season in Wisconsin Can Be Short
Most acrylic latex paints can be applied when it’s dry and above freezing (including overnight), typically mid/late April through November. Oil-based stain products used for decks, cedar siding and log homes require overnight low temperatures 50 degrees or higher, so the window for those projects is typically late May to June through mid-October. That leaves a five to seven month window for exterior painting projects in Wisconsin, so plan ahead and schedule as early as possible.
