By Jason Humrichous

There are a few factors in why your house in Westfield Indiana has faded. Quickly put;  product, color selection, sheen selection, the primer used, and home orientation all play an important factor in how long the color will last before fading.   

1. Home Orientation – The South side of the home typically gets most of the wear and tear, and here you will see the most fading of your exterior painting.  Tree Cover prevents fading by blocking direct sunlight.
2. Primer- Sometimes, it might appear to be fading, but instead, it is an acid burn from your cement siding not being primed with a masonry primer.  My experience says that most manufactured cement siding and even wood must be properly primed to prevent damage to the finish coat. Evan pre-primed trim that is not primed with a quality primer can cause failure to the finish (topcoat). The “savings” you experienced in your production home will catch up in the maintenance plan of needing to paint your new home within three years of being built.  I recently saw this issue in a neighborhood of production homes here in Westfield, Indiana.  If this is happening at your home, you will potentially need to do a full prime and two coats of a quality finish.
3. Sheen Selection –  Most people don’t appreciate sheen and how it works or where and how much they should use it.  A satin finish is the standard sheen selection for most homes.  I have about one person a year who might ask for a flat, and I try to dig into the why.  If I learn that they understand the pros and the cons, we will happily apply that sheen.  It is their home, and they are the ones writing the check.  A satin finish helps with the wicking of the water and is a layer of defense against the sun.  Some lower-level products with a flat sheen will burn out the color super fast—may be less than three years.  A High-level product with a satin finish could last upward of twelve plus years.  Some people want to get carried away and pull in a high gloss sheen.  I have seen high-gloss sheen cause stickiness problems with dark colors, which had to be primed and painted with a lower sheen. 
4. Color Selection – Some colors fade faster than others. Some paint manufacturers will mark their colors as “Interior Only,” advising people not to use these colors outside or at least in a sunny location.  Yellows and Reds are known for heavy fading.  Moving to a high-level paint with a satin finish will help with retaining and maintaining color fading.
5. Product Selection – Lastly, product selection is the number one thing when helping against color fade. The value of spending a little bit more on the product well outweighs the labor of repainting your home every 3-5 years. A top-tier product will allow you only to need to paint every 12 plus years. 

Here is a link to our blog on Choosing the best exterior paints

https://rebrand.ly/Best-exterior-paint-for-me