Does Your Home Have Paint Scars?

What is scarring when it comes to paint?

Do you have an older home? Have you ever really looked at its siding? If you have an older home, especially with cedar siding, you might have noticed what painters call scarring. Scarring results when old paint peels or is scraped off and new paint is applied to the siding. The scar is the area where the old paint was scraped off, primed, and re-painted next to an area where the old paint remained in place and was painted over.

There are a few different types of cedar siding. The most common in our area are cedar shake and smooth horizontal cedar planks.

Cedar shake or shingles

These often have rakes, or vertical lines of texture down the surface. Once a painter starts scraping loose and peeling paint from the cedar shakes and then priming and repainting, each shake will have a different appearance due to the differing rake depth once repainted. Over the years, as your home is repainted many times, the paint doesn’t fail or peel at the same rate on every area of your home, leading to different depth of paint (or mileage) on each shake.

Smooth horizontal cedar planks or other smooth wood surfaces

Similar to cedar shakes, when a painter scrapes loose peeling paint from cedar plank siding or other smooth cedar surfaces, you will see scarring. There are a few ways to minimize the appearance of scarring. Using a flat or low-luster paint sheen reduces the appearance of scarring compared to satin, semi-gloss, or gloss sheens. This is the cheapest way to minimize the appearance of scarring.

You can further reduce the appearance of scarring by sanding the edges to smooth the edge of the old paint, making the scar less noticeable. If your home was constructed before 1978, be sure you are working with a painter licensed to work on structures of that age! There is a risk that the existing paint could contain lead. Painters and contractors are required to follow certain processes and procedures from the moment they come to give you an estimate on your home if it was built before 1978!

Any sanding done on a home that could contain lead based paint must be done using a HEPA-filtered sander to meet EPA requirements.  The cost of this method increases the price of your project compared to simply scraping the loose paint. Sanding will not eliminate the scarring, but it will make it less noticeable. The only way to eliminate scarring is to replace your siding, which is the most expensive option.

Whatever your taste and budget allow, rest assured that CertaPro Painters of Portland will consult with you to protect your home with a new coat of paint and deliver an extraordinary experience within your budget!