Exteriors, Chicago houses and buildings
Exterior painting for Chicago houses and commercial buildings
Siding, trim, porches and railings, prepared for the weather they actually face. The aim is the most functional and impressive upgrade to the outside of your property.
Chapter 01
Where exterior paint fails first: south faces, chalking and bare end grain
Exterior paint rarely fails everywhere at once. The faces of a building that take the most sun and weather, usually south and west, go first: the film dries out, loses its grip and begins to peel in sheets. A chalky powder that comes off on your hand when you rub the siding is the other early warning, a sign the binder in the old coat has worn thin.
Bare end grain is the quiet culprit. Where a board is cut, the open ends of the wood act like straws, pulling water in at window sills, trim corners and the bottoms of porch posts. Once moisture is inside, paint lifts from behind, and no amount of fresh topcoat will hold on a surface that is wet underneath.
Chicago is hard on all of this. Freeze-thaw winters push water into every small gap and then expand it, and humid summers keep wood and caulk moving. A good exterior job is mostly about stopping water from getting behind the paint, and the colour comes second.
A wood-frame cottage with navy clapboard siding and a white porch on an autumn street
How an exterior job runs: scrape, sand, prime, then two finish coats
The work starts by removing whatever is already failing. Loose and peeling paint is scraped back to a sound edge, rough areas are sanded so the new coat has something to grip, and the surface is cleaned of dirt, chalk and mildew. Painting over any of that only buries the problem for a season.
Bare wood is primed before anything else touches it, with extra attention to end grain, sills and joints, and gaps that will move are filled with a flexible exterior caulk rather than a rigid filler. Two finish coats then go on over the primer, because one coat of even good paint does not build enough film to weather well.
Weather sets the pace. Exterior paint needs a dry surface and a mild enough temperature to cure properly, and the label on the can states its limits. For a quote on siding, trim, porches or railings anywhere in Chicago and the surrounding areas, call (773) 960-2273 and describe the building.
Chapter 03
After the job: an annual wash and a spring look at sills and porch decks
A painted exterior lasts longer when it is kept clean. Washing the siding once a year with a garden hose and a soft brush removes the dirt and pollen that hold moisture against the surface and feed mildew. Pressure washers are best left alone on painted siding, because a hard jet can drive water behind the film and strip the paint it was meant to clean.
Each spring, walk the building and look closely at the places water reaches first: window sills, the bottoms of door frames, porch decks and the tops of railings. A hairline crack in the caulk or a small blister in the paint is a minor fix when it is found early, and a rotted board when it is not.
Touching up small areas promptly keeps the coating sealed. The same colour from the same batch matches best, and a little attention at the first sign of trouble is far cheaper than a full repaint years ahead of schedule.
In its own words, Walldecor completes projects in an efficient manner at fair rates, using only top quality products and qualified painting crews.