Is this really how long a paint job lasts?

[claudedebussy]

i had my house painted by professional decorators about 4 years ago. already the paint is peeling off all the woodwork. the front door looks disgusting.

i don't think they sanded the woodwork or used primer / undercoat. i'm 99% sure they didn't on the front door. Paint is peeling off in huge chunks.

i'm going to do it all myself now. properly.

or aibu and expecting too much?

no-one else i know paints the exterior of their house every 4 years.

It depends on the weather conditions where you live how often you have to paint. 4 years doesn't sound outrageous, I'm afraid.

we paint ours every year

Theres a nice little table here which should give you some idea of how long paintwork lasts depending on conditions. I would be expecting to repaint or at least touch up by now.

WHAT???? EVERY YEAR?? wtf

so i guess i need to grow up and expect to do this more often.

but how the hell do our manky neighbours manage to keep theirs looking reasonable and they haven't repainted for 7 years? maybe it's because i'm short-sighted.

well. i'm not impressed. it's going to take me ages just to do the front door.

i still can't believe it - i don't see people painting their front doors every 4 years. and ours looks TERRIBLE.

i still think our decorators did a shit job.

oh yes. thanks for the replies

i think it must be about time for my pmt to kick. i really shouldn't be this annoyed...

I had the front and back windows, plus front and back doors done within a year of moving here (so 4 yrs or so ago).

The front door needs doing again and some of the front windows. They are on the east-facing side with lots of morning sun. The back door and windows (except 1) are all fine and looking good for another 4 years. They are west-facing and shady.

It is annoying though.

You could bite the bullet and change the door and frame for a composite one, you'd blow a few hundred pounds never need to paint it again and they doo look very very nice...

interesting you say that pascha.

i have composite windows and they don't need repainting - just the doors and old frames.

i live in a conservation area with the original front door. i like this a lot. it isn't really that pretty but it fits in with the area and i like keeping as much of the old as possible.

i'll have to weigh that up against sitting on my lardy arse eating bonbons.

I live in a conservation area too although my old front door was horrible - one of those cheap hollow-inside doors which let in all the drafts so it was well worth it for me. Guess you'll have to get sanding then...

my front /side doors are black i paint them everyyear.
the 2 bottom bricks and doorstep are black i paint those every year too.
the house is cream and ive not had to repaint it in 2 years-it sill looks great.

I have a flat by the sea which has to be painted every five years to keep it looking decent as it takes the full force of the weather off the sea; salt laden gales do nothing for cream painted stucco.

The paint job on my London home was looking equally awful after five years, without the seaside excuse. In this case it was down to shoddy work, and we are now having it corrected and re-done at great expense by painters who actually know how to prepare surfaces. You learn.

ok i hear you now - i was slightly swayed by my other neighbour painting her wooden fence herself and declaring that it would be good forever. she does not do hyperbole.

i've just have my lovely builder round to quote for something and he pointed out all the joins in the door, and that it's solid wood. he says it's just moving all the time so it causes cracks.

feel a lot better that it wasn't a crap job, but also feeling worse at the prospect of doing this again in five years time.

faints dead away.

I painted my outside doors over six years ago, I didn't sand them or use a primer. None of the paint is peeling off, it looks perfectly fine and I don't think it will need painting again for a few more years. Maybe your decorators used cheap and rubbish paint.

I used Dulux exterior paint. I think it must be good stuff.

I live by the sea and have had my woodwork painted with Jotun paint which is designed for houses in exposed/salty conditions. It is supposed to last 12 years. It's been a year and it's still in perfect nick

[Scribbling down 'Jotun']

hmmm i don't think it was cheap rubbish. it was teknos which is only available to the building trade. it's good paint.

i think they didn't use enough coats maybe.

but it HAS been 4 years to be fair.

i'm in london so i wonder if i could use jotun?

i am rather sold on f&b though

sanding down the surface is key

removing and loose, cracked or flaking material

cleaning off all dirt and dust, then wiping off with white spirit

for outdoor work I strongly recommend Aluminium Wood Primer which is very durable and also prevents knots or sap seeping. If you are doing it before the old paint surface has degraded you will not need primer, but patch-prime any bare patches.

oil-based undercoat and gloss system is probably more durable than water based

It also needs to be done in dry weather, preferably a sunny day. Pro painters "follow the sun" coating onto surfaces that the sun has just made warm and dry, but are now in shade as your house rotates around the sun.

Timber exposed to the sun should not be painted black or dark colours as it wil get very hot and break down sooner.

thank you very much, pigletjohn. that is EXTREMELY useful...

i was hoping to use farrow & ball which are acrylic based so that would rule out your primer suggestion.

or do i need to just ditch the f&b idea?

Farrow and Ball, pah!

Fashionable paint for glossy magazines.

i aspire

what's the difference between undercoat and primer?

primer is mostly to stick firmly to the substrate and not come off, and give a good surface for following coats. In the case of aluminium wood primer, it also seals stains and prevents sap coming through. It also seals certain old preservers such as creosote from coming throgh and discolouring the finish.

Undercoat is mostly to obliterate any underlying colour or pattern from showing through, to leave a plain, even colour that will make the colour of the topcoat look even, and to provide a thickish layer that can easily be lightly sanded to smooth. undercoats are most often white or grey, but can be coloured to improve the depth of finish of the topcoat. It also evens up absorbency, e.g. if you have patches of filler, which enables the topcoat to dry without uneven texture or gloss patches.

topcoat is mostly to give weather resistance, so will usually dry rather hard and glossy, and gives the final colour. Some finishes may have poor obliterating power (i.e. you can see through them) hence the importance of an undercoat of even colour with no pattern or old colour showing through.

For indoor work you can use white primer undercoat, which is not as good in any respect except that it dries very fast and is easy to sand smooth with fine paper and a light touch, because it is quite soft, and brushes/spills can be cleaned with water.

I should have said

For indoor work you can use white acrylic primer undercoat