Most of us want to see certain things done quickly, including house painting Pleasanton.  So, we couldn’t help asking: “how long will it take?” or “how long will it take to finish?”

In exterior painting, we are all hoping for good weather conditions to enable painting outside the house. But it’s not always the case. There are other factors that come into play such as the number of coatings, the size of the house, the size of the painting crew, the type of surface to be painted, and a lot more. These things can cause the topcoat to take a lot more time to dry than we’ve hoped.

The following are some reasons why exterior house painting may take a while and why there may be some delays to your job:

1. The weather– The weather – especially bad weather – is always the top reason why there are delays to most of our painting jobs. When the weather is wet, you cannot go out to paint the exterior. If you do try to paint while it’s still raining, the moisture could delay the proper drying of paint. This could result in unsightly overlap marks and water streaks, and they’re not the results you want to see in your home’s exterior.It’s always better to wait out until the rain stops and the weather becomes better. It’s also important to check whether the surface becomes perfectly dry again to be painted. Even a whit of leftover moisture should not remain on the surface; otherwise, it could ruin your entire paint job.
2. Temperature and humidity – Both the temperature and humidity also play a big role to the paint’s drying speed. While drying time depends on the paints you use (latex or oil-based), the general rule of thumb is that latex paints are applied when temperatures go between 50 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and oil paints in temperatures between 40 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit.Painting under too hot or too cold temperatures can ruin your paint job. It may not dry or bind properly to the surface, which can lead to cracking, peeling or blistering. And of course, the surface problems mean that you have to start painting all over again, which takes additional time.

   It is always better to paint during late in the summer season or in early autumn, where the extreme changes in temperature during the day are low.

   The optimum degree of humidity – the amount of moisture in the air – should play around 40% to 70%. It’s always better to paint when humidity is low. Higher humidity can lead to the slower drying time of the topcoat. Plus, other things like dust and soot can stick to the wet surface, and you don’t want a dirty paint finish. Both water- and oil-based paints are prone to such problems when they’re exposed to high humidity.

3. The size and condition of the house – It goes without saying that the bigger the house is, the longer the job takes to finish.Another factor is the condition of the house. If your home’s exterior doesn’t have a lot of serious surface problems, then the preparation and painting would be relatively easier and faster. But if your exterior has acquired any sorts of surface issues like peeling, flaking, molds and mildew, rust marks, etc., then the prep work and painting shall take a lot longer.
4. Hampering the work in progress – If you’re the nosy type who likes to check and double-check on how the painting job is going, you’d most likely follow the workmen around and scrutinize their every move to see if they’re doing their job right. Your kids and pets may follow you all the way to the work area and may run around the work site. Not only it will be annoying and distracting, it can also be dangerous as it can lead to accidents – especially when there are solvents or high ladders around, for instance. If that happens, the job may take longer than expected.It’s better to leave the workers to do their job first. When their break comes, discuss with them about the progress of their work.

   Also, make sure that any obstruction (rocks and stones, overgrown bushes, a garden hose that’s strewn across the lawn, etc.) is out of the way before the workers arrive. If you plan to cut on painting costs, you may also do the cleaning and prep the surfaces by yourself. This will also reduce the task on the part of the painting crew, speeding up the job in the process.

5. Lack of communication – The project of exterior painting may get hindered by the lack of good communication between the workers and the homeowners.As a homeowner, you are the one who knows what you want for your house to be painted. It is important that you should discuss this with your contractor to avoid disputes in the future. Better, provide the contractor your own list of specified work (such as the number of preferred coatings, inclusion or omission of primer, or areas that you want or don’t want to have them painted) that you’d like to be done so that they would have an idea on what you would have wanted the space to look like when it’s done.

   If contractors find something that’s beyond repair or potentially harmful (like lead in old paint), they inform the homeowners that there is no other alternative than to have them removed or replaced. They may sometimes discuss their suggestions to the homeowners and together they try to reach an agreement or compromise.

There are a lot of reasons that can hamper exterior house painting Pleasanton from getting finished within the defined time frame. While there are factors that are beyond our control such as the weather, there are other things that can be managed and this will help to speed up the painting job as desired.