Checking your paintwork after winter: how to do it

Winter in North Holland is above all wet, windy and changeable. Rain, frost and thaw alternate, and that is exactly what puts the exterior paintwork of your home under real strain. Small defects that seemed harmless in the autumn can grow into genuine problems within a few months. In this article you will read how to check your paintwork yourself after the winter, what exactly to look out for and what to do if you find something.

1. Why after winter in particular

Exterior paintwork takes the hardest beating in winter. Timber absorbs moisture in wet spells and swells, in frost that moisture freezes, and during a thaw everything shrinks again. That movement causes hairline cracks in the paint and at the joints of window frames. New water gets in through those cracks, and so begins the cycle that eventually leads to wood rot.

Spring is the time to discover this. The days are getting lighter, you can walk around your home at leisure and there is still time to plan repairs for the drier months. Spending a quarter of an hour looking now prevents a small repair from becoming an expensive one later.

2. Walking around your home

On a dry day, walk all the way round the house and look especially at places where water collects or runs down. Take a pair of binoculars for the upper floor and the roof edges if you like. These points deserve extra attention:

• Bottom rails and the lower corners of window frames, where rainwater lies longest.
• The corner joints of windows and doors, where timber meets timber.
• Sealant joints around frames and glass that have cracked or come loose.
• Fascias, bargeboards and dormers, which catch a lot of wind and rain.

Also look at the bottom of your front door and at timber fences, sheds and garden gates. On the south side you are more likely to see fading and chalking paint caused by the sun; on the north and west sides, damp and green growth.

3. Wood rot, cracks and flaking

Flaking paint, blistering and hairline cracks are the first signs. If in doubt, press a screwdriver gently into the wood at the weak spots: if the wood gives or feels soft and spongy, there is probably wood rot. A window that suddenly sticks, or dark discolouration under the paint, can also indicate moisture in the timber. How that kind of damage is dealt with is explained in wood rot and window frame repair.

What repair roughly costs depends heavily on how far the damage has spread. An indication and the factors that determine the price can be found in what wood rot repair costs. The earlier it is found, the smaller the repair usually is.

4. What you can do yourself

Not everything has to be done by a painter straight away. You can clean a dirty window frame or front door with a soft brush and a mild cleaner, so you can see more clearly how the paint is holding up. Small loose bits of sealant are something you can keep an eye on, and green growth on woodwork is best removed before it takes a firmer hold.

Do leave the real repair work to a professional painter, though. Simply painting over wood rot seals the moisture in, so the rot carries on under the new paint. If something needs doing urgently, a small repair is sometimes possible in colder periods too; read about that in painting in winter.

5. Planning repairs in good time

If your walk-round turns up a few points, do not wait until the autumn. The exterior season roughly runs from spring into early autumn, and painters are often booked up quickly in summer. By making an appointment in spring, the repairs can be carried out as soon as the weather is dry enough.

Take photos of what you see and send them through the quote form. Our painter responds personally within 24 hours and then comes by for a brief walk-through, after which you will have a written quote within 48 hours. For the local approach, read for example about exterior painting in Purmerend or exterior painting in Amstelveen.

In practice this topic belongs with exterior painting and wood rot and window frame repair. There you can read about the approach and the options, or request a free, no-obligation quote straight away.

Further reading: How much does spraying walls cost?, Painting a listed building: how is it done?, Choosing a window frame colour.

Frequently asked questions