How long does exterior paint last on houses here? (Goodyear: HOA, contractor)

[Rick Lee]

I didn't think my house looked bad at all and certainly not compared to the neighbors' houses. Today a painter working on a neighbor's came by to say it was time to repaint. Turns out he had painted my house for the previous owners eight yrs. ago and said that's about how long it's good for and gets more expensive to repaint the longer you wait after that. He quoted me $2600. I'm not going to do it, but I'm curious what others here do for painting their exteriors. How often, ballpark pricing, patchwork or priming, DIY'able. What say you?

[ji603]

My neighbor had his painted last year.

First paint job in 12 years, and I'll admit it was looking a bit tired. Not terrible, but the stucco does lose its paint after a while. For what it's worth, and perhaps the painting business is picking up now after a few years' slump, he got a two color paint job on a single storey 3/2 house for 1200 bucks.

I guess I'd expect to pay a little more if your house is larger, the guys have to get a ladder or two off the truck, and/or the contracting business is getting busy again - but I wonder if 2600 isn't a bit high.

No way I'd paint the thing myself... those mint juleps don't drink themselves

[kirby10]

Please let me know how old your home is...I was a paint contractor in the desert for years...and have some knowledge of a desert application.

[Rick Lee]

House was built in '96, so it sounds like the last repaint was done eight years between then and now. It's a one level and not that big, 2500 sq/ft.

[ReadyFreddy]

I imagine it matters how good a job was done, what the surface is and what products were used.

My neighbors told me my last house was probably the original paint (14 years old or so) when I repainted. The stucco doesn't do bad. It's the footing(?) and the wood eaves/trim that show the age, and any painted doors.

I got two quotes recently from painters I know to do a thorough job. Both were around $2000 for one color or $2400 for two colors, for a one-story, 1800SF house.

[stevek64]

We recently bought a single story stucco home built by Continental Homes that's 19 years old up in Goodyear(Estrella Mountain Ranch) and our neighbor told us it has not yet been repainted. I have to say I was shocked as we thought it was painted recently when we bought it as it looks great....doesn't look blotchy, faded(though I'm sure it has faded a bit over the years), etc. The eaves however did look pretty funky.....lots of peeling, faded color and I painted them. Don't know if this is a unique case or we just had someone who painted this home with quality paint/knew what they were doing.

On the other hand, I've seen homes that were built in the 2000's and some look in great need of painting to my eyes....very blotchy, color fading unevenly, etc. and friends have told us they had to be repainted within 8-10 years.

Though I'm not a paint expert, guessing it's bad prep, cheap paint(watered down?), perhaps a combo of both or something all together different?

[observer53]

My house was built in 1986, was repainted for the first time in 2003. The paint on the stucco had actually held up well, and didn't come off in any visible degree when they pressure washed before painting. The wood needed paint more than the walls did. Nine years later, it still looks really good. It cost around 2000-2200 ( I really don't remember) 2100 sq ft, one level. They used a bit more paint on the eaves, as the underside had been dark and I had them take it to the same lighter color as on the walls. Other than that, pretty standard job.

[Rick Lee]

To my untrained eyes my ext. paint looks fine. There's no chipping or cracking at all. I don't care too much about color fade, but it looks pretty even to me if there is any. I think I'll hold out a bit longer.

[ReadyFreddy]

I don't think there's any training needed. If it looks fine to you and your HOA or neighbors aren't complaining, it's fine!

[kitshipp]

We just had our house painted at the request of our HOA. Single story, 1400sqft, $1600 which included a body color and a trim color, as well as the replacement of the plastic garage door stripping. We got a deep green for the trim and were told that dark colors fade quicker than the lighter tans/creams/desert colors. The house will probably need another coat in about 10 years. Definitely DIYable if you have the time and patience.