Housing...Inside and Out

March 27, 1998
Don't BlameThe Paint If It Peels

When paint peels from a newly painted house, some people think they have been sold "bad paint." In truth, a defective paint product is seldom the cause of the problem.

Occasionally paint may deteriorate from improper storage or freezing, but this should be apparent when you open the container or when you begin to apply the paint. More often paint failure can be blamed on poor surface preparation or moisture problems.

If your home is shedding its new coat, check these points:

  • Was the building cleaned, scraped, sanded and primed thoroughly before painting? 
  • Was the building completely dry when the paint was applied? Application during or immediately after damp weather can cause problems. Moisture problems may also occur when old paint is so deteriorated that the building becomes water logged and virtually impossible to dry.
  • Was the paint applied under hot sun? It is not advisable to paint a heated surface because condensation may occur causing bubbles to form under the fresh film. When you paint, follow the sun around the house and work on each section after the sun has passed and the surface begins to cool.
  • Thoroughly inspect the building to make sure no moisture is seeping beneath the paint surface. Check to see that caulk has been applied to seams and cracks around windows, where steps meet the house, under thresholds, around water faucets and around porch columns. Examine gutters and downspouts for defects such as clogging, holes or improper pitch.
  • If you have recently installed new insulation, check to be sure that vapor barriers were used. If not, warm air inside the house may be moving through the walls to the cold surface of the insulation where water vapor condenses. This moisture can cause paint to peel on exterior walls.
  • After you inspect the house, if you still cannot pinpoint the problem, consider hiring a housing professional to look it over. Identification of the real cause of the paint problem now will save you time and money in the long run. Inspection services should prove less costly than a shot-in-the-dark approach to corrections.


Written by Dr. Francis Graham (Retired)

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