12 November 2018
 Categories: , Blog

Buying an old clapboard house to remodel is a popular choice for many Americans. It's a fantastic way to get ahead on the property ladder and create a modern and comfortable home for your family. Clapboard houses also offer plenty of charm and old-fashioned character that modern homes can't compete with.

Old clapboard homes need varying amounts of work to bring them up to modern standards. The extent of the work depends on the age and condition of the property and how well it's been maintained over the years. One project that almost all old clapboard homes will require is external painting. This is a fairly large project, but here are three reasons why it's an excellent investment of your time and money.

1. Repair

Painting the exterior of your clapboard home won't repair any damage to the timber. However, the preparation process that's required before painting will identify any problems before the work begins. With any type of painting, adequate preparation is vital, and it's often the most time-consuming part of the whole project.

Timber clapboard can have several issues, particularly if it's been neglected for some time. Wood rot, mold, mildew, and damage from insect infestations are all common in clapboard. Before painting begins, your contractor can identify and remedy these issues by replacing clapboards that are damaged.

2. Weatherproofing

Timber is a beautiful and versatile building material, but it's also very vulnerable to damage from the weather when used externally. Water, sunlight, wind, and cold temperatures can all have negative impacts on timber clapboards unless they're adequately protected.

Painting your clapboard home is the only way to create a weatherproof barrier between the timber surface of the boards and the onslaught of the natural environment. Ordinary exterior paint does a fairly good job, but for the ultimate protection, opt for one of the new breeds of exterior paints. These include ingredients that provide ultraviolet (UV) protection and use polymers to bind the paint particles for superior water resistance.

3. Aesthetics

A fresh coat of paint can transform a room in a home, and the same transformative properties apply to external paint. Even without any other renovations, a clapboard home can look fresher, cleaner, and in better shape. As well as freshening up tired timber clapboards, external paint gives you a chance to add some contemporary style by choosing a modern color palette that brings an old home into the twenty-first century. 

To get started painting your clapboard house, contact an exterior painting service.