Being able to effectively care for your home will require you to have a thorough understanding about the needs of the various parts of the house. The exterior paint may be one of the things that you first noticed when driving up to your home, but it may a part of the home that is rarely addressed. Below are some things to keep in mind if about caring for your home's exterior paint. 

Remove Foreign Substances from the Paint

Large amounts of foreign substances can gather on the surfaces of your home's exterior paint. When these substances gather, they can contribute to the house appearing to be extremely dirty and dingy. Furthermore, these substances can permanently degrade the paint by leaving stains in it or by causing severe scuffing.

While dirt, mud, and other large particles will be easy to see, pollen and other fine matter will be less visible. Regardless of size, any particle is able to scuff the paint. Cleaning the exterior after the spring and fall months will remove most of these materials so that the paint is protected against this type of wear. When cleaning the exterior paint, make sure to apply protective plastic over the windows to avoid accidentally forcing water into the home's interior.  

Keep Spare Paint Supplies Readily Available

Eventually, the exterior paint will need some patch work. One common cause of this type of damage will be rocks and sticks that get thrown into the house by the lawn mower as they can leave deep scratches and chips. While applying a small amount of paint to repair these damages is simple, it can be surprisingly difficult to perfectly match the color of the paint to your home. By keeping some spare paint in storage, you can avoid mismatched paint in the event that a damage occurs. If the paint is no longer usable by the time you need it, you can use the paint can as a reference to make it easier to match the original color.

Avoid Delaying Repainting the Home

When sections of the paint start to crack and peel, it is time to have the home repainted. Homeowners will frequently delay residential painting becuase they want to avoid the having painters working on their home. However, failing to have a new coat of paint applied can be extremely damaging to the home as the paint offers protection against moisture damage. As a result, delaying having this work done can result in you needing to have major structural repairs done before the new coat of paint can be applied.