If you’re thinking about exterior painting or staining in the Goshen, Indiana or Columbia City, Indiana this year, don’t wait too long to decide! At Matthews Painting we are already scheduling for exterior paint jobs to begin in April, if weather permits, and May as the season enters full swing. Now is the time to decide if you need exterior painting or staining work done, and trust your residential or commercial paint or stain job to the professional painters who will deliver exceptional and on-time results.

Our exterior painting and staining services in Warsaw and Syracuse Indiana include house painting and staining, deck staining and sealing, and log home sealing, staining and restoration. They’re all necessary to protect your property investment, avoid costly and complicated wood repairs, and fix any existing water damage or wear to minimize the impact of weather on your exterior cedar siding or deck.

First the protection: Your home or business is likely subjected to the sun’s rays, and as welcome as they are, they cause damage to the paint or stain over time. That’s especially true for log homes, but it’s common for people with decks or other wood surfaces to notice discoloring or drying from the sun. Paint has the same exposure, with fragile cracks or visible peeling and bubbling from the heat, but painting professionals are trained to see the early signs of UV damage you might miss. It’s important to stop any paint or stain deterioration in its tracks, paint, stain and reseal those surfaces, and get that clean fresh coat of paint or stain on your outside wood surfaces.

As damaging as the sun can be, water is also damaging. You likely know that, but aren’t always sure if you’re seeing signs of trouble. Soft spots and visible stains are obvious, and so is the presence of mold or mildew – especially in places with less sun on a heavily wooded lot, or Northern exposed surfaces for example. A lakeside home is a summer blessing with swimming and boating opportunities centered on family and friends, but any home exposed to water is at risk for moisture damage. The truth is that all buildings are subjected to water and weather, and timely exterior painting or staining are needed to halt any paint, stain or wood damage and prevent trouble.

Insects are another reason to consider a professional inspection. Sometimes the obvious moisture leads to the discovery of insect damage too, but it’s not always what you’d think of first. Part of any exterior staining or painting job is to first identify all the risks, and address them before completing the painting or staining. The need for an exterminator, or for rotten wood replacement or repair, comes before the professional painters move forward, and that’s one reason why any Matthew’s inspection and an estimate considers all the conditions that may apply. A look at roof shingles, landscaping or ground-level grading may tell us more about what’s happening.

Once there’s a complete picture of your home or business exterior – and all the underlying risks have been addressed – there’s still surface preparation to do. Scraping or wire brushing off loose paint or stain is a given. Included with that is testing for moisture content in the raw wood to ensure the right conditions for your new paint or stain, and considering the property’s orientation to determine how long it might take to dry. We typically are looking for 15% moisture or less.  We want the paint or stain job to be perfect when it’s new but also for the years to come.

Painting or staining may feel like a cosmetic decision, especially if you’re thinking of selling and want a fresh look before putting a house on the market. Yet it’s really a part of your exterior systems and as important as a new roof or properly working gutters and downspouts. The good news is that prevention is one of the smartest decisions you can make for your property with the benefit of adding beauty and elegance to your freshly painted or stained home. A properly sealed pool deck immediately becomes safer and more useful, and a perfectly maintained log home exterior, house exterior or balcony is ready for those long summer nights that make it a home.  Matthews Painting is  now expanding our interior and exterior wall, ceiling, trim, door, window and cabinet painting and staining, wallpaper removal, drywall repair, deck staining and sealing and log Home staining and sealing into the Goshen, Indiana and Columbia City Indiana areas.