How long does exterior paint last in Pierce County?

The honest answer is eight to twelve years on siding and five to eight on trim, and the difference between those numbers and "it started peeling in year two" is almost entirely prep and product.

What kills paint here

Pierce County paint doesn't fail from sun. It fails from water. Nine months of rain, moss on the north side, gutters that overflow onto the siding, and caulk that gave up two winters ago. Water gets behind the film, the wood swells, and the paint lets go. That's why a job that looked fine when the painter left can be peeling by the following spring: the prep didn't stop the water.

The three things that decide lifespan

Prep. Pressure washing, scraping every loose edge, sanding, replacing rotten trim, re-caulking every joint, and priming bare wood. On an older house this is half the job. Skip it and you're painting over a failure in progress.

Product. A builder-grade exterior paint and a top-line 100% acrylic like Sherwin-Williams Duration or Emerald cost a few hundred dollars apart on a whole house and last years apart. We spec the better one because we'd rather not come back early.

Maintenance. Clean the gutters every fall, wash the house every couple of years, and touch up chips before winter. That's the difference between year eight and year twelve.

South-facing and trim go first

Expect the south and west walls and any horizontal trim to need attention two or three years before the rest of the house. That's normal. A trim-only repaint at year six is a lot cheaper than a full repaint at year seven.

If a painter's bid is a lot lower than the others, ask what's in the prep line. That's usually where the money went.

Want to know where your house is on that curve? We'll look at it for free.