Mildew Problem on Eaves – 1

Mildew Problem on Eaves – 2

When doing exterior house painting, especially in Northern areas like Chicago, you can expect to have to deal with mildew. In order to flourish, mildew needs moisture, darkness and food. Not surprisingly, the North side of a house is especially vulnerable to mold. However, when we see mildew thriving on the sunny side of a house, we ask more questions to find out what may be going on with the house.

We recently saw such a situation, as shown in the attached pictures. The eaves, all around the garage were loaded with mildew. After taking a quick visual of the problem, I asked the owners: “Is there something venting in your attic?” A quick answer followed: “Yes – our dryer, but we have louvered openings in the gables.” I said that the moisture thrown off by the dryer was such that it overwhelmed the attic’s ability to vent off the moisture. They never thought the mildew issue was related to the dryer’s moisture. They said they would have the venting issue corrected immediately. I also advised them to have the attic inspected. If the mildew issue is this bad outside the attic, I could only imagine what the inside looks like.

A few years ago, we ran into a similar situation, where the bathrooms on the second level all vented in the attic. The attic was actually covered in mildew – it was black! The client had to have a mold remediation crew come over to eradicate the problem. With the benefit of hindsight, I remembered my eyes getting itchy and teary after fifteen minutes in the house on my initial visit.

As house painters, we see our role as going beyond paint. We look to understand what is at the source of the problems, so we can empower our clients to be good stewards of their property.

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Repairs to surfaces, prior to painting, are a critical part of the work we do as house painting contractors in the Chicago area. Especially challenging repairs are the cracks that sometime develop in the crease of high cathedral ceilings.

Crack Repair on High Ceiling #1

Crack Repair on High Ceilings #2

Crack Repair on High Ceilings #3

On a recent project, we had such a crack to repair between the horizontal plane and the slanted portion of a twenty-foot-high ceiling. How did we go about repairing this crack? Here are the steps we took:

1- A rolling scaffolding is essential to do the work properly and safely.

2- The first step consists of removing any old compound and tape which has become loose or delaminated. Using a utility knife or razor blade is used to cut away the failed material (see picture #1).

3- Stabilizing the drywall near the crease area is also critical. The drywall is supposed to be screwed to wood, but sometime there is not an adequate amount of screws, which allows the drywall to move and crack at the seams. Stabilizing the drywall by adding screws is essential to producing a lasting repair (see picture #1). On our project, the studs were twenty-four inches apart, which added to the stress on the drywall fasteners.

4- Then, we use Durabond to fill the cavities and lay a soft bed in the seam area before laying down a vinyl tape, perforated on the edges for added strength. The vinyl tape is then partially covered with a thin layer of Durabond. Vinyl tape is used instead of paper tape, because it will not tear like paper would when subjected to stress (see picture 2).

5- Once the compound has dried, one or two thin coats of easily sandable compound is used to complete the repair (see picture #3).

6- After the compound is sanded, the repair is complete.

As painting contractors, when repairing cracks, we are always concerned about using materials and techniques that ensure the longevity of the repair. In a few instances, we even had a carpenter come in to add wood support for the drywall in the attic in order to properly stabilize the drywall.

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House painting is commonly looked upon as a once-in-many-years event, which often translates as follows: wait until everything looks bad and then do it over. There is a better and cheaper way!

Paint Maintenance Eye

The problem with this conventional approach is that, by the time your house looks like it really needs a paint job, other serious problems may have developed that will require expensive carpentry repairs, the replacement of windows or doors and, sometime, the repair of interior damage caused by an exterior issue. These problems could have been avoided or greatly minimized if they had been detected early.

As house painting contractors, we believe in paint maintenance and the concept that an ounce of prevention is worth many pounds of correction. We recommend a periodic inspection of the exterior painted surfaces of a house. For newer homes, we recommend inspecting the house every three years at the most. For older houses, we recommend two years. For the oldest wood houses in our care, we recommend a yearly inspection. What do we look for?

When doing a paint inspection, we pay close attention to the condition of the caulk. When caulk begins to crack, it is a point of entry for moisture, which often gets trapped and will rot the wood. Where is this most likely to occur? The most vulnerable areas are: miter cuts, where a brick molding meets the sill, where two wood surfaces meet and where wood meets a different substrate like brick or masonry.

Our paint inspection also focuses on detecting early signs of paint failure. Where are they more likely to occur? They are: window sills, the top portions of muntin bars, the top of the rails on panel doors, the lower four feet around a house, the dormer surfaces near the roof shingles and the trim boards around gutters. Old clapboard house with ten to twenty coats of paint present an added challenge. The surface tension on the paint coating is such that, combined with our harsh Northern climate, it can cause all the paint layers to crack and begin to fail.

Having detected the paint maintenance issues, we then repair the caulk, prep the painted areas, spot-prime and spot-paint as needed. Doing this kind of paint maintenance can be done in one or two man-days for newer houses and two to four man-days for old houses. It not only adds years to the useful life of a paint job, improves the long-term appearance of the house, but also saves money on costly repairs and replacement. Call on us today for your FREE paint inspection.

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