{tips for painting exterior wood trim}

Paint Your Exterior Trim – the Right Way

In these crazy Minnesota seasons, the do-it-yourself homeowner knows that painting an exterior can be tricky. Let’s face it – we don’t want to tackle this project again until we get truly sick of the color. The majority of your home’s exterior trim is wood, which expands and contracts with temperature extremes and retains moisture once the paint film is broken. Unfortunately, this may cause your exterior paint to peel. Hirshfield’s experts Ron Clarin and Mike Adochio from West St. Paul give some stellar tips to make sure you have the least amount of maintenance as possible.

All standard painting rules apply. The surface needs to be clean, dull, and dry. We always recommend scraping any loose paint off and sanding the surface and prime any bare spots.

The most effective primer will be a traditional oil-based primer such as Hirshfield’s product number 88-6050. The oil base primer offers superior penetration and adhesion and may be coated with a high quality 100% acrylic latex paint such as Hirshfield’s Housecoat or Platinum Exterior. Preferably something with a sheen such as Housecoat II Low-Lustre or Platinum Eggshell as the additional sheen offers a slightly smoother more durable finish.

Coat problem areas with Peel Bond. Peel Bond is a clear combination primer, bonder and wood stabilizer. It is a great flexible product for trim that traditionally has peeling problems especially on the horizontal bottom surfaces exposed more to moisture and sun.

Always use two coats of paint over either the oil base primer or Peel Bond. This gives a thicker paint film and will always be more durable and longer lasting than one coat.

Even if you do everything perfectly, still expect to do some maintenance every few years on your exterior trim. So don’t get discouraged because just like us, our houses take some serious abuse from the Minnesota climate.

Stay tuned for tips on painting man-made trim.

Since Frank and Elizabeth Hirshfield opened their first store in 1894, it has been our mission to do the best job possible meeting customer needs and solving customer problems. Hirshfield’s. People and products you can trust.