I need to make a very quick decision and want to know two things:
1) Assuming proper preparation, quality paint, and plenty of it, do the eaves need to be painted with semi-gloss or is flat ok?2) Are the eaves normally painted with the same color as the wall below, or as the facia board trim?
This is a SoCal house, everything else pretty typical. TIA for any quick answers.
- Magnusfarce
Color of the eaves is up to you. I've seen houses with one color on everything, and other houses - usually in historic districts - with pretty elaborate paint jobs. Just go with what looks better. If you have a separate trim color, normally the eave will go the wall color.
Flat paint is fine. In fact, if I see one house a year with semi-gloss on the siding or eaves, it's a lot. And I can't remember the last time I used semi-gloss on the exterior. It's been years and years since I did that, except for doors and occasionally windows.
My painting contractor used Benjamin Moore soft gloss on the eaves, soffets, foundation, porch roof, and chimney of one of my houses. It has not flaked yet. Can't say if it is any worse than the flat (or very low lustre) paint of the past. Probably more important than the paint is the ventilation up there. But still, use the best paint you can find in your area.
I agree with Ollie and Hop. Since you mention soCal, keep the colors as light as possible of course, and if you do use something darker, then try the semi-gloss; it'll resist heat better because it'll reflect rather than absorb. The brightest white you can get is the best for not absorbing heat of the sun, of course. Just for GPs, I'm one of those that "tested" by putting slabs of different colors in the bright sun for a few hours and then feeling them with my hand: black you couldn't even touch, white was coolest, and colors in between of course varied. The less heat absorbed, the longer the paint will last without cracking, loosening or peeling.
Pop
"Magnusfarce" wrote in message news:RuydnfYhV snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.com...
Come-on.... spend a little money. Paint your eaves with this stuff:
All the FLAT I' ve seen marks easily. (but its been interior)Never really heard of Exterior flat. I d go with the semi for ease of cleaning.
RIt sounds like your contractor did a good job of preparing the surface, and used a quality product. That the finish coat had a gloss to it didn't make a difference.
Virtually all of the exteriors I've done were done with flat.
My sister brought up the "ease of cleaning" point, but, seriously, how many homeowners are going to get out and clean their eaves/soffets, etc?
Exterior flat paint is the norm.
Timely answer. The original question was 15 years ago so about not he is ready to re-paint. How astute of you to notice.
Maybe the guy ended up using semi-gloss and now can go with flat for his
15 year update.
And here in the northeast, semi-gloss is the norm for trim, including the eaves, same color and paint as the fascia boards.
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