You’ve probably gone through the expense and hassle of painting the exterior of your property before, only to find yourself needing to hire someone again to repaint. You might be wondering why the exterior paint doesn’t last on your property.

If you’re like most of our customers, you might even blame the previous painter and their prep work. While this can be true in some cases, the reality is often that it’s not the painter—it’s the paint. The global paint industry is expected to grow to a whopping $179 billion by 2032. A large portion of this comes from constant repeat business.

Today’s exterior paints are designed to last between 3 to 5 years. The paint industry relies on and benefits from your repeat business. You may have also noticed an increase in local painting franchises and independent painters. This is because shorter paint cycles have created a boom in the painting industry. In fact, some of the fastest-growing franchises today are in the painting sector.

Most of these painting franchises offer a 1-year touch-up guarantee because they know exterior paint just doesn’t hold up. They typically send you an “it’s time to paint again” postcard around year three. Essentially, you never really own a paint job; you have a five-year lease on it.

Some customers, particularly those with Cedar Siding, tell us they repaint every 10 years to save money. Unfortunately, these are also the properties where we find the most damage. With as much rain, snow, ice, hail, and extreme wind as Cedar Siding endures, having cheap 3 to 5-year paint protecting your exterior isn’t a good idea.