It’s no secret that our home’s siding is what guards it—and us—against the outside world. Protecting us from weather hazards and preventing interior damage, our siding puts our minds at ease when we’re within its walls. However, there are times when even these sturdy materials wear away and need to be replaced. Unfortunately, knowing when to do so isn’t always as obvious as we hope. To ensure that your home is safe for the foreseeable future, make sure you know the signs you need to replace your home’s siding.

Maintenance is Frequent

When your siding is actively deteriorating, any attempts at maintenance don’t typically last very long. Cracks that you recently repaired could reappear, and boards that you thought were secure may be looser than they were before. Eventually, you might even find that the time between repair attempts is progressively shortening. The same can become true for your paint jobs.

If you discover that you’re repainting your siding more often than once every eight to ten years, the siding itself isn’t holding the color the way it should. Since paint molds to the surface that it’s applied to, any siding that shifts cause the paint to crack and peel. This significantly reduces your paint job’s longevity and decreases the siding’s overall effectiveness. Be sure to track whenever you perform any siding maintenance to accurately judge whether your siding needs replacement.

Rot Running Rampant

Though wood rot can be contracted anywhere, it’s a particularly common problem in regions with high moisture levels in the air. As such, homeowners need to pay extra attention to the moisture levels within their homes to prevent contracting this fungus. While the most common type of wood rot can’t spread to dryer siding sections, other types can. If you contract this rarer type, it will begin spreading to every piece of adjacent wood until your entire home is affected. Therefore, it’s important to know how to identify wood rot and catch the problem early.

If you don’t discover the problem until it’s too late, wood rot can weaken the structural integrity of your siding. Over time, it will become weaker, discolored, and even give off a musty odor. All these symptoms demonstrate the deterioration process and only complete replacement can fully fix this condition once it has spread.

Visible Damage

Aside from the discolorations that wood rot exhibits, there are several other visible damages that prove your siding has weakened. For starters, peeling, chipping, or fading paint are all common signs that the siding is shifting and unsecured underneath—but this isn’t the only case. Fading paint is also a sign of potential sun damage or weathering that can eat away at the siding as well and rob it of its stability.

When allowed to persist, further symptoms can show up, such as cracking, loosening, and gaping of the siding itself. These damages aren’t just unpleasant to look at; they also make your home vulnerable to additional moisture and even pests. In fact, insects and rodents look for openings like these to begin chewing their way into your home. It’s for these reasons that you should take immediate action upon seeing these exposed areas.

Structural Damage

Other signs you need to replace your home’s siding might not be as clear upon a visual inspection. Situations where your siding is loose, bubbling, or softening can, unfortunately, only be properly identified by touch. Therefore, it’s in these cases where homeowners should practice regular structural inspections and test their siding for any such deformities. This will ensure that the problem doesn’t continue to worsen and that you can take preventative measures.

However, if your siding has weakened to the point of decay, it’s no longer able to be reliably fixed. Any efforts to do so will make additional areas susceptible to these problems and cause them to deteriorate faster. As such, it’s important that you take steps to get it replaced to maintain your home’s structure stability.

Interior Moisture and Mold

Sometimes, some of the most notable signs might not be on the siding at all. When your siding is damaged or weakened, your home becomes vulnerable to increased moisture within its walls. This moisture can work its way into the paint, furniture, and even your clothes, producing a musty and unpleasant odor. But these aren’t the only negative impacts. An increase in interior moisture can also facilitate the growth of mold along your walls.

While damaged siding isn’t the only cause of mold within a home, it’s certainly one option to consider when looking to eliminate mold. If the mold is a direct result of siding failure, it might also come with the additional sign of wet spots or crumbling woodwork on the infected surface.

Rising Monthly Expenses

Your siding, in combination with your insulation, traps your processed air within the home, creating a comfortable living environment for you and your family. However, openings in your siding allows this excess energy to escape during the warmer and colder months. Since this extra energy is freely being released from your home, you’ll often have to turn up the heat or air conditioning to compensate. Over time, you could see an increase in your energy bills, leading you to pay for more than what you’d typically need.

As with mold, faulty siding isn’t the only cause of raised energy bills. However, it’s among the most common reasons, as siding issues tend to grow if left unchecked—creating larger openings for you to lose energy through. To properly inspect your siding for leaks, be sure to check each siding seam for holes or cracks. Replacing the siding becomes a necessity when there are too many vulnerable areas to fix.

When the time comes to replace your current siding, you want to know that the job is in skilled and experienced hands. For these exact professionals and more, contact Bear Mountain Custom Painting. Our siding installation professionals in Cumming, Georgia, work hard to provide you the quality siding your home needs—without the added stress.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not too late in the year to think about repainting your home. Not only does a new layer of paint breathe new life into a home’s look, but it also further protects it from the harsh winter ahead. Learn a few of the important reasons to get your house painted before the holidays.

Protects Your Home from Rot

The increased presence of moisture that comes with winter snowfalls is one of the main causes of wood rot in susceptible homes. This rot can set in with little notice, and the winter conditions prevent us from properly treating the infection. It’s crucial that you take precautionary measures before the storms hit for this reason. A new coat of paint to your home can assist in blocking this excess moisture and reducing the likelihood that your home sustains rot.

Deters Pest Invaders

It’s during the early winter months that pests work hard to find shelter, and the place they find could very well be your home. Fortunately, paint products can be toxic to most insects and pests. It’s for this reason that they tend to avoid chewing it and prefer to target areas of your home where the paint is chipping. To keep them from infiltrating your home during the winter, thoroughly repaint your home to ensure they don’t have any entry points.

Creates a Seal Against the Cold

Paint is made with a binding agent that makes it stick to the wall, but it also keeps energy from passing through the painted surface. Freshly painted surfaces can seal in a home’s heat and cut the cost of your energy bill. This also supplies a home with a cozier atmosphere while the snow falls outdoors.

Freshens Up for Company

Since we tend to have most of our houseguests arrive during the holiday season, this time of year is the best opportunity to make your home look nice. Simply adding this new coat of paint will allow you to cover up all the stains, scratches, and scuffs it accrued over the past year. As a result, it makes your home appear revitalized and ready for visitors.

To get your home in the best shape possible for the holidays, reach out to Bear Mountain Custom Painting. Our skilled and professional home painting services in Atlanta can help you with every step of the painting process and find the best products to meet your vision.

For many homeowners, the charm of a solid painted wall might not be enough. With your wall as a blank canvas, you can add flair to your home with as little as a few wall decals. But before you do so, you must take the proper steps to protect your walls from potential damages. Use these wall decal application tips to help the process go smoothly.

Perform Any Necessary Repairs

While you may feel tempted to use wall decals to hide blemishes, you need to fix these imperfections before additional damage can occur. While your wall decal may be beautiful, the process of applying them can worsen preexisting issues. This will only make them more difficult to deal with later. If you fix these issues beforehand, you’ll have more freedom to arrange your décor.

Don’t Apply Over Wet Paint

If you recently painted your home, be sure to wait until it’s completely dry before you begin applying the artwork. Failing to do so can prevent the paint from drying evenly, resulting in dark spots and transference onto the decal you’re hanging. Since a wall can appear dry even though it’s not, homeowners should wait about two weeks before doing any more work on the surface.

Make Sure Walls Are Clean

Decorations that use adhesive, such as wall decals, often need a clean surface to cling to. Not cleaning your walls properly beforehand can deposit dirt and grime on the adhesive. This can cause your decals to deteriorate faster, fall off when you least expect it, and ultimately cause paint damage. For the best results, wipe down the wall with a dry cloth to remove any excess dirt.

Create a Layout Plan

Once you complete all these steps, you can begin planning out your wall’s design. If you establish a plan before you begin setting up, you can rest assured everything will have its own place and that the dimensions line up properly. During this process, be sure to measure each piece and designate specific places for them on your wall.

Before you start thinking about your wall design, ensure your paint job is up to the task. At Bear Mountain Custom Painting, we aim to provide your home with a strong coat of resistant paint that can hold up against any type of stress. Our house painters in Cumming, Georgia, know just what brands and colors to use to help your vision become a reality.

Winter is fast-approaching, and it can wreak havoc on your home if you don’t prepare. This is especially the case for your old and damaged windows. Though Georgia doesn’t experience winters as severe as most states do, it’s still vital that homeowners replace their windows when needed. Learn the signs it’s time to replace your windows to keep your home energy efficient and beautiful.

Condensation or Frost Buildup

While not all condensation is bad for your windows, it’s important that you closely monitoring vapor locations. When window panes become damaged or shift out of the frames, moisture can start to rest between the layers of glass. Over time, this can lead to mold growth and cause the windows to leak when it rains.

Noticeable Drafts or Leaks

If you have a compromised window seal, you might also notice a draft when sitting near them. This is a sign that your windows aren’t locking the elements out the way that they should be. As a result, you could experience higher energy bills, decaying window frames, and increased humidity in the affected rooms. Leaks are also a possibility when drafts are present, as water can make its way through a broken window seal.

High Energy Bills

Even if you don’t notice a draft near your windows, it doesn’t mean they’re free of damage. Small leaks can also put a precious amount of energy to waste, resulting in high energy bills and an increased risk for further damage. If you notice that your energy bills are getting higher, be sure to check the security of your windows before anything else.

Damage and Rot

Windows protect our homes from the outside world, so there are a series of conditions that can cause them to deteriorate. From severe storms to prolonged sun exposure, each of these occurrences can weaken the windows’ structure and make it susceptible to factors such as rot. Unfortunately, once the damage becomes visible to the naked eye, the problem is often too severe to fix without completely replacing the window.

At Bear Mountain Custom Painting, we know how essential it is to have strong windows going into the winter season. As such, our window replacement professionals in Cumming, Georgia, are ready to work around the clock to put your mind at ease.