Asked on Jan 23, 2012

Time to Start thinking about Exterior Repairs - why not to use epoxy

We've had a number of posts of the year regarding the use of epoxy or putty on exterior repairs. In our opinion, you're always best to call in a carpenter like HandyANDY to repair the rotted portions prior to painting. This house was painted 3 years ago and the painter patched the front door area with epoxy...telling the homeowner it would be good "forever."
Here's the video and pics to show that forever was a bit under 3 years! We do hand paint a select number of homes every year...but if you're using another painter, HandyANDY can still do the repairs! Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/FP94NMR2Cbk
  10 answers
  • well.. we all know nothing's forever in this world; not even granite countertops :)
  • So true....if the granite isn't installed properly & sealed periodically...there will be a problem...no different here except the homeowners tend to forget to stay up on maintenance on the exterior. That's why we offer most clients a free annual exterior walk around...they usually have us clean the gutters while we are there! On this house, the owner paid a small fortune for a bunch of bad work...sad!
  • Good call Andy, the proper way to repair something like this is replacement. The epoxy just fills in the damaged/missing portion, it doesn't remove any of the rot that is still covered by old paint.
  • Right on Dan. Problem is, alot of painting companies can't make these repairs properly so the resort to epoxy...which usually leads to more damage. These are all pre-repair pics. I'll take some to show the "after."
  • Designs by BSB Designs by BSB on Jan 23, 2012
    great photos to share .. countless homes need these kinds of repairs!
  • You bet BeckySue...and we're pretty good at fabricating even older rake moldings like you see on the older intown bungalows. Inspecting your house on a regular basis is the key...which is why we started offering free inspections for our clients....the whole stitch in time thing. The client with the house in this video was livid and called the company she used to honor their "warranty" but they are long out of business! HandyANDY has been here 16 years now. I love this stuff! I'll be posting some other things for homeowners to look out for...knowledge is key. I hate to see folks spending more than they need to or, worse, having to pay again to redo something they already paid for.
  • FloorNerd FloorNerd on Jan 23, 2012
    Good video tip
  • Peace Painting Co., Inc. Peace Painting Co., Inc. on Jan 26, 2012
    Clearly that's too far gone to patch. CP
  • You're right Peace....problem was, it never should have been patched in the first place. You're always better to replace rotted wood with new materials. This client has a similar issue with upper windows...nothing was caulked properly...just painted over....so she has more rot around the house. We'll be doing this one in stages and repainting the exterior with 2-coats of Duration!
  • This client is actually now taking advantage of the HandyANDY Fall Repaint Sale and getting 20% off on the repainting. Saddest part is she paid a large, franchise painting group to paint the house 3 years ago. She paid twice what she is now paying us and we're doing prep, 1-coat of primer and 1-coat of Duration on all of the trim....and she'll get a 10-year warranty this time around. There's lots of ways do things but only one way to prep for paint...the right way!