A coastal climate is hard on exterior paint. Getting the timing and the system right is what makes it last.
Exterior paint on the North Devon coast has a hard life — driving rain, salt-laden air and quick swings in temperature. The colour barely matters compared with getting the surface, the timing and the system right, because that is what decides whether it lasts a couple of years or many.
Work with the weather
- Paint onto a dry, sound surface. Give walls and timber time to dry out after rain.
- Aim for mild, settled conditions — most exterior paints prefer to go on somewhere between roughly 8 and 25 degrees.
- Avoid painting if rain is due within a few hours, or in strong sun that skins the surface before the paint can properly bond.
Prepare for the conditions
Coastal damp punishes shortcuts. Scrape back anything loose or flaking, treat and prime bare masonry, wood and metal with the correct primer for each, and deal with any mould or green growth before you paint rather than sealing it in.
Use the right system
A quality exterior masonry paint and the matching primer is built to flex, breathe and shed water in a way interior paint never will. Woodwork outside needs an exterior wood system, not leftover interior trim paint. Matching the product to the substrate is the whole game.
We stock exterior masonry and wood systems suited to our coast, and we are happy to advise on the right primer for whatever you are painting. Being local, we know what the weather here throws at a wall.
