Message text written by "BP - \"Is this the list with all the ivy
haters?\""
>What brand of paint would you recommend for exterior?  We
had the upper part of our house painted with Ben Moore oil paint about five
or six years ago and it is peeling off already.  The strange--to me--thing
is the bottom part of the house has not peeled in the ten years we have
lived here and I don't know how long it has been since it was painted.  I
can't afford to have the house painted that often and am puzzled as to why
only the top part of the house peels. <

It may or may not have anything to do with it, but I seem to recall reading
that wood exposed to even short term ultraviolet radiation experiences
sufficient breakdown of fibers to make it impossible to hold a coat of
paint. If the upper portion of the house were left unpainted during
construction (or after any of the previous times the paint peeled) for as
little as 6 weeks, you would never be able to get a coat of paint to stay
there unless you sand below the depth of UV degradation. This is more
surface prep than most painters are willing to do, I suppose.

Mike E.