We are a nation of sun worshippers, and as soon as the sun comes out we will spend every minute possible chilling out in the sun. This also means that come summer time the importance of having a home an garden that look aesthetically pleasing from the outside becomes all the more important. There’s loads that can be done to make sure that not only does your house itself looks good, but that the furniture, fences etc that feature in your garden have an attractive appearance.

As you can probably tell from our pictures we are big fans of colour. We can make so many colours that we love it when people will go for something a bit different from the usual monochrome selection. But using this flair for colour is often where the sun starts to make life difficult.

Colour Fade

No matter how good paint is it will fade when exposed to UV rays. With pale colours it usually isn’t too noticeable (you may just notice that your soft pale blue slowly begins to look white) but with some highly pigmented colours it can pose a much bigger issue. Red in particular is known for this, because when it fades it starts to look pink. When the colour fades not only does it spoil the overall look that you were going for but it also makes the surface look old and worn before its time.

Luckily, there are products that are designed to resist the damage caused by UV rays, and therefore they keep their colour for a lot longer. The one that we recommend to people a lot is Alkythane because it is highly UV resistant and it can be made to almost any colour that you can think of. If you’re creating a coloured surface and you know that it’s going to suffer from UV exposure then it is definitely worthwhile to look at paints specifically designed to withstand it.

Blistering and Cracking

When surfaces get hot it can cause blistering and bubbling at appear where the heat has caused the paint to pull away from the surface.

Issues also arise if there are sudden changes in temperature, particularly on metal surfaces where a surface can go from hot to cold quickly. The rapid cooling of the surface means that the metal contracts faster than the paint and the paint cracks as a result of it.

A good way to prevent these issues are with flexible paints that allow some give in the surface. On masonry surfaces products like Murfill are ideal because they’re highly elastic and will flex with the surface without cracking.  On metal surfaces you’ll get great results with a product like Combicolor, which will also move with the surface without cracking or splitting (see photo below).

And be careful painting in the hot weather.

If you’re applying paint in the sun and the heat then you have to bear in mind how this will impact how the paint will react when applied. When it’s warm and sunny outside then this affects how the paint dries.

If the surface that you’re painting on to is too hot then this can cause the paint to bleed into the surface. Not only will this make the end result look weak but it also means that it will need more coats of paint to achieve a level result.

The other issue that can happen if you’re applying paint in hot temperatures is that the surface of the paint will skin over before it is able to dry properly. This causes the solvents in the paint to become trapped underneath the surface. This means that the paint doesn’t dry properly and the paint bubbles up.

Generally to prevent these tings from happening you just have to do what you can to ensure that you’re painting in the best conditions. If the weather outside is too hot for painting, or if the surface is too hot for painting then it doesn’t matter what product you use you’ll always be running the risk of the weather creating problems. Ideally wait until either the weather has coooled down, or paint at a time of day where you know the weather is cooler, like early in the morning or late at night.