An Easy Solution to Peeling Outdoor Paint

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In this post: Older homes can have a lot of peeling paint if the wood trim has been exposed to the elements. Here’s an easy solution to peeling outdoor paint!

This post was sponsored by Rust-Oleum Consumer Brands Canada. All opinions are as always, our own. See our full disclosures and policies here. 

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Wood trim on a house is lovely, until it isn’t anymore. Our house is almost 20 years old. That’s a lot of time for our wood trim to be exposed to the elements. Because of this, the outside trim around the front doors, garage door and the porch pillar were in pretty bad shape this spring. But we found an easy solution to peeling outdoor paint – without all the scraping and sanding!

Our Outdoor Trim Before

So, when we shared our front yard and porch in previous curb appeal posts (like this one and this one), we were careful not to share too many close-ups of the trim. But here’s what it was looking like when all the snow melted this spring…

Not so pretty!

After PEEL STOP® PLUS

Initially we thought we’d have to scrape and sand and do a whole lot of prep work to fix up the trim. But then we found Rust Oleum’s ZINSSER PEEL STOP® PLUS High Build Binding Primer. With low-VOCs, this water-based binding primer is three times thicker than regular primers and locks down and hides peeling, weathered surfaces to create a smooth, white finish for your top coat. Honestly, this stuff is incredible. Just look at the same trim after one coat of the primer – and zero scraping or sanding. (If you’re not yet impressed, scroll down for the finished project!)

See how the PEEL STOP® PLUS seems to have glued down the chipping and peeling. I don’t think I’ve been so impressed with a product in a long time. And that’s saying a lot, because we try a lot of different things!

After Painting Over the PEEL STOP® PLUS

So, the PEEL STOP® PLUS created a beautiful base for our final top coat of outdoor paint. We chose Sherwin Williams Perfect Greige because it best coordinated with our bricks and existing window trim.

Even though they weren’t in as bad a shape as the pillar and garage door trim due to being under the covered porch, we decided to paint the front door trim and the garage ‘man door’ trim as well. (We still need to paint the actual ‘man door’.)

Where to Find Peel Stop Plus®

You can find Peel Stop Plus® at the following locations:

• The Home Depot (US)
• The Home Depot (Canada)
• Amazon (US)
• Amazon (Canada)

What’s Left to Do 

We’ve been working on the curb appeal here since we moved in a year and a half ago. We still have a little way to go. Here’s our list of things to do (as of the time of writing this originall), with what’s complete crossed off (just because we love lists!):

• update garage doors with faux windows and hinges
• paint the front doors black
• add plants/shrubs/trees to the neglected gardens
• add a number sign
• add a mailbox (we have a community mailbox for regular post, but this is good for couriers when we’re not home)
• paint all the wood trim
• change door hardware
• add welcome decals to doors
• add extra down spout to eaves troughs to help with overflow
• add video doorbell
• remove satellite dish we’re not using
• paint the garage ‘man door’
• change outdoor lights
• add a flag
• add another rug to porch
• re-shingle the house (the previous owner redid the front porch garage shingles before we took possession of the house and now we have two tone shingles!)
• add shutters to upstairs front windows
• get the grass weed-free (what a process!)
• take down Christmas lights 😬

I picked up a small Canada garden flag the other day from Michaels, but they didn’t have a hanger/stand for it, so I’m waiting on one from Amazon. I’ve also ordered a rug to go on top of the black one for the layered look, but it didn’t arrive in time for this post. C’est la vie! That just means I get to share some more curb appeal progress with you another day!

Over all, we’re thrilled with how far the front of the house has come since we bought it. And I’m so thankful we didn’t have to scrape and peel all that trim before painting!

More curb appeal

For more of our current house’s curb appeal projects, visit these posts:

• Working on the Curb Appeal Part 1 – Upgrading the Garage Doors
• Working on the Curb Appeal Part 2 – Painting the Front Doors Black (+ Plants)
• Upgrading the Front Door Hardware
• An Easy Solution to Peeling Outdoor Paint
• Curb Appeal 101 – 14 Ideas for Spring Landscaping

To see our previous house’s curb appeal projects, visit these posts:

• Introducing the Curb Appeal Series
• Curb Appeal Series: The Garden
• Curb Appeal Series: The Flagstone Walkway
• Foundation Refacing – How to Cover a Cinder Block Foundation
• Curb Appeal the Big Reveal (at the Bungalow)
• 3 Budget-Friendly Summer Porch Makeover Ideas (at the Backsplit)

Do you have some peeling trim that could use a facelift? What baby steps have you taken/could you take to improve your home’s curb appeal?