Your home’s exterior surfaces work hard year-round to protect everything inside from Colorado Springs’ demanding climate. Painted and stucco surfaces in particular take a lot of punishment from the intense UV exposure, hailstorms, freeze-thaw cycles, and dramatic temperature swings that are part of life on the Front Range. The good news is that with a little seasonal attention, you can keep those surfaces looking great and performing well for decades.
Here’s a comprehensive seasonal maintenance guide for painted and stucco surfaces from the team at Greg Unseth Painting & Exteriors, Colorado Springs’ trusted exterior contractor for over 40 years.
Spring: Inspection, Cleaning, and Repair
Spring is the most important season for exterior maintenance in Colorado Springs. After months of freeze-thaw cycles, heavy snow, and cold temperatures, your home’s exterior surfaces deserve a thorough once-over to catch any damage before it has a chance to worsen as the warmer months arrive.
Inspect for Winter Damage
Start with a careful walk-around inspection of your entire exterior. On painted surfaces, look for peeling, cracking, bubbling, or areas where the paint film has separated from the surface beneath. On stucco surfaces, look for cracks of any width, areas of surface deterioration, and any signs of moisture intrusion around the roofline and near ground level where snow and ice accumulation is most likely to have caused damage over the winter.
Pay particular attention to areas around windows, doors, and any penetrations in the exterior wall where caulking may have dried out or separated during the cold months. These are the spots most likely to allow moisture to work its way behind your exterior surfaces if left unaddressed.
Clean Exterior Surfaces
A thorough spring cleaning removes the accumulated dirt, pollen, grime, and winter storm residue that builds up on exterior surfaces over the cold months. Use a low-pressure hose and a soft brush with a mild detergent solution to gently clean painted and stucco surfaces. Avoid high-pressure washing on stucco in particular, as the strong spray can damage the surface integrity of the finish coat.
If you prefer to have this handled professionally, Greg Unseth Painting & Exteriors offers exterior pressure washing services using the right equipment and techniques for each surface type to deliver a thorough clean without the risk of surface damage.
Address Minor Repairs Promptly
Spring is the best time to address minor repairs before they develop into larger, more expensive problems over the summer. For painted surfaces, clean and dry any areas that need touch-up painting before applying new paint. For stucco surfaces, use a matching patching compound to fill any cracks wider than a hairline. If you’re seeing significant cracking, blistering, or areas of moisture damage on your stucco, contact our team for a free assessment. Our stucco repair services cover everything from minor crack filling to more significant restoration work throughout Colorado Springs.
Summer: Protection and Ongoing Maintenance
Colorado Springs summers bring intense UV exposure, occasional afternoon hailstorms, and dramatic temperature swings that put real stress on exterior surfaces. A few proactive steps during the summer months can significantly extend the life of your paint and stucco finishes.
UV Protection for Stucco Surfaces
The high-altitude UV intensity that Colorado Springs receives can accelerate fading and surface degradation on stucco finishes over time, particularly on south-facing walls that receive the most direct sun exposure. If your stucco finish is showing signs of UV fading or surface chalking, applying a UV-resistant elastomeric sealant can help restore protection and extend the life of the finish. Our team can assess the condition of your stucco and recommend the right protective treatment during a free estimate.
Moisture Control and Drainage
Even in Colorado’s relatively dry climate, moisture management around your home’s exterior is important. Ensure that drainage around your property directs water away from the foundation and exterior walls, and check that any areas of soil or landscaping near the house aren’t holding moisture against your exterior surfaces. Prolonged contact with soil moisture can accelerate deterioration of both painted and stucco surfaces at ground level.
Post-Storm Inspections
Colorado Springs’ summer storm season brings hail, high winds, and heavy rain that can cause unexpected damage to exterior surfaces. After any significant storm, do a quick inspection of your home’s exterior for signs of hail impact, paint damage, or stucco surface damage. Catching storm damage early is important for two reasons: it prevents small areas of damage from expanding through moisture infiltration, and it keeps your insurance claim window open if the damage warrants filing a claim.
Greg Unseth Painting & Exteriors has extensive experience assessing and repairing hail damage on painted and stucco surfaces throughout Colorado Springs. Visit our hail damage repair page to learn more about how we work with homeowners and insurance adjusters on storm damage claims.
Fall: Preparation for the Cold Season
Fall is your last opportunity to address exterior maintenance issues before Colorado’s winter weather sets in. Taking the time to properly prepare your painted and stucco surfaces in early fall can prevent a lot of damage over the winter months and make your spring inspection much more straightforward.
Thorough Fall Inspection
Conduct another careful inspection of your exterior surfaces in early fall, before temperatures drop too low for effective repairs. Look for any cracks or surface damage that developed over the summer, paying particular attention to stucco surfaces where even small cracks can allow moisture infiltration during winter freeze-thaw cycles. Any crack that allows water to get behind your stucco or painted surface will be significantly worse by spring if left unaddressed going into winter.
Seal and Caulk All Gaps
Fall is the most important time of year to check and refresh caulking around windows, doors, and any other areas where your painted or stucco surfaces meet different materials. Caulk dries out and shrinks over time, and gaps that weren’t a concern during the dry summer months become serious moisture pathways once winter snow and ice arrive. Use a quality Elastomeric caulking product that maintains flexibility through Colorado’s temperature extremes for the best long-term performance.
Clean Gutters and Check Drainage
Clogged gutters are one of the most common and preventable causes of exterior surface damage in Colorado Springs. When gutters overflow, water runs down the exterior walls of your home rather than being directed away from the foundation. That water contact accelerates paint and stucco deterioration at the roofline and on upper walls, and can cause significant moisture damage over time if not addressed. Clean your gutters thoroughly in late fall after the leaves have dropped and confirm that all downspouts are directing water well away from your home’s foundation and exterior walls.
Winter: Monitoring and Quick Fixes
Winter is the most challenging season for Colorado Springs exterior surfaces, but there’s still meaningful maintenance you can do to protect your home through the cold months.
Regular Monitoring After Storms
Make it a habit to check your home’s exterior after significant winter storms. Heavy snow and ice accumulation can cause physical damage to exterior surfaces, particularly at the roofline, around window sills, and near ground level where snow piles up against the walls. Freeze-thaw cycles throughout the winter will also continue to work on any existing cracks, gradually widening them. The sooner you spot developing issues, the sooner you can address them before they worsen significantly.
Quick Repairs With Weather-Resistant Materials
If you notice minor damage during the winter, don’t wait until spring to address it if the issue could allow moisture infiltration. There are weather-resistant patching and caulking products specifically formulated for cold-weather application that can provide a temporary fix to prevent a small problem from becoming a large one before conditions improve enough for more permanent repairs.
Avoid De-Icing Salts Near Exterior Surfaces
If you use de-icing products around your home during the winter, be careful to keep salt-based products away from your painted and stucco surfaces. Salt is corrosive and can cause significant damage to both paint films and stucco finishes over time. Sand or other non-corrosive traction products are a safer choice for areas adjacent to your home’s exterior walls.
Year-Round Maintenance Tips
In addition to the seasonal tasks above, a few ongoing maintenance practices make a meaningful difference in the long-term condition of your exterior surfaces regardless of the time of year.
Control Vegetation Near Exterior Walls
Plants, vines, and shrubs growing against your home’s exterior walls are a surprisingly common source of surface damage. Vegetation holds moisture against exterior surfaces, restricts airflow that would otherwise allow walls to dry out, and can physically damage paint and stucco through root growth and mechanical contact. Keep all plants trimmed well back from your exterior walls and remove any vines that are attaching directly to your painted or stucco surfaces.
Use Quality Materials for All Repairs
When making repairs or touch-up painting, always use high-quality materials that are compatible with your existing exterior finish. Inferior patching compounds, caulking products, or paint used for repairs will often fail before the surrounding original surface does, creating a patchwork appearance and requiring more frequent re-repairs. At Greg Unseth Painting & Exteriors, we use only professional-grade Sherwin Williams products and quality stucco materials on every project, including repairs. Learn more about the products we use on our exterior painting page and our stucco page.
Schedule Annual Professional Inspections
Even the most diligent homeowner can miss developing issues that a trained professional eye will catch. An annual professional inspection of your exterior painted and stucco surfaces can identify potential problems before they become expensive repairs, provide specific maintenance recommendations for your home’s unique conditions and exposure, and help you plan proactively for any larger projects on the horizon.
Greg Unseth Painting & Exteriors is happy to assess the condition of your exterior surfaces and provide honest, specific recommendations during a free estimate. Our team has seen virtually every type of exterior surface issue that Colorado Springs’ climate can produce, and we can help you prioritize the maintenance and repair work that will deliver the most value for your home.
Keep Records of Maintenance and Repairs
Keeping a simple log of exterior maintenance work, inspections, and repairs done on your home is a habit that pays off in several ways. It helps you track the condition of your surfaces over time, provides useful documentation if you ever need to file an insurance claim for storm damage, and is a valuable asset when selling your home as evidence of diligent, consistent maintenance. A well-documented maintenance history can meaningfully improve buyer confidence and perceived value.
When to Call the Professionals
Some exterior maintenance tasks are well-suited to the diligent homeowner, but others are best left to experienced professionals. If you’re seeing widespread cracking in your stucco, significant peeling or paint failure across large areas of your exterior, signs of moisture damage behind your surfaces, or damage from a hailstorm, those are situations where professional assessment and repair will deliver far better results than a DIY approach.
Greg Unseth Painting & Exteriors provides comprehensive exterior maintenance, repair, and painting services throughout Colorado Springs and the surrounding Front Range communities. Whether you need a minor stucco repair, a full exterior repaint, or a post-storm damage assessment, our team has the experience and the expertise to get it done right. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation estimate and let us help you protect your home’s exterior for the long term.
In addition to painting and stucco, we offer a full range of exterior services including siding and trim replacement, window and door replacement, deck maintenance and repair, and fence installation and repair throughout Colorado Springs and the surrounding communities.
