Exterior Painting for Newberry Block Homes

Concrete block is the backbone of Newberry houses

Concrete block and stucco construction, often shortened to CBS, is everywhere from the older streets near Downtown Newberry to Country Way, Newberry Oaks and Arbor Greens. Some homes have a stucco skin over the block; others show bare painted block with the mortar lines visible. Either way, exterior painting in Newberry, FL usually means coating masonry, and masonry behaves very differently from wood or fiber-cement.

Block is a sponge. It wicks ground moisture up from sandy soil, holds rain after summer storms and slowly releases salts. Paint that cannot handle that ends up peeling at the base of walls or flaking off in sheets behind downspouts.

Problems we look for on painted block

A good estimate names these issues by location so you know exactly what is being repaired and what is simply being painted.

• White, powdery deposits (efflorescence) where salts migrated through the wall; these must be brushed off and the source of water found before coating.
• Peeling within a foot or two of the ground, a sign of rising damp or sprinklers hitting the wall.
• Open mortar joints and step cracks that let water straight into the block cores.
• Old paint that rubs off on your hand like chalk, which will undermine any new coat applied over it.

Block filler, primer and the finish system

Unpainted or heavily weathered block is full of pinholes. Rolling finish paint straight onto it wastes material and leaves tiny voids where water gets in. For bare or badly eroded areas we use a block filler primer, worked into the surface so the pores are closed and the wall is evened out. Previously painted block in sound condition typically gets a masonry primer only on repairs and bare spots.

Over that, two coats of a premium 100% acrylic give the breathable, flexible film block needs. Where the block has a stucco finish with fine cracking, an elastomeric coating may be recommended instead. Low-VOC options are available if you plan to have windows open during the job.

Water management makes the paint last

The most durable CBS house painting starts outside the paint can. We point out sprinkler heads that soak the walls, gutters that dump water against the foundation and soil or mulch piled above the slab line. Fixing those, even partly, protects the coating more than any extra coat could.

Since we are based right here in Newberry, follow-up is straightforward. If you have questions about how your walls are holding up after a rainy season, it is a short drive to come look. Washing ahead of the job is part of every project; our Newberry pressure washing page explains how that step is handled.