Always begin with an evaluation of the general state of the total exterior paint job of your home. If there is significant chipping, flaking, or other areas where the paint is failing, it's probably time to paint the entire home. Talk to a painting contractor who has experience in painting a house about getting your paint job scheduled right away. If the rest of your exterior paint job looks like it's holding up okay, however, you may just need to perform some touch up work to get things up to code. Cookie cutter style houses are notorious for having their paint fail locally in short periods of time.

If that seems to be your problem, purchase one bucket of good primer and another bucket of exterior finish paint that matches your home's current color. Then set aside a few days and address your problem areas. Scrape and clean the affected areas first, then slop on a layer of primer to provide protection. Once that has dried, touch up the primered spots with the finish coat to match the rest of your home. Performing these simple tasks can put off a whole house paint job by several years if you're lucky.