Should I paint the exterior wooden trim on my home if it's peeling?

Question

I would like your advice on whether I need to repaint the timber exterior of my 2nd floor balcony. The house was built in 2008, so the paint job is about 12 years old. In this part of the world, it can get to around 0 degrees (32 F) in winter, at night. It can get to around 40 degrees (104 F) in summer, during the day. It does not snow, but it can rain against this side of the house. It is South facing (in the Southern hemisphere), which means it only gets direct sunlight for ~2 months of the year, during summer. However, this is when the sun, UV, and heat are at their highest.
The paint is pealing in places and it looks like there are some gaps developing in the timber. In this last photo, it looks like a splint about an inch long has developed on this side of the frame.

FreeMan · Answer

If the paint is peeling, then it's time to repaint.
You probably could get away with touching up the areas where the paint is peeling, but it's difficult to get a good color match, and it's probably almost as much work to do touch-ups as it would be do redo the whole thing. If there's a scrape in new paint after only a year or so, that would probably be the time to touch up just the scraped area...
Prep is the key to a good paint job:

Sand and scrape off any loose paint.
Caulk any small gaps.
Repair any large cracks. (Ask a whole new question if you're not sure about how)

Enjoy another 5, 10, 15 years of nice looking paint, then do it again.

Should I paint the exterior wooden trim on my home if it's peeling?

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