Crazing shows as a network of fine hairline cracks, while alligatoring is the more pronounced, deeper version that genuinely looks like reptile skin. Both are signs of a paint system that has aged past its flexible life, usually built up over many decades of oil-based recoats, and the repair approach depends on how deep the cracking actually goes.
Each layer of oil-based paint becomes more brittle as it ages, and each subsequent recoat added stress to layers that were already losing elasticity. Once the total film can no longer flex with normal temperature and timber movement, it cracks in the branching pattern typical of crazing, or the deeper cell pattern of alligatoring.
We check whether the cracking is confined to the top coat or runs through the full paint history down to the substrate, since that changes whether a careful rub-down and recoat will hold, or whether the whole system genuinely needs stripping back.
Where alligatoring runs deep, mechanical stripping or an appropriate paint removal method takes the surface back to bare, sound material, which is more disruptive and time-consuming than a standard repaint but is the only durable answer once the film has failed at this level.
Light surface crazing can sometimes be denibbed and recoated, but if the cracking runs deep, filling over it usually telegraphs through the new coat within a season.
Not necessarily — it is a paint film issue rather than a timber decay issue, though we always check the substrate itself while we are in there.
It varies hugely by property age, but older housing stock can carry a great many historic layers, which is part of why the cracking pattern becomes so pronounced.
Send a close photo of the cracked area and we will assess whether it needs a full strip or a lighter approach.
Crazing and alligatoring mean the paint system has aged past flexibility — the depth of cracking decides whether recoating or stripping is the honest answer.
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