Most guidance puts a stucco exterior at seven to ten years and wood siding at five to seven. Those numbers are averages across the country, and Southern California is not average — a west-facing wall in Riverside and a north-facing wall in Carlsbad age at completely different rates on the same house.
Chalking is the first signal. Run a dry hand down the wall in full sun; if it comes away with a fine powder, the binder has broken down and the coating is no longer protecting the substrate. That wall is due regardless of how long ago it was painted.
The second signal is caulk. Failed joints at trim, windows and penetrations let water behind the coating, and once that starts, no amount of new topcoat will fix it. Caulk usually fails several years before the paint does.
What a two-elevation recoat looks like
The practical upshot is that you often do not need to repaint the whole building. It is entirely normal for us to recoat two elevations and leave the other two for another three or four years — that is a cheaper and better-targeted job than a full repaint on a schedule.
