Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - ugly peeling outside light

This is probably not the right forum since this is not really an electrical question, but does anyone have any advice on ...

I have a white light fixture on the exterioro wall of my house near my deck. The white is peeling off, showing bare gray metal of some sort. Does anyone know whether that is worth trying to re-paint to save a couple of bucks over replacing? Home Depot has similar ones where the low end are made of plastic. Do they look ok and stand up to the weather? If I end up replacing the fixture, do they tend to come with weather-proofing gaskets? Should I try to caulk around it or somethign to protect the wiring?

Well, it sounds like you are a cheapskate. But...that's okay. I guess any do-it-yourselfer is one, to some degree or another.

You can paint or replace. Your call.

Those cheap fixtures do not come with gaskets. Only those outdoor flood lights do (to my knowledge). They have gaskets at the box and for where the bulb passes through.

As far as caulking: Yes, caulk. But leave the bottom of the perimeter open so that if any water leaks around the mount base that it has a way out at the bottom!!

Maybe I am a bit of a cheapskate, but certainly I don't want to waste money. More importantly, this is way down the list of projects as far as my wife is concerned so I don't want to spend any significant time/money now. However it is an eyesore and we're having our first major deck party of the year on Saturday (weather permitting).

Sanding and painting the light would certainly be quicker. Personally I'm not fond of the look of the cheap plastic lights and it seems a lot of new stuff isn't made as good as the old so painting might be the best option.

But then I'm a painter so my brain is geared in that direction :D