Exterior paint recommendations?

[bob]

Are there reliable ratings for exterior latex paint?

Consumer reports rate behr premium and glidden premium pretty high (both are around $25/gallon). I would like to get other opinions.

Also, their rating doesn't list which paint is mildew resistant. Is that not an important consideration?

There are mildew on my current house -- mostly on the trims.

[Tomsic]

Sherwin Williams "Duration" has served well for 9 years in Ohio winters and will likely be OK for another 2-3. It's relatively expensive, however. There's a review at:

which is similar to my experience. It touches up very well. I don't know about mildew -- haven't seen any sign of it so far even during the summer/fall of 2011 when we had record rainfall.

Tomsic

[Ed Pawlowski]

I only know my experiences. Local dealer is very knowledgeable and sells Pittsburgh and it has lasted a very long time on my house.

At work, we used hundreds of gallons of Benjamin Moore (interior and exterior) with good results. After five years, it looks as good as the day it was applied.

I think most exterior pains are mildew resistant these day. All the major brands are pretty good. I'd avoid the discount stuff at big box stores though.

[nestork]

Bob:

I own a small apartment block and I've used both Behr paint and other company's paints. Consumer Reports regularily rates Behr paint as a "Best Buy" because it's a good paint... ...for $18 per gallon.

Apartments tend to get repainted much more often than houses because apartments are completely empty much more often than houses are. So, when I was looking for a paint to use in my building it was important to me that I got good hide (so that nail hole repairs weren't visible through ONE coat of paint) and that the paint didn't spatter (so that I wouldn't double the workload by having to deal with drop cloths. I found that Pratt & Lambert Accolade Satin gave me the best hide in a fairly glossy paint (satin) with no spatter at all. The stuff costs me $55 per gallon (Canadian), but it hides very well, I don't even bother covering my carpets when painting in the living rooms, and it stands up well to scrubbing stubborn spots off without losing it's gloss. When I used Behr latex paint, I didn't get nearly as good hide, and I had to use drop cloths because there was paint spatter all over my right hand by the time I was finished painting an apartment.

The moral of the story is: Don't go by what Consumer Reports says. Buy ANY major paint company's top-of-the-line exterior latex paint and you'll get an excellent exterior latex paint.

Also, all exterior latex paints will have some mildewcide in them, but you have to understand the nature of mildewcides. Mildewcides are a POWDER that's added to the paint. That powder is very highly soluble in water, and it's that high affinity for water that actually causes the mildewcide to migrate through the paint film toward moisture or even high humidity on one side of the paint film. By doing that, the mildewcide that reaches the surface of the paint will kill mildew and fungii spores before they have a chance to grow.

But, a high affinity for water is a double edge sword. What happens is that the mildewcide that reaches the surface of the paint film to do it's job killing mildew spores also gets washed off the paint by rain. So, the mildew resistance of an exterior paint will gradually diminish as it's reserve of mildewcide is depleted.

Exterior latex paints will also most often use zinc oxide as the white pigment in the paint instead of titanium dioxide. That's cuz of two reasons:

1. titanium dioxide acts as a catalyst in the chalking of paint due to exposure to UV light. So, a latex paint that's white because it has titanium dioxide pigments in it will chaulk more than a latex paint that's reddish brown because it has red iron oxide pigment in it, and

1. zinc, like copper, arsenic and boron, is a natural fungicide. So, by using zinc oxide instead of titanium dioxide, you help prevent mildew growth on white, off-white and pastel coloured exterior paints.

So, it very well could be that the reason why there's mildew growing on your house is because the mildewcide reserve in the paint is depleted and the zinc oxide isn't enough to prevent mildew growth.

What I would do is use any top-of-the-line exterior latex paint, and give the areas of the house that have mildew growing on them another coupla coats to double, triple or quadruple the mildewcide reserve in the paint film so that the paint stays free of mildew two, three or four times as long. (The fungicidal effect of the white zinc oxide pigments never diminishes.)

I too have heard good comments on Sherwin Williams Duration paint. But, Mr. Williams doesn't make his paint from scratch any more than Mr. Moore or Mr. Lambert does. They all buy their acrylic resins, pigments and additives from chemical companies like DuPont and Dow, and so making good paint is not an engineering or chemist's challenge. It's a management challenge of deciding whether or not the latest and greatest acrylic resin from the S. C. Johnson Wax company is worth the higher cost or if the newest Ti-Pure titanium dioxide pigment from DuPont is worth it's higher price. ANY paint company in the world can make the world's best paint by buying the latest and greatest offerings that the chemical companies are pushing. It's management's decision to decide whether their customer base would be better served by paying more for the ingredients, and charging more for the paint.

Hope this helps.

[Norminn]

I quit paying attention to CR ratings for paint about 40 years ago after I tried Sears paint. My most pleasureable experience painting was when I painted my daughters exterior trim with Sherwin Williams alkyd semi...big damn difference even in the application and it covered beautifully....had to torch off the old, alligatored paint first. I'm pretty much of a contrarian when it comes to new or special qualities of paint, mildew resistance being one. Regardless of what paint you use, the most important step is preparation, especially in getting rid of the mildew presently on the surface or ANY paint will be guaranteed to blister and peel. Photos would help...where is mildew growing? North side of house? Deep shade from trees or shrubs? Mildew spores are everywhere, so changing the conditions can help...open up to sun/air flow where possible. We had horrible mildew problems on our condo in Florida, no longer live there....the previous paint job had had NO pressure washing so paint was applied over mildew and peeled very badly. Ten years and counting since last paint job, by a good contractor, and there was no mildew and no special paint.

Is your trim wood? Peeling or rotted? Caulked or open gaps?

[Doug]

Well said Ed. I too have used BM on my house exterior and it looks as good as new now (around 12 years). I didn't know until a few months ago that the paint on my house has a lifetime warrantee according to the paint store but they couldn't really explain it. I agree too most major brands are good nowadays, well at least their more expensive paints. I know most around Houston, Texas tend to use Sherwin Williams paint but personally I have no experience with them. I've heard some say it's good.

[gregz]

Gladden started to add primer to their paint then the price shot up. Used to be cheaper than Behr but if you get the primer added to behr, it's about the same or more than gladden. Gladden used to be under $20 at THD They cover much better with added primer.

Greg