Which paint will work best, last longest, for outdoor application?

Keep getting contradictory information, so thought would come here to the experts..

Need to paint exterior slightly rough stucco in Arizona sun, wind, and rain blast!

Choices are, in order of preference for access to their stores:

  1. Walmart
  2. Home Depot
  3. Lowes

which exterior paint should I get? as specific as possible.

Reply to
Robert Macy
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I would disregard how easy it is to get to a particular bigbox store to buy paint since likely you aren't doing it frequently and go for quality. Are there any real paint stores (such as say a Sherwin Williams) in your area?

Reply to
George

Consumer Reports has been reliably comparing paints for many years, and their comparisons and detailed selection information can be accessed both on line and through their magazine. Most libraries also have a current subscription as well as back issues.

You might want to take a look at the annual buying guide also.

Any paints I have selected with their guidance have been outstanding in terms of durability and performance in the 40+ years I have been a subscriber and home owner.

As a retired engineer and do-it-yourself person, I am very particular about what materials I chose, and I would say this is the very best source for good comparisons, versus anecdotes offered by users of a specific paint.

Smarty

Reply to
Smarty

Thank you! That is exactly the answer I needed.

600% stretch WOW! 98mph wind driven rain WOW!
Reply to
Robert Macy

Robert:

I would agree with the previous recommendation to buy any major company's top-of-the-line paint rather than a box store house brand. That's because you only paint the exterior of your house once every 15 to 20 years or so, and so it makes sense to pay more for better paint to make your work last as long as possible.

PS: You don't need to know the rest...

You see, it all revolves around the fact that companies that make paint, don't actually make the ingredients (like the binder resins, pigments and additives) that you find in their paints. They buy them from chemical companies that specialize in makeing those things. For example, most people have never heard of a company called Rohm & Haas, but until 2009, they were the largest manufacturer of the acrylic resins used to make latex paints, acrylic floor finishes, grout and masonary sealers and nail polish for the ladies in North America. In 2009, Rohm & Haas got bought out by Dow Chemical, but is being operated by Dow as a separate company.

So, chemical companies like Rohm & Haas, the S. C. Johnson Wax company and DuPont (with it's TiPure white pigments) are continuously sending their sales representatives around to take the managers of each paint companies out to lunch to explain the benefits of using their latest and greatest binder resin, or defoaming agent or red pigment or whatever. And, of course, each of those newest products comes with a new price, too. Those paint companies are not going to buy those new offerings unless they're convinced that the improvement in performance justifies the incremental cost.

Consequently, when you buy any paint company's top-of-the-line paint, what you're getting is the "best" paint that company can put together at a justifiable cost from all the different ingredients being offered to them.

With house brand paints, things work different. When a hardware store chain like Lowe's or Menard's decides to sell their own house brand paint, they'll do their own studies and surveys to find out what their customer base thinks "good paint" should cost. Then they'll approach several paint companies and ask them for a quote to provide 15,000 gallons per month (say) of paint costing between $17 (for flat) and $23 (for gloss) (say) per gallon so that their stores can sell that paint for $26 to $32 per gallon (say).

Now, since the selling price of the paint has already been established, when the paint companies start working out their quotes, they find out that by buying the resins, additives and pigments in large volumes like these, they can get them at a lower cost, and so they can use better, costlier ingredients and still meet that $17 to $23 cost per gallon specified by the retailer.

So, with house brand paints, because the selling price has already been established in advance, the volume discount the hardware store chain would normally receive in the form of a lower price ends up going to the consumer in the form of better quality resins, additives and pigments. So you can generally get "better" paint for a "good" price when buying a house brand paint.

But, to buy the "best" paint, you need to buy any company's top-of-the-line paint from a paint store.

Reply to
nestork

Paint is 99% prep work and 1% picking the materials...

Even the best most expensive paint can fail soon after it is applied if the area to be painted is not properly prepared...

Reply to
Evan

clipped

Wow? 600%? If you have a 1/32" crack in the stucco, and it opens to

3/16", you are happy that it doesn't show because the paint stretches?

How often do you have 98mph wind driven rain in AZ? Or 50?

Reply to
Norminn

Robert:

Yes, you CAN use an elastomeric coating on the exterior of your house, and if nothing were to damage that coating, it'd last a very long time.

But, that's where the problem is. In a state like Arizona, I expect that exterior house paints chaulk due to the intense sunlight. And, I'd be concerned that your elastomeric coating that's 5 times as thick as a regular exterior latex would chaulk just as quickly as a regular exterior latex, thereby requiring you to repaint just as often as if you'd used a regular exterior latex.

So, yes, the coating is 5 times as thick, and so it theoretically should last 5 times as long, but if it's surface chaulks, then you're not benefitting from that film thickness cuz you gotta repaint anyhow.

Elastomeric coatings are best suited for masonary or stucco walls with ACTIVE cracks that would otherwise let rain water or snow melt in through those cracks, thereby causing damage to the masonary or stucco if/when that rain or melt water freezes. That is, the person whose using an elastomeric coating isn't using it cuz it's greater film thickness means it theoretically should last longer. They're using it to prevent water from getting into a masonary wall and causing freeze/thaw damage.

Every paint store sells elastomeric coatings. I'd talk to some of the paint store managers in your area and find out what their customer's experiences have been using elastomeric coatings instead of exterior latex paints.

PS: You d> The 100% acrylic latex formula provides a breathable film, releasing

In fact, every latex paint will do that, but some do it better than others. If you want to know how a paint film can keep rain water from penetrating through the paint from the outside, but yet still allow moisture to evaporate through it from the inside, ask and I'll explain it.

Reply to
nestork

Good paint also makes the job much easier. Unless your time (and aggravation) is completely worthless, good paint is cheap.

Doing otherwise is foolish.

Reply to
krw

I bought the non elastomeric paint. There is some movement in places, but elastomeric is not going to work on the blocks. Behr wall and stucco. I also bought Behr porch and floor. $28 gallon. Walmart quit selling the $15 version.

It might get 70 mph winds once a tear in the desert. Sandblasting is a real problem. You can wipe out windshields quickly. My old datsun had built up a lot of little specs. Sand get into everything. Build up little piles of sand in leaky windows.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

I was trying to make a point that the features the OP was all enthusiastic about would probably not matter in the desert. If you need

600% stretch, I'd worry about what is giving that much. We had lots of fine cracks in the CB/stucco on our Florida condo....contractor used a brushable caulk and all was well (10 years later, no more cracks). We had one bid for elastomeric paint, two coats, for $27K. The contractor we hired, who did lots of commercial work, did one coat for just under $7K. Prep took a week :o)

Paint stores tend to carry what is useful in their area, and I'd get some advice there. Does gloss matter, for abrasion or reflectivity?

Reply to
Norminn

clipped

It was discovered, after Hurricane ?Charlie, that Florida homes with most damage from wind-blown rain were the newest ones. Older homes had more coats of paint. A few coats of paint kept rain from penetrating cb/stucco, which is almost the universal building material in Florida.

Reply to
Norminn

Single floor building with 10 ft interior, so easy to do In sections, like corner to corner, use a roller and load up that stucco wall surface.

I have a super expensive airless sprayer in storage, never liked having to thin paint and never liked the orange peel finish. Never mind the waste during cleanup.

Reply to
Robert Macy

count on it about once a year

Reply to
Robert Macy

98mph with rain?
Reply to
Norminn

Norminn:

That would make sense at first glance, but wouldn't it also mean that more coats of paint would also make it more difficult for moisture to evaporate through the paint film to the outdoors to keep the interior of the wall dry? That is, why doesn't more coats of paint also serve to retain moisture already inside wet walls?

This is fun science, and so I'll explain it tonight once others in here have a chance to throw in their ideas and explanations. Besides, exercising your brain to figure out how things work is good for mental health. It keeps your head younger for longer.

PS: Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Reply to
nestork

Any stucco gets moldy here, unless it's on the sunny side. Pittsburgh. Too much dampness. What's up with Florida.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

No, 50mph with rain

Reply to
Robert Macy

Thanks for the opportunity to mention Home Depot's paint dept: I had left approx 2.5 gal of the interior paint by Dunne Edwards. Been using that and fixing all the things not quite right inside the home. Took the stir stick and a board removed into Home depot. The guy grabbed the paint stirring stick, matched it, handed me a gallon of Glidden something, then took a small bit on his fingers and 'painted' the stick in the middle. I still can't find where the spot is, bright sun, dim light, incandescent, doesn't matter THAT stuff matched! Amazing for a different brand to be able to do that. I was planning on using it only on closet interiors, or garage where match is not critical, but this was amazing!

Reply to
Robert Macy

I applied Elastomeric on my stucco home about 12 years ago, so far it's hel d up very good and has prevented any further cracks that were present prior . It has showed some wear but minimal and can probably last another 5 years or so but we are ready to repaint. The initial cost was high but like any product you get what you paid for, we bought ours at Home Depot. Preparation is the key, make sure that it is painted correctly leaving no m isses anywhere on the walls, make sure that they are completely clean and f ree of any mildew before applying.

Reply to
pacificlou82ndabn

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