Water Paint on external woodwork.

Cars are painted with water based paint these days.

Mike

And they're crap, too.

The pigmented material is actally plastic suspended in water which then evaporates.

All paints are a combination of pigment, binder & solvent.

I'll let you know. All the outside of this house was done with water based last year (except the front door and iron railings)

So far, so good.

It seemed to stick the lid to the tin (after use) rather better than oil based. ;-) And of course masonry paint has been water based for ages.

I went for an expensive brand - not the sort of stuff the sheds stock.

Not so sure. My car was originally plain black cellulose. Went 'dead' after about 10 years. The respray - plain black water based but with a clear coat too - is now twice as old and still good. On the bits like the roof which are still untouched since that respray. Other bits have been replaced due to rust, so obviously repainted since. ;-)

No, all paints are not.

Powdercoat and epoxy based painst have no solvent.

If I employed a painter, I'd not tell him what materials to use. Even you should realise that gives him a get out clause if anything should go wrong.

But the water-based car paint has to be protected with a clear laquer coat, or it would not last very long.

Dulux Weathershield is still solvent-based, top coat and undercoat if you buy the trade variety, but their matching primer is water based and very difficult to apply to hardwood or any wood with previous coatings.

I think you need to query his motives for suggesting this.

Yes, that'll go down well, telling a painter how to do his job.

Really? You must be thinking of someone else.

I asked around.

I'd rather not have to re-paint the house every two years given the cost of scaffolding it.