Favorite exterior paint

I need some quick input from the hive.

What is your favorite brand exterior paint and why?

And I don't mean paint that someone else applies.

I've used Behr mostly in the last 10 years or so, only because it's been top-rated and it's easy to find. Fortunately, most of my house is wrapped in that plastic-y vinyl stuff.

I was a Benjamin Moore ~oil base~ loyalist forever. Brushes out beautifully, and wears like iron. A while back though, when I went to buy paint for a new entryway I was building I found that the EPA had decided that my beloved paint was making it hot out, and it was no more. So the dude at the paint counter (old, not-a-chain, local paint and hardware store) recommended:

California Fres-Coat

And it's really, really good stuff.

Note - It's not cheap, but I generally only have enough time to do it right. Not enough to do it twice.

Exterior what? Car? House? Lawn mower? Dick weed?

Houses or cars? For cars: Glasurit. I love it. Covers excellent and lays down slick. It's expensive, but well worth it in my opinion. it's hard for me to go back to the cheaper lines like PPG shopline after using it.

For houses IDK...I hate doing house projects.

Sorry...house paint.

I saw a recommendation for the Californina Fresh Coat, but I had never heard of it before.

Sherwin Williams Duracoat looks like the most popular amongst professional painters at $60+ gallon. Years ago I bought the SW Superpaint and that E36 M3 lasted exactly one winter before cracking and peeling. I went to the local Benjamin Moore/Pittsburgh Paint store to get some oil-based paint but the crochety old owner talked me into latex paint with some additives. He said the paint companies had spent nothing on R&D for years on oil paint, but were on latex paint and it was good. It was good stuff but it cost almost the $60 the Duracoat now cost. But it has lasted pretty well.

BTW, this isn't for me. My daughter is looking at a house built in 1907 that is going to need paint.

I would have to check exactly what type it is, but we got a can of behr last year to paint some trim around doors and windows on the front of our house. whatever it was it was super thick, went on nice and covered the surface well.

I have been meaning to get the can out again and do the rest of the windows around the house. the front of the house still looks great.

Valspar from Slowes is what I used on the rental house. Covers very well. Rolls, brushes and sprays well. I'm fixing to paint several rooms at the main house, I'll be using it again.

The kind that someone else puts on my house. ( I really do not like painting houses.)

Gimme that ol' time vinyl siding 'cuz I hates to paint. Cuts into my beer drinking and race car time.

motomoron wrote: California Fres-Coat And it's really, really good stuff. Note - It's not cheap, but I generally only have enough time to do it right. Not enough to do it twice.

I can second this. I be leave it replaced the California larcoloid paint and that stuff was fantastic as well. Again not cheap at about $50-$60 a gallon but do it once and move on. Ohya I have not found anything that you can not paint with it. Wood, metal plastic concrete. Great stuff.

After looking at the consumer sites, we settled on a semigloss from Sherman Williams. It has stood up very well for almost seven years now, but looked noticeably shiny for the first year or so.

PS - If you know a contractor in the biz, they can get paint from the specialty paint stores for as much as half-off the (crazy high) retail prices.

I've always used Behr. It's been highly rated by Consumer Reports for years. Seems to stand up fine to 90° summers and 20° winters up here.

I've had very good luck with Benjamin Moore products.

I use Benjamin Moore because thats what my HOA tells me to use

Slippery wrote: I use Benjamin Moore because thats what my HOA tells me to use

Why I will never live in a place that has one of those.

Let me chime in, but from the opposite perspective. IE, trying to be cheap, and discovering things not to use.

Behr. I cannot say enough foul things about how poor their products are. Lifespan is measured in months, and generally not even double digits.

Valspar. Fastest fade I think I've ever seen. Then it all falls off in just a few years.

Olympic. It's like glopping mud, and about as durable.

Spray vs brush. Spray puts it on too thin, and it half dries in the air getting to the wall. So the paint job fails much faster than if it was brushed on. Overspray is also quite a problem.

Thanks for all the input. While I've done a lot of painting inside, my exterior paint experience has been limited to some trim on my front porch for many years. Paint has changed a lot, and not always for the better in my opinion.

spitfirebill wrote: Paint has changed a lot, and not always for the better in my opinion.

Paint is still changing. New EPA regulations, new state regulations, and the constant drive for market share and profits by the manufacturers. It's like all new paints every few years.

foxtrapper wrote:

spitfirebill wrote: Paint has changed a lot, and not always for the better in my opinion.

Paint is still changing. New EPA regulations, new state regulations, and the constant drive for market share and profits by the manufacturers. It's like all new paints every few years.

I love the paint + primer all in one. Take out expensive paint, put in cheaper primer and charge more $ per gallon. It does stand a better chance of one coating. But the damned stuff starts drying before you finish rolling it on (I'm talking about intrior paint here).

Behr for exterior here. A decent 10 year paint at my last effort.

Interesting interior experience recently though. I tried Valspar, which historically has had consistently low ratings from Consumer Reports pretty much across the board. I went with the mid-range contractor label. It actually turned out awesome. Took two coats, but it was going on plaster walls. Much better than expected and very inexpensive. I'll check back in 5 years and see how it holds up, but for now I was impressed.