How to Choose the Best Exterior Paint Product

Changing the color of the outside of your home is one of the best ways to raise the value and be an attractive addition to your neighborhood. Finding the right paint for your needs, however, can present a challenge. If you’re looking for the best exterior paint product for your house, keep reading for a few key tips that’ll make the process easier. 

Don’t Forget Primer

Even if you choose the perfect paint for your needs, it won’t perform as well without a primer. As the name indicates, this product primes the surface for painting. An exterior primer not only creates an even foundation for the paint to sit on, but it also acts as a sealant for wood or siding. This ensures that the paint appears even in color and that the surface underneath is protected from the elements. 

In the case of primer, you indeed get what you pay for. A low-quality primer doesn’t have the longevity of better-quality ones, and that means you’ll find yourself redoing the process much more often, which is hardly the cost-saving you might have been looking for. 

What’s the Climate? 

To choose the right primer and paint products, you’ll need to think about what the climate is like where you live. In areas that experience long periods of high humidity or low temperatures, you’ll need to find products that are rated for those factors. If you’d like to lengthen the lifespan of your paint job, you may need to consider special products that will resist local weather issues. For instance, many types of paint experience cracking when exposed to sub-zero temperatures, so if that’s a regular winter where you live, you’ll need to look at different options. 

Latex or Oil

Most exterior paints will either be oil-based or latex. When choosing between the two, it’s not a matter of which is superior in quality, but rather which material is best for your home’s exterior surface. Depending on whether you have siding, wood, or brick, you’ll need a different type of paint. Latex is most suitable to vinyl or wood siding, and a special version called elastomeric latex paint works well on stucco or brick exteriors. Oil-based paints work the best on wood, especially in drier regions.

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to finding the right type of exterior paint product for your home. Hiring a professional painter is your best bet in having your project go smoothly and ensuring that you get the right products for your needs, whatever they are. Contact Tom Curren Companies today to get started.