Top 5 Best Exterior House Paint 2024

Top Best Exterior House Paint 2020

Painting the outside of your house probably isn’t your idea of a good time. But if you use the right paint, you can expect the results to look fresh for a decade on a stucco surface, and as long as seven years on the siding. The best exterior paint, be it latex- or oil-based, forms a durable bond on siding, decks, or whatever else you’re painting outdoors—offering protection from the elements while giving it a fresh new look. Using the wrong paint, however, can lead to cracking and peeling within a year.

Because outdoor surfaces are subjected to harsh UV rays, temperature extremes, and battering storms, pony up for a good quality paint designed for the material you’re working with. Keep reading to learn what makes the best exterior house paint and why the following formulas made our list as best for particular projects.

best exterior house paint

Top Pick Of The Best Exterior House Paint For Selecting 2020

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Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover Premium Latex Paint

Rust-Oleum’s Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover premium latex paint earns top marks for its versatility. This water-based paint glides smoothly onto a variety of surfaces and dries to a glossy finish. Users report that the paint is an excellent option for beginners who may lack the technique and tools to produce a smooth look with just any paint. This one is amateur-proof!

KILZ Exterior Masonry, Stucco & Brick Paint

KILZ Exterior Masonry, Stucco & Brick Paint saves you time and money by using a single coat to cover rough, textured finishes that most paints won’t effectively cover at all. Even better, the finished result looks natural and not fake. According to customers, the paint is thick enough to act as a primer yet easy to spread. The paint is alkali-resistant, mildew-resistant, and easy to clean with soap and water.

Best for Metal Surfaces: Rust-Oleum Hammered Metal

Give old wheelbarrows, gates and light fixtures a second, third, or fourth life with Rust-Oleum Hammered metal finish paint. This oil-based paint is ideal for covering scratches, rust, and pits on outdoor metal surfaces without requiring the application of an additional primer. Best of all, you can even apply it directly over the rust without sanding it first. This can be a huge time and energy saver!

Best for Hiding Oil Stains: KILZ 1-Part Epoxy Concrete & Garage Floor Paint

Just a few coats of KILZ’s Concrete & Garage Floor Paint protect your garage or other concrete floors and keeps them looking pristine and freshly poured. Reviewers note that the paint is easy to apply and covers well as long as you follow the manufacturer’s instructions for prepping the surface. The result is a silver or slate gray surface — you make the color choice — that disguises and repels dirt and stains, including visually offensive motor oil stains.

Best Color Selection: Modern Masters Never-Fades Front Door Paint

Modern Masters Never-Fades Front Door Paint may be just what you need to give yourself a quick and easy makeover without spending a fortune. Available in 25 inspiring colors, the paint comes in plenty of options to help you find the perfect shade to complement or contrast the color of your siding or trim. DIY reviewers mentioned how easy it is to use the paint to achieve professional-quality results.

You can see further here: Top Best Deck Paints For Your House-Updated 2020

Tips to Look for in an ideal Outdoor Paint

Square Footage

Depending on the paint brand, the color, the material of the surface you are painting, and the finish of the paint, the square footage a single gallon covers can vary wildly. In addition to considering price per gallon, consider the price per square foot of coverage, including multiple coats, when you’re choosing paint and deciding how many gallons to get.

Material

Are you painting brick, vinyl siding, or wood? Are you using a primer, or covering another layer of paint directly? Make sure that the brand of paint you’re considering is compatible with the surface you’re painting, or you’ll risk needing to repaint much earlier than you may have wanted.

Finish

Paints come in four main finishes: flat, satin, semi-gloss, and gloss. Semi-gloss and gloss paints may be used on accents, like doors, window sills, or shutters, but are not well suited to large areas. Flat paints hide imperfections in texture and absorb light, but they are difficult to clean and may require more regular touch-ups. Satin finishes can be washed, but require more care when you’re painting to ensure an attractive final result.

Important Qualities to Look for in Exterior Paint

No matter what the outdoor project, consider the following factors before purchasing paint:

Durability

A gallon of exterior paint runs anywhere from $8 to more than $50—and this is an area where you typically get what you pay for. More expensive paints usually contain higher-quality ingredients and come with longer warranties. Paint with a 15-year warranty is likely to be more durable than paint with a five- to 10-year warranty.

Low VOCs

Chemicals and solvents found in paint products can emit toxic fumes known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These malodorous fumes can cause headaches and nausea if inhaled and, while less likely to bother you when painting outdoors, you may still wish to choose a paint labeled as “Low-VOC” or “Zero-VOC.” Of the two types of exterior paints, oil, and latex, oil paint is higher in VOCs.

Dry Time

Different paints have different dry times, and you must wait until the first coat is dry before applying a second coat. This is something to consider if you have a limited time in which to complete a project. Most latex paints dry to the touch within a couple of hours and a second coat can be applied in four to six hours. Oil paint, however, dries to the touch in six to eight hours and may require up to 24 hours before a second coat can be applied. Dry times are listed on the paint can.

Lasting Color

Low-quality paints contain cheap pigments that tend to fade over time, especially if the painted surface has a southern exposure and receives direct sun. Keep in mind, too, that dark colors are more likely to fade than light hues on your exterior. If you’re going with a dark or bright shade on trim or shutters, look for “titanium dioxide” on the ingredient list—a pricey but long-lasting pigment usually found only in premium paint lines.

Weather Resistance

Good paint should be able to handle whatever Mother Nature throws it’s the way. Oil paints are very good at withstanding rain, and for many years, oil was the standard for exterior paint. That all changed with the development of acrylic-based latex paint. Acrylic is a binder that allows the latex to flex slightly, making it less likely to become brittle and crack and therefore able to better repel rain. The highest quality latex paint labels feature the words “all acrylic” or “100 percent acrylic.” While cheaper paints will often contain a small amount of acrylic, they usually don’t contain enough for the paint to be truly weather resistant.

Climate Suitability

Paint needs vary by region, and a paint that’s suitable for the high desert region of New Mexico may not be the best choice for a humid area, such as Louisiana. Paint additives can make the difference between a paint job that lasts more than a decade and one that lasts only a couple of years. If you live in a humid or rainy area, buy paint labeled as “mildew resistant,” and if you live where the sun shines most of the time, look for paint labels that read “UV resistant.”

Surface Suitability

While there are exceptions, the general rule is to use the same type of paint that’s already on the surface. For example, if your siding was already painted with latex, choose latex and if it was painted with oil, choose oil. Putting oil paint over latex often causes bubbling and peeling, as the solvents in oil paint melt the latex. The paint you choose should also be compatible with the material you’re painting. Paint designed to cover wood siding may not adhere well to aluminum or vinyl siding. Compatibility is listed on the paint can and in products online description.

Which type lasts the longest?

Primer Paint

Although not a true paint, primer works as the base coat to better prepare your painting surface for the new color. Using primer helps the paint stick and stay on the surface, increasing the longevity of your exterior paint. It’s important to use the right primer with the right kind of paint. Water-based paint needs a water-based primer, while oil-based paint needs an oil-based primer.

Latex Paint

It’s a misleading name, but latex paint refers to water-based paint—there is no actual latex in latex paint! Water-based paint is the easiest to clean and remove, but when it comes to longevity, latex paint is not the best choice.

Acrylic Paint

Acrylic paint is also a water-based paint, but with the addition of acrylic as the binding agent. Acrylic paint comes in many varieties such as Acrylic paint is durable and long-lasting and is best for use on the siding (wood, fiber cement, or aluminum), stucco, plaster, drywall, and porch floors.

Oil-based Paint

Oil-based paint creates a stronger and more durable finish, making it an excellent choice for exterior paint projects. The downsides are that they take longer to cure than water-based paints, are oftentimes mixed with harsh chemicals, and also emit VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Oil-based paints do tend to crack and yellow over time, especially when used on wood siding, which expands and contracts with the weather.

Oil-based paints used to be the go-to choice for exterior projects for many years, but the recent technological advancements made in water-based paints make them the overall better choice. Acrylic paint is the most durable of all. It’s long-lasting, flexible, and able to withstand fading from the sun or damage from rain and other elements.

How long should an exterior paint cure?

Although exterior paint dries in a few hours, it can take up to 30 days to fully cure. That’s why it’s important to consider the weather when painting a home

What is the longest-lasting exterior paint?

Acrylic paint is durable and long-lasting and is best for use on the siding (wood, fiber cement, or aluminum), stucco, plaster, drywall, and porch floors. Oil-based paint creates a stronger and more durable finish, making it an excellent choice for exterior paint projects

How long does exterior paint need to dry before the rain?

If you are using latex acrylic paint you need at least two hours of sun for exterior paint to dry before the rain comes. If heavy rain is forecast or several days of rain are coming in the next few days, you will need about six hours of good sun to dry the paint thoroughly enough to not be affected

Is it better to roll or spray exterior paint?

The advantage of rolling a house vs. spraying is that the paint will be applied much thicker giving overall better coverage than if it was sprayed. Also, it is much easier to be precise and when a house is rolled it eliminates the risk of such things like overspray.

See more: https://www.thespruce.com/exterior-paint-spraying-vs-brushing-4126053

Final Thoughts

This post is brought to you by the HeyLoveDesigns team. We highlight the products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team.

We welcome your feedback this post is brought to you by the HeyLoveDesigns team. We highlight the products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback

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