June 2008
Exterior paints & stains
Scrimping doesn't pay
HIGH SCORER The flat-finish California 2010 paint, while on the pricey side at $38 a gallon, looked best overall after years of exposure.
You could spend several dollars more per gallon for exterior paint and stain this year, thanks in part to the pricier petroleum
that goes into them. That might tempt you to pick a lesser-grade coating. But our tests show that penny-pinching could cost
you more money over time.
Manufacturers reformulate their products often, typically to meet rules limiting volatile organic compounds. But they admit it's a challenge to reduce those pollutants without compromising performance. Indeed, our latest fully tested paints did not fend off dirt and other weathering effects for as long as some past products.
Because reformulated finishes might not wear the same as earlier versions, we remove all such previously tested products from our exterior paints & stains Ratings. That's why you won't see a few familiar brands, including some of last year's top-scorers. But you will find several new picks from Valspar and other brands with durability and value. And because we test paint bases to which tints are added, rather than a handful of factory-mixed colors, our findings should hold for a variety of colors.
Our latest Ratings of more than 40 exterior paints and stains (both available to subscribers) include results for major brands after a year or two of accelerated outdoor testing, equal to about three to six years on a house. But as the scores show, some initially promising finishes look far less impressive after the equivalent of roughly nine years, when they're fully tested. (See A Torture Test for Paints and Stains.)
The Ratings also show that some stains needed to be reapplied after the equivalent of only three years, and some lesser-known paints looked better than some heavy hitters. Here are the details:
Smaller brands take the top. California brand paints have long been top performers, and the 2010 line is no exception. The regional brand's Fresh Coat Velvet flat finish, previously our top pick, is also doing well in our exterior paints & stains retest after the equivalent of roughly three years in the elements. Kelly-Moore, another regional brand, joins California's 2010 at the top of this year's Ratings of fully tested paints with its Acry-Shield flat.
The dirt on some big brands. Some versions of Kilz, sold at Wal-Mart, had trouble keeping clean after the equivalent of six years, while several from Ace, Behr (a Home Depot brand), and Benjamin Moore needed cleaning after the equivalent of only three years. Of the two Valspar (Lowe's) Ultra Premium Duramax paints still enduring our exterior paints & stains testing, the flat is doing better so far at keeping its original color.
Opaque stains are clearly better. Opaque stains save time and money in the long run because they outlast semitransparents as a group. Pluses for semitransparent stains include visible wood grain and less prep work, because those stains penetrate the wood rather than form a top film like opaque stains. But even the best opaque stain won't last as long as most paints, all of which resisted cracking in our rigorous outdoor testing.
Manufacturers reformulate their products often, typically to meet rules limiting volatile organic compounds. But they admit it's a challenge to reduce those pollutants without compromising performance. Indeed, our latest fully tested paints did not fend off dirt and other weathering effects for as long as some past products.
Because reformulated finishes might not wear the same as earlier versions, we remove all such previously tested products from our exterior paints & stains Ratings. That's why you won't see a few familiar brands, including some of last year's top-scorers. But you will find several new picks from Valspar and other brands with durability and value. And because we test paint bases to which tints are added, rather than a handful of factory-mixed colors, our findings should hold for a variety of colors.
Our latest Ratings of more than 40 exterior paints and stains (both available to subscribers) include results for major brands after a year or two of accelerated outdoor testing, equal to about three to six years on a house. But as the scores show, some initially promising finishes look far less impressive after the equivalent of roughly nine years, when they're fully tested. (See A Torture Test for Paints and Stains.)
The Ratings also show that some stains needed to be reapplied after the equivalent of only three years, and some lesser-known paints looked better than some heavy hitters. Here are the details:
Smaller brands take the top. California brand paints have long been top performers, and the 2010 line is no exception. The regional brand's Fresh Coat Velvet flat finish, previously our top pick, is also doing well in our exterior paints & stains retest after the equivalent of roughly three years in the elements. Kelly-Moore, another regional brand, joins California's 2010 at the top of this year's Ratings of fully tested paints with its Acry-Shield flat.
The dirt on some big brands. Some versions of Kilz, sold at Wal-Mart, had trouble keeping clean after the equivalent of six years, while several from Ace, Behr (a Home Depot brand), and Benjamin Moore needed cleaning after the equivalent of only three years. Of the two Valspar (Lowe's) Ultra Premium Duramax paints still enduring our exterior paints & stains testing, the flat is doing better so far at keeping its original color.
Opaque stains are clearly better. Opaque stains save time and money in the long run because they outlast semitransparents as a group. Pluses for semitransparent stains include visible wood grain and less prep work, because those stains penetrate the wood rather than form a top film like opaque stains. But even the best opaque stain won't last as long as most paints, all of which resisted cracking in our rigorous outdoor testing.
