My House Painting Finished
The ladders are back in the garage, the paint buckets are sitting on the shelf and all the paint is either up on the walls or stored in the basement, yes I put leftover paint in my basement but more on that in a minute. I have finished painting my home and am very happy with the results even though it took two years to complete because I ran out of good weather.
I finished three walls outside in 2011 around November and wrote up my review but I still had another side of the house to finish painting which is now done before the winter of 2012 and snow flew. Over the winter I stored the paint in my basement which never gets below about 60 degrees, you should never allow paint of any kind to freeze or it will get ruined.
Store all your paint from gallon and 5 gallon buckets to those little cans of spray paint, lubricants and even foam sealant in the basement or another place but never let them freeze or you risk ruining the actual ingredients or having cans of spray burst. I have seen more cans of paint go into the dumpster, well maybe recycled at the local recycling center because the cans were left to freeze over the winter instead of keeping them at least above freezing.
I had a lot of planning for my painting and this was key in several areas including how much paint to use, how to get at all the parts of the house and what equipment I would need. I used two main paints for the house along with a cheaper primer I got from Menards, the main color paint is an olive green Sherwin Williams Duration Exterior Acrylic Latex while the light tan is Benjamin Moore’s Aura Waterborne Exterior Paint for trim.
I used a lot of primer as the existing paint was very worn and needed a good coat of primer before working on the top coat which went on extremely well. Primer is also done before caulking as the primer will help the caulk to adhere but make sure you buy paintable caulk for outdoor use.
Like in many things you do get what you pay for and paint is no exception to that time worn saying with good paint like Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore being both very good paints. The Sherwin Williams Duration was an excellent exterior paint to work with and its lasts well over the harsh winters here in Minnesota.
Likewise the Benjamin Moore Aura paint I used for the trim around windows and doors went on smooth and for the most part in one coat and has topped off a great paint job. Like any paint job the preparation is key to having a good looking and long lasting paint but having the right tools and paint is also just as key.
I spent at least as much time on preparation as I did on painting with filling holes, fixing shingles and caulking around windows, along the soffits and such. I did not do any major wood work on the soffit but I did use about three quarters of a box of shingles as replacements for ones too damaged to keep or for ones missing as well as a door removal.
On one side of my house there was a door that led right out on to my driveway but the door was poorly installed and the bottom concrete of the frame moved when freezing temperatures hit. The door was unusable during the winter so I decided instead of trying to fix it and weatherize it to get rid of it and fill in the hole.
You can kind of see where it was if you look but the shingles are matching and I did try to get the same random pattern of varying width shingles placed next to each other. The house now looks great and I have received many compliments from neighbors and strangers just passing by on how good it looks but its more the paint than my work.
Both the Sherwin Williams Duration and the Benjamin Moore Aura paints are excellent and are highly recommended by both home owners and professional painters as top of the line paints for your home. If you’re looking to paint your home wait for the sales and then buy just a bit more than you figure you’re going to need, you can always get more at the next sale after all.
The Sherwin Williams Duration paint is an excellent choice for a main paint and goes on looking like a plastic coating when viewed up close to really seal in the house. The Benjamin Moore is more like a traditional paint with the flat trim I received and has had no problems at all over the last year.
I have inspected the previous years’ work and cannot find any problems and did not need to patch any spots or fill any places that did not get enough paint. I can easily see both paints lasting a good ten years just on the performance of the past year and really inspecting the paint after a full year and the harsh winter that Minnesota has to offer.
The company does warranty their product for life but if you read the label it is about product and manufacturing like many typical warranties. When applying paints over old paint the warranty will not apply because the company cannot ensure the same adhesion and quality over such a varied surface for all the homes out there and the huge variety of situations.
No matter what you will be repainting your home even with the most expensive paint but this should last a lot longer than cheaper paints and both companies do stand behind their products. I am very pleased with the result and can easily recommend both the Sherwin William’s Duration and Benjamin Moore Aura paints as top of the line house paints that are well worth the cost even at full price.
The Contributor was given a gift or sample to inform this content.
