Best type of house paint

[Doc]

Anyone with expertise in this field: we're painting our house this fall -- old farmhouse -- and we want a paint that will inhibit mold growing on the wood. Right now, the wood looks dark gray even though it is suppose to be white.

We've actually washed the wood with bleach but it didn't work. I heard that there is paint now that will prevent mold. And Sherwin Williams is having a 30% sale until the 7th!

Any suggestions?

[RedTartan]

I do NOT like Sherwin Williams. I think it's much too thin. I won't use it and I have a relative that works for the company. That means I can get it at a significant discount and I still won't use it. Blech.

I like various paints depending on the job. For floor painting, I love Glidden because they don't require a primer and they wear like iron. For walls and ceilings, I love Behr paints sold at Home Depot. Excellent coverage from Behr. For mold prone areas, such as you're doing, I love Kilz Casual Colors. I have a bathroom that I had to bleach the walls in weekly, then I painted with Kilz. Great coverage and I haven't had any mold in there since I painted it two years ago. You can actually find the Kilz at Walmart.

Oh, and take it from another old house owner, you definitely want to prime before you paint your walls, ceiling, and trim if you're not sure what you're painting over unless you want in to peel in a year. Don't ask me how I know. That one room needs completely redone.

ETA: Oh, you're looking for outdoor paint. I thought you were painting wood trim. Nevermind

[legacy]

You need to know, first, what kind of siding you're dealing with. Often, cedar siding is simply stained, even with white wash. Cedar, for example, will soak this up like crazy, and even if you bleach it, you end up with a different shade of stain.

What kind of stain are you dealing with? Black? Brown? Green?

If you have cedar siding and you want to put paint on it, it sounds to me like you are going to need to prime it, then paint it.

Some people will tell you they would only use one brand of paint, ever. That's fine, and I understand that. Understand, though, that a premium outdoor paint, like Porter, for example, can easily cost you upwards of $35 per gallon.

You need to do a cost/benefit analysis and decide what is best for you. Honestly, there's a guy a Lowes where I live that knows about paint and other coverings as much as anybody I've run across, including house painters and the "pros" at the brand-name stores.

This ain't rocket science. Some paints cover better and go on easier than others and some paints last longer. That's about it.

[Doc]

The siding is old, old German siding and I want white, or off white.

Thanks for the tips on priming it first. I want a quality paint so this can be done right.

[stargazer]

We like Behr and Valspar. Do prime first, though.

[Scott SW Ohio]

I read somewhere that when you buy premixed paint the manufacturer is limited in how much antimildew chemical can be included. I have bought standard paint and then stirred in packets of antimildew agent that I bought separately. In my case it was for indoor painting but I expect it would work outside too. It has been a few years since I did this but you might ask your paint store if they still sell such stuff.

Added - I used Porter for many years but since PPG bought them and reformulated it does not seem the same. I switched to Behr about 3 years ago and it seems to be holding up great, and is easy to work, at much less cost.

[jmtinmi]

When we first purchased our 120+ year old house, it need a paint job. We hired someone and then had to leave the state. They did a lousy job, and we learned a lesson. Fast forward a couple of years and we are redoing some of the worst areas, as we replace some cedar siding, etc. The new cedar siding gets oil based primer on both sides before being installed, then latex can be applied on top of that,after installation. On existing siding, any loose paint is scraped, oil base primed, and then painted~~two coats minimum. The parts we redid are holding up well, even on the sides that receive the most weather. We used Sherwin Williams oil base primer and it wears like iron! We had pre-painted a few cedar pieces that my DH later wanted the cedar exposed. He thought it would be okay to run the piece through his planer to remove the paint layer. That was a mistake, it ruined his blades!

[Cabin Fever]

No matter what brand you buy, I'd suggest getting a semi-gloss paint. Dirt and mildew seem to not stick as well to a semi-gloss versus a flat paint.

[GoldenCityMuse]

Having well insulated walls helps too. Install gutters to keep the splash away from the house walls.

[ldc]

OP, you didn't say what climate you're in. It makes a difference. Here in HUMID s. LA, I scraped 14 layers of paint off the front of my wood frame house when I moved in 15 yrs ago. Oil based primer, then 2 coats of oil based paint, due to the climate. Color White. Got mildew all over it about 2 yrs ago, after 2 big hurricanes and steadily hotter and more humid temps the last 8 yrs. I did used to wash it carefully once a year, w white vinegar/water solution. Seemed to help, but nothing lasts forever! Golden City Muse is correct about the insulation factor, in my recent experience!ldc

About 15 years ago, one of my customers wanted the back side of their house painted with latex paint, the other sides with oil paint. I was really surprised 3 years later, I went back to look at some other work, and the latex had held up against the mildew, whereas the other 3 sides were really bad looking. We used a high gloss, exterior paint, top of the line, from one of the major paint manufacturers.

[paintboy]

I use Porter paints Acri-shield. They are a PPG brand. Don't know what part of the country you are in but a quick search for PPG will get you their brand in you area. Have them add a product called M-1 to your paint. This will greatly improve the paints mildew resistance.

[Maura]

I only use oil primer and paint for outdoors. I have noticed that the more you pay, the better the paint is. You need to go to a paint store, not a big box store to get the best paint.