Good house paint websites?

Question

Painting our house and I'm looking for color sceeme ideas for the exterior.. I know what I want but doesnt hurt to keep looking....

I have miller paint. I didn't go cheap. I just want color sceme ideas, although I appriciate all the extra info, I dont need it.

Answer 1

Go to sherwinwilliams.com
They have exterior pictures where you pick a similar shape to your house, then a whole color pallet. Pick the main color and it suggests trim colors. We used it for our house and we are very happy.

Answer 2

I would suggest asking for several paint samples that come close to the color you were considering painting your home, letting the samples dry and then picking your color this way.

Here is an article about buying your paint that may be useful.

First; one cannot expect much of commercial house
paint (or almost any paint) from the big box and
discount stores. You really get what you pay for with
paint so stay away from the discount stores. There are
so many ad dollars loaded in quality cannot go in the
can. Heck you can buy interior wall paint at Walmart
for $7 a gallon! The can and label cost $1.50 so that
leaves $5.50. Walmart made a profit so how much
quality do you think went in the can? Zip, zero Nada!
And yet there are long lines in the paint department.
It's the same story at HD, Lowes, Menards and others.
Quality is considerably better with products from the
global giants such as SW, ICI and Valspar but the same
rule of economics applies; big ad dollars, thousands
of salesmen and big administration means quality
cannot go in the can. There is no argument that when
you buy paint you are paying for their ad and
administration budget.

There are five kinds of latex resin with 100% acrylic
being at the top of the pile for quality. I wouldn't
apply anything in an outdoor architectural application
except 100% acrylic and you are unlikely to find 100%
acrylic at the box stores. Even if you did it would be
lacking in other ingredients such as binders and solid
content. One of the best telltales for judging quality
is to look at the back of the label where it lists
solid content by volume. This isn't an ad for Top
Secret Coatings products, just a fact. Our products
always include higher solid content by volume which
equals quality. It's also why our products spread
further, adhere better and last longer. So what you
have been buying is part of the problem.

Another key to getting better results is choosing the
right product. As stated previously 100% acrylic is
very useful stuff. It is used in a wide variety of
applications including interior, exterior and some
marine applications, however, it is good to note than
unless you get an acrylic rated for marine
applications don't except it to be waterproof. Acrylic
is typically water resistant which is a whole lot
different than waterproof. Architectural paints must
breathe or the structure may get mold and mildew going
inside.

Solvent based epoxy has the highest possible adhesion
rating, it has excellent chemical resistance and its
tough but there are problems with it. It is completely
inflexible, won't take heat past 140F and chalks,
discolors and looses its gloss way too fast. Two
component urethane is a big improvement over epoxy.
Two component urethanes are colorfast, gloss retentive
and have better heat and flexibility properties than
two component epoxies. Good alkyds are also a good
option but I don't want to take all day to get to the
point here.

We have a cool and unusual product I would like to
suggest. It is Top Secret Coatings 1 Part Epoxy. It is
a silicone based mono-epoxy with alkyd and urethane in
it making it a blend. We came up with this product
because of the problems associated with two component
epoxy and urethanes. 1 Part Epoxy retains the
desirable aspects of two component epoxy and urethane
without the mixing. Like typical epoxy it has the
highest possible adhesion rating, its waterproof and
has excellent chemical resistance. It is tremendously
flexible and hard making it durable. It takes heat to
400F, impacts to 500PSI and won't crack, peel or
chalk. It is a high performance, low build coating so
it goes on much thinner than paint. In fact it will
cover white with black at only 1 mil which is unheard
of. A sheet of paper is 4 mils. We've seen people get
well over 800 sq ft out of one gallon because it
covers so well. That makes it very economical to use.
Since it is so flexible, has such good adhesion and
low film build it can be applied direct to almost any
surface.

I hope this information is useful.

Answer 3

GOOD is relative. COLOR is totally your choice,,,as are brand names,,,so often produced at the same Pigment and manufacturing facility.

Without knowing at all, your preferences it's as difficult to advise here as it might be to try to convert you to another religion, or political party.

It might also depend in some measure on your location, adjacent houses, any restrictions in a community association, IE: You want a Lavendar house with white trim in a community that pretty much dictates BEIGE???

get a color wheel if you're confused, and use it.

Substance of the paint,,,again, with all due respect, does not strictly equate to a price point, but more to the volume of pigment versus the vehicle in the mix. I can be as happy with an OFF brand of a specific type for $10 per gallon, as I can a major brand selling at $35 per gallon.

Popular/trendy is still your choice. Earth tones combined, Gray and Magenta/ Teal and kacki/ Blues in diff shades, etc etc etc.

Steven Wolf
Multiple thousands of gallons of paint later