Oil Vs Latex vs ?? paint for exterior textured walls...

[JeepinEd]

I'm planning to repaint my house soon, and am wondering what type of paint is best.
I have textured cement stucco walls and live in the high desert, so it can get pretty cold and warm. There are a few hairline cracks on the walls, and I have read that latex is good for covering these cracks. Are there any downsides to latex for exterior walls? Is there some other type of paint I should consider? My first order of business will be to patch the larger cracks with cement stucco patch.

Thanks.

 

[boomerang]

Walk into a real paint store, (not HD, Lowe's or the hardware store) and look at all the different varieties of paint they have. Not the colors, the different types. They have a bunch.

Where I'm heading is that you should ask them. Now, we just might have some painters here that can give good advice and then again we might just have some people here who painted their dining room and are going to give advice that doesn't really have any value.

Before we put our house on the market we hired a woman and her daughter to come in and strip some wallpaper, repair those walls and then paint. She'd been painting for 25 years and she expounded a bit on all the different varieties of paint there are and how they all have different uses. This is why I gave you the advice I have.

 

[JeepinEd]

Walk into a real paint store, (not HD, Lowe's or the hardware store) and look at all the different varieties of paint they have. Not the colors, the different types. They have a bunch.

Where I'm heading is that you should ask them. Now, we just might have some painters here that can give good advice and then again we might just have some people here who painted their dining room and are going to give advice that doesn't really have any value.

Before we put our house on the market we hired a woman and her daughter to come in and strip some wallpaper, repair those walls and then paint. She'd been painting for 25 years and she expounded a bit on all the different varieties of paint there are and how they all have different uses. This is why I gave you the advice I have.

Appreciated. Unfortunately, in my neck of the woods (or joshua trees), we don't have many good paint stores. I think there may be a Sherman Williams, so I'll check them out. I've spoken to several Lowes and HD people and they all gave me different answers, hence my post.

 

[Greenman]

Acrylic paint is what you want.
I've heard good things about Rino shield, but you have to use an official rino shield installer. I've heard (no direct knowledge) that their prices start at absurd.

 

[Sukhoi]

Acrylic paint is what you want.
I've heard good things about Rino shield, but you have to use an official rino shield installer. I've heard (no direct knowledge) that their prices start at absurd.

I've heard there can be problems with moisture trapped behind acrylic paint, but not sure how common that is. Kelly Moore exterior covered our stucco very nicely and was higher quality feeling to apply than the mid range Benjamin Moore we used on the front door.

 

[Greenman]

Moisture coming through the wall will blister just about any paint, and indicates problems with the wall.

Edit: Forgot to note that the only thing I've ever had to say about Benjamin Moore paint is that it's expensive. I've have a lot of clients demand it for that very reason.

 

[Sukhoi]

I've heard there can be problems with moisture trapped behind acrylic paint, but not sure how common that is. Kelly Moore exterior covered our stucco very nicely and was higher quality feeling to apply than the mid range Benjamin Moore we used on the front door.

Wife has clarified that Kelly Moore was better at self-leveling regardless of application method. Benjamin Moore held the brush strokes on our front door.

 

[Paperdoc]

As a general rule, LATEX paint of some type is preferable to oil-based paints for exterior use. Oil-based can be tougher and more durable for abrasion, and do come in full gloss finishes where latex does not. On an uneven stucco surface, I suspect you are not looking for full gloss, anyway. However, the big difference is that latex paints have a micro-porous film structure that allows slow diffusion of moisture through the paint. Oil paint does not. The result is that if any moisture gets behind a oil-based paint, it will blister the paint, whereas latex rarely blisters from this type of issue.

There MAY be a small feature in some latex exterior paints. Some claim to be "self-cleaning" because they claim that, over time, a very small amount of the paint "washes off" sort of, taking away any dirt stuck on the surface. Not sure whether that actually works, or whether that is a plus.

Among layex paints, the Acrylic latexes are most commonly used for exterior surfaces. The seem to be more durable and better suited to weather exposure, especially sunlight.

When you're in the store, get advice on applicators. Painting stucco usually can be done well with a thick-pile roller, but sometimes you need to match the pile to the "roughness" of your stucco - depends on the stucco surface style.

 

[JeepinEd]

As a general rule, LATEX paint of some type is preferable to oil-based paints for exterior use. Oil-based can be tougher and more durable for abrasion, and do come in full gloss finishes where latex does not. On an uneven stucco surface, I suspect you are not looking for full gloss, anyway. However, the big difference is that latex paints have a micro-porous film structure that allows slow diffusion of moisture through the paint. Oil paint does not. The result is that if any moisture gets behind a oil-based paint, it will blister the paint, whereas latex rarely blisters from this type of issue.

There MAY be a small feature in some latex exterior paints. Some claim to be "self-cleaning" because they claim that, over time, a very small amount of the paint "washes off" sort of, taking away any dirt stuck on the surface. Not sure whether that actually works, or whether that is a plus.

Among layex paints, the Acrylic latexes are most commonly used for exterior surfaces. The seem to be more durable and better suited to weather exposure, especially sunlight.

When you're in the store, get advice on applicators. Painting stucco usually can be done well with a thick-pile roller, but sometimes you need to match the pile to the "roughness" of your stucco - depends on the stucco surface style.

Thanks for all the info.

I visited a Dunn-Edwards paint store and they recommended Elastometric Paint. They said it's a good quality paint and will seal the hairline cracks in the wall. It's pretty expensive, though at roughly $210 per 5 gallon bucket. According to the sales rep., this type of paint goes on pretty thick and requires 2-3x the normal amount of paint. He also recommended it be sprayed on, quickly followed by a roller - oh and a base coat, even though we're going with a slightly darker shade. I was hoping to be able to just roll the paint on. It's normally pretty windy in my area and spraying paint is going to be a nightmare.

 

[Greenman]

Elastomeric is pretty good material for problem walls. I don't know if the material has changed or not, but when I last used it (about 15 years ago) I was told that I could never paint over it with anything but more elastomeric.

$42 a gallon is a pretty good price.

 

[JeepinEd]

Elastomeric is pretty good material for problem walls. I don't know if the material has changed or not, but when I last used it (about 15 years ago) I was told that I could never paint over it with anything but more elastomeric.

$42 a gallon is a pretty good price.

Just a few questions:

Did you have to use a primer?
How many coats did you use?
Does it really require more paint than oil based paint?

Thanks.

 

[Greenman]

Just a few questions:

Did you have to use a primer?
How many coats did you use?
Does it really require more paint than oil based paint?

Thanks.

I don't recall if I primed or not, or if it needed more than 1 coat. I do recall it being pretty thick stuff, and it has a thick film thickness, so my guess is you would use a lot more of it.