Exterior Paint Review

Evaluating reviews of exterior paint

Consumer Reports has a monopoly on full reviews of exterior house paint. The editors' simulated testing on house paint is ongoing, measuring how paints perform over time. Many professional painters offer a variety of criticisms of the Consumer Reports reviews, but none of those critics offers an alternative other than to say that professional experience trumps testing in labs.

Consumer Reports' testers simulate the aging process to learn about endurance of exterior paint. They subject painted wood to conditions that roughly accelerate aging three times faster than real time. Editors evaluate appearance after simulated three-, six- and nine-year periods, including resistance to dirt, mildew and color changing. One flaw with this slow methodology is that manufacturers engage in continuing research and development and regularly introduce new formulations (which may not always result in a new product name). Consumer Reports explains in a recent issue that testers verify whether formulations have changed and are forced to start over when changes are made. As a result, some -- if not many -- of the best exterior house paints are not currently rated. The magazine rates and ranks 10 fully tested exterior paints in the June 2008 issue, publishing partial results of 20 other house paints in various stages of testing. Since its formulas have changed, no Sherwin-Williams paints are rated, yet Sherwin-Williams is the bestselling brand nationwide. Benjamin Moore and Ace (Ace Hardware) are excluded from all the paint-ratings charts for the same reason. Those brands receive accolades from many professionals and do-it-yourselfers who have used them.

Another limitation of Consumer Reports' coverage is its dearth of regional brands. Editors note that local weather conditions are an important buying consideration. For that reason, other experts recommend paints that are specifically formulated for the rainy Pacific Northwest (mildew resistant) or the sunny South (fade resistant), for example. In spite of these limitations, Consumer Reports has the best exterior house paint coverage. Other consumer, home and DIY (do-it-yourself) magazines and websites have fine information, but virtually no mention of brands. Newspapers, books and even trade journals offer no recent guidance in picking brands of paint. Popular user-review websites only contain a smattering of comments. Forums are the best place to find professional and user opinion on the best house paint. Contractor Talk's Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum and Paint Talk's Professional Painting Contractors Forum are great sources, because of their use by working professionals.

In the Contractor Talk forum and in forum threads elsewhere, we found consistent criticism of Behr house paint (Behr is the primary brand sold by The Home Depot). Some forum commentators find Behr exterior paint to be thin, with poor coverage. Some painters say they've tried Behr paints several times at clients' insistence and report that those clients later said they wish they'd heeded their contractors' advice. A few Behr products are included in Consumer Reports' ongoing testing, but editors have only completed the equivalent of three years of aging, so testing isn't conclusive beyond that time period.