What’s the Best Exterior House Paint? – We Asked 12,000 Painting Contractors.
Does anyone really know what the best exterior paint is? Few of us can accurately experiment with different brands and see how they stand up over 10 or 15 years.
Painting contractors would know. They do exactly this. Many paint their whole lives trying different products throughout their career, quietly observing which brand lasts over time.
We asked 12,000 painting contractors; ‘What’s the best exterior house paint (based on duration and value)? We also provided 3 categories to rank the brands:
Exterior house paint can vary in price quite a bit, so to figure out truly the best value based on the price, we separated the votes into these categories:
Low-grade: $15-$30 retail
Mid-grade: $30-$50 retail
High-grade: $50-$100 retail
Here’s what we found:
Low-grade Winners ($15-$30 per gallon)
Sherwin Williams: A-100
Glidden: Essentials
Valspar: Premium
Important Note: Most contractors we polled made it very clear that you shouldn’t use a low-grade paint on the exterior of your home. Almost all of them recommended using a mid-grade paint (or higher) on the exterior.
Consider that your home is one of your largest investments (if not THE largest investment). It’s worth spending a little more on the paint to get a paint job that lasts especially since the paint cost is usually only 10-20% the total cost of painting your house.
Mid-grade Winners ($30-$50 per gallon)
Sherwin Williams: Super Paint
Benjamin Moore: Ultra Spec
Sherwin Williams: Resilience
Sherwin Williams Super Paint was the dominant winner here as you can see. Depending on the contractors discount, it can usually be purchased for $25-$40 per gallon.
High-grade Winners ($50-$100 per gallon)
Sherwin Williams: Duration
Sherwin Williams: Emerald
Benjamin Moore: Aura
Summary
Sherwin Williams was pretty dominant in this study, which would make sense; they are one of the largest paint manufacturers with sales at $11.8 billion annually, but if painting contractors nationwide recommend them, we would to!
Benjamin Moore also had a pretty loyal following. It did not receive as many votes but the votes it did receive were raving.
We’ve actually used most of these products ourselves (we’ve been painting houses for 14 years now) and we don’t have any complaints about Sherwin Williams products. It goes on easy, covers well and holds up over time.
Keep in mind, the preparation process is always important when painting your house. Even great paint will peel if the surface is not prepped right.
So there it is; The Best Exterior House Paint according to actual painting contractors. Hopefully this information will help guide you on which exterior paint you use in the future. Thanks for reading!
17 Comments
Did Sherwin Williams pay for this AD?? My house has been painted twice with the BEST SW paint and it peeled within a year each time. BAH!!!
Hi Judith, thanks for your feedback. We have no affiliation with Sherwin Williams. This is based off asking 12,000 of our painting contractors what they think the best paint is. Peeling can result from low quality paint or from poor prep-work. While the paint you use makes a big difference, I don’t think it can be blamed for peeling after a year..that has to be on the prep side.
Hi!
I am planning on painting my mobile home, what may the best choice on exterior paint?
Thanks!
What’s the start up
Cost?
I’m new to starting a paiting business. I would assume I’ll gain business faster this way to get my feet wet.
Hi John we can have someone reach out to you to go over pricing, thanks!
I am underwhelmed with exterior painting using Diamond Vogel. I think part of not was painter mistake using oil on stucco in a cold region of the country with wild temp shifts.I have used almost all of Sherwin Williams paints for interior and exterior. Some good some bad including there best caulk which is a joke. FOR INTERIOR I AM SOLD ABSOLUTELY ON BENJAMIN MOORE Regal SELECT Matte- nothing compares in appearance, ease of use, touch up or washability.
I am debating using Ben Moore vs. SW Duration to redo the EXTERIOR of my house painted incorrectly by a novice painter. Unfortunately, Sherman Williams thinks too highly of all of their overpriced products. In our state SW is about 30% more than Ben Moore. Even on sale it’s too pricey.
We live in Centennial, a suburb of Denver. We have 5-6 large wooden exposed exterior beams that form an open roof alcove in the front exterior of our home. They require continual maintenance by the HOA to stay in compliance of Association Covenants.
All are painted white, and exposed on 4 sides. Knowing the area, What recommendations would you give in paints, preparations, priming and application? Oil, latex and self priming? Brands would be helpful too.
Thanks, CL.
I would love to see you all review the best shoes for non commercial painters. I am on a quest to find the best shoes and have come up short. I’m ready to manufacture my own line! The needs are simple, 1. Breathable. 2. Comfortable 3. Flexible 4. Able to not split out or come unglued in less than 3 months.
Why is there no mention of Behr paint – it’s a Home Depot brand and I love it…
interested – I painted my house myself 15 years ago and while it is past time to paint again it has actually lasted pretty considering the weather where I live can be pretty rough….curious
Hi Maryann of all the votes, Behr paint received 6.8% of the vote, so it was mentioned, it just didn’t receive enough votes to be featured. I’ve used Behr paint also and I had no issues with it.
Since moving out west (Vegas), where there are Dunn Edwards Paint, I’ve tried it and I like the mid-level and higher and the prices are great. I’m curious what percentage they got? I’m thinking it may not be fair, because where I grew up (Michigan), there are no DEP stores.
Hi Rich the votes for DEP were below 1%..again that doesn’t mean it’s a bad paint..it’s probably just low consumer exposure
What is the difference between Lowes HGTV Sherwin Williams Everlast Ultra and Sherwin Williams: Duration? Is the Lowes HGTV Sherwin Williams comparable to a Sherwin Williams Store?
Contractor recommendations are meaningful, but I wonder if things that are important to a contractor are different than what a do-it-yourself person would look for. For instance, ease of use versus durability. Contractors typically get discounts from dealers. Are some brands discounted more? Stuff like that.
I checked Consumer Reports too and looked at user ratings for their highest rated paints. Sherwin Williams Duration and Emerald were high rated, but a few cheaper paints rated as high. However, in the user reviews the cheaper paints got about half negative comments whereas the SW paints got very few negatives. Most negative comments for all paints had to do with coverage, streaking, etc.
In many of your responses to commenters, you mention that it might not be the paint but poor prep by the painter. What should be done to be considered COMPLETE or even EXCEPTIONAL prep work?
Thanks.
Hello I just read your whole article about paint. I’ve had a Sherwin Williams one historic home and it lasted far longer than a gallon of Glidden that was coming off after 2 years. However a few days ago a guy was on my property when I came home from errands and had a large shop in my backyard and walls of main garage and back wall of my house pressure washed. I was so upset I have felt sick for days. He was at the wrong address!!! The owner of paint company came and looked but will not agree to fix the blown off paint. So I may end up painting my house again. I think maybe will find a painter and get Sherwin Williams estimate
How about comparing mid grade exterior satin paint from Kelly Moore with Sherwim Williams? Thanks.