What is the best exterior house paint to use in Colorado?
Not every can of paint was made equally under the eyes of Paint Pals. That being said, it’s a terrific idea to do a little research on your local climate and how paint reacts to it. If you live in Colorado, good news. We’ve already done the research!
Big brand manufacturers like Behr, Diamond Vogel and Sherwin Williams are continuously improving their paint products, but each paint will always have its limits. One of the biggest factors we look at when deciding on a paint is longevity.
Colorado’s climate
Colorado is an arid state that sees drastic temperature swings. Those temperature swings not only refer to the difference between summer and winter, but the difference within a single day. You can get a 60 degree swing in a single day here!
Temperature constraints on painting
Traditionally, you were not able to paint with temps under 50°. Lucky for us, paint production has come a long way and we are now able to paint in temps as cold as 35°! In Denver, you can expect lows under 50° most nights between September and May. With the old school paints, that left a really short painting season.
Even with the new paints, there is still a limited window of optimal weather in which we are able to paint exteriors. Most of our exterior work takes places between March and October, though it’s not a hard rule. If we get a warm week in February that allows us to paint, we’re game!
UV Index considerations for painting
Because Colorado is situated at a relatively high elevation, we get a lot of ultra violet (UV) radiation. UV radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun. It’s got a really short wavelength, which means it’s not visible to the human eye. The higher in elevation you go, the stronger the UV radiation. That’s why it’s so important to wear sunblock and sunglasses in Colorado; to protect our skin and eyes from harmful radiation. The UV rays that affect our skin and eyes also affect the paint we use on our homes.
Paint preference
At Paint Pals we used to almost exclusively use Sherwin Williams paint. But as customers have made requests for us to use other brands, we’ve had an opportunity to test how the different types hold up.
Sherwin Williams
There are a lot of high quality paints that Sherwin Williams produces. A good chunk of the homes that Paint Pals paints every year get painted with Ambassador paint, from Sherwin Williams. This is one our favorite paints because it last the longest.
It has about 26% titanium dioxide, an active ingredient of sunblock. Other high quality paints from Sherwin Williams like Superpaint and Duration only have 20% Titanium Dioxide. The Ambassador Paint has about 20% water and glycols added to it, whereas the Superpaint and Duration have over 40% water & glycols added. Other ingredient like the pigments and resins make up most of the remaining formula. Sherwin William’s Ambassador Paint has proven to hold for up to 10 years.
Behr
Behr is another great company that produces a ton of high quality paints. Behr Premium Plus is probably the most commonly used paint for exterior jobs at Paint Pals. Just like Ambassador, it has high levels of titanium dioxide and low levels of water and glycols, making it a terrific choice for exterior painting in Colorado.
Rest assured
Snow and moisture will wear on exterior paint. You might even notice increased wear and tear on the bottom boards where the snow piles up. UV rays bouncing off homes causes paint fade, but with an awesome paint that is tough enough to handle Colorado climate like Ambassador or Behr Premium Plus, you won’t not have to worry about repainting you house for years.
