In our exterior paint testing series, we will be testing paints in three main categories: peeling, fading, and coverage. In this video, we’ll be looking at what exterior paint covers the best.
Siding boards painted with a roller, and 2’x4’ pine boards painted with a brush were our main substrates. The siding boards were painted with a primer on the top 1/3rd of each board so we could test if the paint lasted any longer with a primer vs an additional coat of paint.
For our research of finding what exterior paint covers the best, we selected a dark blue and a dark red color. These colors tend to fail the quickest so we thought they would be good candidates to test. The two colors were mixed using top of the line paints from 4 manufacturers. Those manufacturers are: Sherwin Williams Emerald; PPG Permanizer; Benjamin Moore Aura; and Behr Marquee.
Out of these 4 manufacturers, we selected Sherwin Williams and Behr Marquee to do some additional research. In these 2 brands, we performed additional testing on their mid and low/contractor’s grade paints. The mid-grade paints tested were: Sherwin Williams Resilience, and Behr Premium Plus. The low/contractor’s grade paints examined were: Sherwin Williams DuraCraft, and Behr e600. We wanted to see what exterior paint covers the best between the top of the line vs mid grade and contractor’s grade levels. We then used these same samples to test for fading and peeling. However, the fading and peeling test results will be revealed in a later video.
Surprisingly, in our hunt for what exterior paint covers the best, the only other 3rd party we could find that’s done extensive testing of paints is Consumer Reports. Interestingly, what Consumer Reports found is almost opposite of what you’d expect. For Interior paint, Behr Marquee was found to be the best all around paint. However in exterior paint, the Behr Marquee received one of the worst scores. Behr’s lower grade/cost paint, the Behr Premium Plus, was actually found to be one of the best exterior paints available.
Further, the lower grade/cost Behr Premium Plus was one of only 2 paints that still received the “excellent” grade after 6 years in testing. The other paint receiving the “excellent” grade after 6 years was Clark & Kenzington. Pretty impressive!
As you can see in this video on what exterior paint covers the best, our results were interesting. In the top of the line paints, PPG Permanizer came in 1st. Followed by Benjamin Moore Aura, Behr Marquee in 3rd, and Sherwin Williams Emerald testing the worst for coverage.
When comparing the lower end Behr Premium Plus to the top of the line Sherwin Williams Emerald, Behr Premium Plus covered slightly better. This is a very unexpected result since Behr Premium Plus is sold at a much lower price than Sherwin Williams Emerald paint.
In the end we’ve learned, the question of what exterior paint covers the best doesn’t really mean much. The paint can test out to be the worst for coverage, but the best when it comes to resisting fading and peeling. We discovered, coverage performance really is only important to the person applying it. It can also be of importance if you have hired a professional painting company. Being able to use less paint or being able to get good coverage with fewer coats, typically equates to paying less for labor.
The next test will be our exterior paint test that we are executing outside. The testing will look at fading and peeling on different substrates with different application methods, and additional coats of paint. We’ll be experimenting to see if siding pieces painted with an extra coat of paint vs primer has any effect on the prevention of fading and peeling. And, of course, we’ll be looking at which paint performed the best! Watch for these next videos, they can be very informative and also save money!
