Planning Exterior House Painting - What's typical sheen (flat, satin, etc)

[Tidybuoy]

I'm planning to paint my home this summer and I'm wondering what is the typical sheen to use for painting (i.e., flat, eggshell, satin). My house is board & bat in the back, smooth plaster like stucco on the sides, and brick front. The only painting in front will be posts, eves, etc..


All advice welcome.

[Zeke]

Smooth plaster looks best in what they call flat which does have a bit of a side sheen. B & B depends on texture. If smooth, I'd go for satin, if there is a lot of grain, same flat.

Buy a good vinyl acrylic with lots of acrylic. Most of the major brands have good exterior paints formulated for each weather region. CR rates exterior paints every 5 years or so.

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Smooth plaster looks best in what they call flat which does have a bit of a side sheen. B & B depends on texture. If smooth, I'd go for satin, if there is a lot of grain, same flat.

Buy a good vinyl acrylic with lots of acrylic. Most of the major brands have good exterior paints formulated for each weather region. CR rates exterior paints every 5 years or so.

Thanks!

The board an bat is 12" redwood boards that is old 1" thick boards. The bat is the same but 3" wide. While I am doing this, my plan is to remove all the boards, insulate, and house wrap the back side of the house. At this time, I will turn the boards backwards so that I am painting a new surface that has been protected all of it's life. This will minimize the paint scraping. So, the surface will be rough sawn redwood.

I'll have to take some photos.

[stevej37]

If undecided on paint brand...my vote is for Valspar.
Lowes sells it.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy

Thanks!

The board an bat is 12" redwood boards that is old 1" thick boards. The bat is the same but 3" wide. While I am doing this, my plan is to remove all the boards, insulate, and house wrap the back side of the house. At this time, I will turn the boards backwards so that I am painting a new surface that has been protected all of it's life. This will minimize the paint scraping. So, the surface will be rough sawn redwood.

I'll have to take some photos.

Be sure to prime the unpainted wood very well... you might prime the edges if they are raw also.

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by tcar

Be sure to prime the unpainted wood very well... you might prime the edges if they are raw also.

I will prime the unpainted wood very well. The edges are currently painted but I will scrape the surface and see what I have left. I will probably prime as well.

[drkshdw]

I would never use flat paint on exterior. It stains, mars, marks and gets nasty fast. Just touching it will mark it and no amount of cleaning will make it look new again.

That said, I use satin for pretty much everything exterior. It's shiny enough to let the dirt wash off in rain but not so shiny that the sun bounces off it and blinds the neighbors.

[VINMAN]

I use satin on most of my customers houses. Would never use flat on an exterior.

[Tidybuoy]

Thanks again. I looked last night and I think the current paint is satin. Definitely not flat. Now I just need to decide on color......

[vash]

ZEKE sighting!!


i used Satin. gloss on the trim.

[Zeke]

As I said, exterior 'flat' is not truly flat. But in my 48 years in the trades I never met anyone that wasn't a painter. Most don't like to paint, but if you ask them about painting, they know all the answers.

For Smooth wood on the outside, I use one or another of the 'sheens'. On trim I use semi-gloss or even gloss on the entrance doors. That is is they are perfect or nearly perfect as gloss shows every little imperfection. But don't even kid yourself, satin shows all the defects too, just from not as far away.

Textured or grained wood and stucco look like ass if they shine back at you. YMMV.
You can always look up the pdca.org or architect's associations for guidelines that you won't find on a car forum.

The bottom line: paint it anyway you wish, just use good paint.

[john walker's workshop]

I second the Valspar. About $250ish a 5gal bucket for the good stuff. I used a dark gray called Crucible and it covered nicely on the 1st pass.