What paint should you use for exterior walls?
What paint should you use for external walls? If the outside of your property is looking a little tired, it’s time to give it a new lease of life. Painting your external walls can make a dramatic difference to your property in terms of appearance, value and quality.
A glossy coat of paint can give your home's exterior a fresh, inviting look, while a good paint job can repair weather damage and prevent problems from occurring in the future.
Whether you’re refreshing an existing paint job, switching to a new color, or painting your exterior walls for the first time, having the right paint is important. So before you start choosing colors, you need to know a few things about the types of paint you should be using.
Wall paint
For exterior walls, you will need to use wall paint. What paint should you use for exterior walls? It comes in a variety of colors and finishes and is designed to help protect your walls from weather damage. Whether you choose a neutral color or something a little more bold and daring, wall paint is the right finish for the job. Water-based acrylic wall paint is usually the best paint to use on exterior walls. This paint is great for waterproofing your walls, but it also allows moisture inside the walls to evaporate. This prevents moisture from forming.
Textured paints
Textured paints are great for outdoor use because they are designed to give a hardworking look. They easily mask imperfections in your wall’s surface. Exterior walls are almost guaranteed to have bumps and lumps, holes, dents, and odd little quirks. These may be fun details that you want to hide, but if you prefer a uniform finish, a textured paint is a great idea.
Smooth paint
A smooth paint will give you a nice, even surface as long as the wall underneath is reasonably smooth to begin with. Smooth paint can hide small imperfections and minor imperfections on your wall, but it won’t cover up larger mistakes. On the plus side, it’s very easy to apply, while textured paint takes a bit more work.
Acrylic wall paint is available in a variety of colors and is used as a finish coat on your exterior walls. However, there are a few other types of paint you should consider using before applying, including primer, sealer and filler.
Primer, sealer and filler
Primer is not technically paint, but it is essential for painting, especially on exterior walls. A primer is the first coat of paint you apply, it prepares the surface of the wall so it can take the final paint as best as possible and gives you a nice, even finish. Primer can be either water- or oil-based, so be sure to match the type of primer you use to the type of paint – if you are using an oil-based paint, you will need an oil-based primer. if you are using a water-based paint, you will need a water-based primer. You may also want to consider using a wall sealer.
Another method of preparing your walls is to use a filler paint as a base coat to fill in any gaps or holes. Even if there are no visible holes in your wall, if the surface is porous, you will need to use a primer or filler coat before applying the final coat. Acrylic paint is perfect for this.
