Exterior paint and primer

[dennis thompson]

I have to paint the banisters on my porch.
Has anyone had any experience with the paints that combine paint with primer?
If so,what brand did you use?
If not what brand would you recommend?
Thanks

[Tom M King]

I'm sticking with what I know works. Oil based primer, and whatever the top of the line paint Sherwin Williams currently has. Ever since Duration was their top of the line paint, we've never had to so much as touch up anything painted that way, and I know it goes back at least to 2006.

I've been using Emerald since it came out.

I don't even use the combination paints on interior work.

[Lisa Starr]

If I'm unlucky enough to have to purchase "Paint and Primer", I ignore that it is primer and use one of the tried and true primers first. Then 2 coats of the paint. I try to avoid the whole issue by purchasing most of my paint at Sherwin Williams. They offer great paint and knowledgeable advice.

[Stan Calow]

We had the best of luck with the top of the line Behr product on our home exterior.

[Frank Pratt]

I'll go the other way & say that Behr is consistently the worst of the name brand paints that I've used. Every few years I'll forget how bad it is & buy a can just because I'm at HD & it's right there on the shelf. It's always turned into a rude reminder.

[michael langman]

25 years ago I painted the 32" overhang on my house with Dutch Boy, 2 coats of exterior oil based primer and 2 coats of the best exterior latex paint they made. The paint is just now beginning to lift on the plywood underside in tiny cracks in the paint. The facia boards are still good and need repainting in one place I did not prep as good as the rest.
I did the garage with the same paint on the walls and trim 20 years ago and it still looks unbelievably good. Ther guys at work said it would only last 5 years.
Good prep with TSP and bleach and an oil primer with a good latex is the way to go.

[Ron Citerone]

If I'm unlucky enough to have to purchase "Paint and Primer", I ignore that it is primer and use one of the tried and true primers first. Then 2 coats of the paint. I try to avoid the whole issue by purchasing most of my paint at Sherwin Williams. They offer great paint and knowledgeable advice.


I agree that using a tried and true primer is the way to go, I did some painting at the cottage this summer and oil primed every thing. As far as SW, I would buy there if they are having a good sale or I know someone who can get it for me at discount. No way am I paying theirfull price.

Cheers

[Kev Williams]

Gotta love Sherwin Williams paint. (Not just because it's a good name ;) )

Back in March 2009 I picked up a 5 gallon bucket of a SW basic white 'industrial enamel', to paint our houseboat with.
As you can see I didn't bother with primer, I just ran over the original paint with a DA sander.
The only other prep was I wiped down where I was about to paint with denatured alcohol and a rag.
I used an old Sears paint compressor and gun, nothing fancy...
465669

at the time I just painted the steel above the waterline.
465670
About a year after I painted the hull a friend of ours painted the entire topside with the same paint. ROLLED on.
Like me he just minimally sanded the old paint, which was already 3 coats of whatever was on there.
Because some of the topside paint was flaking, I had him prime it with Zinsser's 1-2-3 primer...

This is a pic that was taken last summer, 11 years later...
465671
Aside from some dock rash, the paint is still in remarkable condition. None of the topside paint or
hull paint is flaking, or coming off in any way. Up front where water splash hits the deadrise
there is some minor surface rust working its way thru the paint. Only maintenance to any
of the paint is I've 1500 psi-powerwashed it maybe a half dozen times.

I'll never buy anything BUT Sherwin Williams paint...

[Mel Fulks]

Mods, I HOPE THIS NOT TOO FAR AFIELD. Cheap latex caulk is impossible to buy in my area. Even trying to buy a case on line after
seeing a chain store ad for it didn’t work. They are out. Big supply chain problems now for lots of stuff.

[Jason Roehl]

Don’t mess with oil anything. In the consumer market, there has been virtually zero research in oil paints for a long time. Use a quality acrylic primer recommended by the paint store (not a big box) for the intended substrate, followed by two topcoats of a quality acrylic exterior paint. It will probably be thick. Don’t thin it. Get it on, tip it off and leave it alone—don’t keep playing with it and going back to it. It will need to go on somewhat heavy to cover and to flow and level properly.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Gotta love Sherwin Williams paint. ...

I'll never buy anything BUT Sherwin Williams paint...

Two or 6 previous lives ago, I used S-W coatings on exterior steel mixing vessels in industrial setting (chemicals). They started in bad shape, so took them to bare metal, primed (can't remember the primer), then a coat of S-W 2-part epoxy, followed by S-W Hi-build Aliphatic Polyurethane (also 2-part). They were bulletproof: epoxy was for chemical and mechanical resistance; polyurethane for UV resistance (epoxy will 'chalk' in sunlight). All in titanium white.:cool:

Quick search of their site was no-joy on the epoxy - maybe discontinued, or renamed? Poly is still available. Excellent products!

Mr. Thompson, I am not promoting this for use on your porch, rather just anecdotal endorsement of the brand. But.... if you want the be$t, $-W Indu$trial Coating$ will get you there.:eek:

[Jim Becker]

For bare wood, I'd use a separate, exterior rated waterborne primer before topcoating with a quality exterior paint. Without even considering whether or not primer+paint combos are up to the task, the only major appeal to them is time savings...at least in the beginning.

I'm also a fan of SW coatings and rarely buy anything else.

[Tom M King]

I've never tried water based primers outside. No reason, other than just sticking with what has worked so well.

[Jim Becker]

I can't remember the last time I used anything oil based. LOL Whatever works is the best choice. :)

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I have accounts at 2 stores: Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore.
I’m 76. I really don’t want to repaint until I’m in my 90s or later.

[Jason Roehl]

Two or 6 previous lives ago, I used S-W coatings on exterior steel mixing vessels in industrial setting (chemicals). They started in bad shape, so took them to bare metal, primed (can't remember the primer), then a coat of S-W 2-part epoxy, followed by S-W Hi-build Aliphatic Polyurethane (also 2-part). They were bulletproof: epoxy was for chemical and mechanical resistance; polyurethane for UV resistance (epoxy will 'chalk' in sunlight). All in titanium white.:cool:

Quick search of their site was no-joy on the epoxy - maybe discontinued, or renamed? Poly is still available. Excellent products!

Mr. Thompson, I am not promoting this for use on your porch, rather just anecdotal endorsement of the brand. But.... if you want the be$t, $-W Indu$trial Coating$ will get you there.:eek:

We’re currently having some paint warranty work done on the dome of our courthouse (I’m the maintenance tech there, the dome was repainted about 4-5 years ago). There were various processes used based on the prep regimen (which was based on thickness of the metal substrate and cost). Anyway, on the thicker metal, it was “vapor-blasted” back to bare metal, a clear, 2-part, epoxy primer was used, then a tinted, 2-part epoxy intermediate coat, then a 2-part urethane topcoat. Where the prep and process were good, the product is near bulletproof. However, there were some holes missed that rusted, among other things like a rush to beat impending winter or deadlines…hence the warranty work.

[Kev Williams]

could it be the bare metal wasn't pickled before the clear epoxy was applied?

[Thomas McCurnin]

I'm sticking with what I know works. Oil based primer, and whatever the top of the line paint Sherwin Williams currently has. Ever since Duration was their top of the line paint, we've never had to so much as touch up anything painted that way, and I know it goes back at least to 2006.

I've been using Emerald since it came out.

I don't even use the combination paints on interior work.

+1 on top of the line Sherwin Williams

Yes, I know it is stupid expensive. Its like $70 a gallon. But we did major prep, two coats of primer (one heavy, one touch up) and two coats of finish (again, one heavy and one touch up) and that was 2006 and the whole house looks perfect.

Tip: Twice a year your commercial Sherwin Williams outlet will have a 50% off sale, usually in the Spring and Fall. If you sign up for an account, they'll let you know ahead of time. At least in our area, one has to have a commercial account (not too hard to set up, just lie if you're a homeowner), and drop in every month or two and ask when it will be. Once they tell you an approximate date, I started calling them every week to make sure I got in on this. Our house is huge, takes like 200+ gallons, so the 50% off sale really makes a difference, and it is the best paint around.

[Jim Becker]

Just getting on SW's email list will get you 20-30% off from time to time...but yes, it's easy to set up a commercial account and that also gets you access to some coatings that are not "supposed" to be sold to mere homeowners, like the A series products which are quite good for the money.

[Tom M King]

It seems like about every other month they have 30% off, and a couple of times a year 40% off.

[Lisa Starr]

I'll second the commercial account at Sherwin Williams for better pricing and access to "professionals only" products. My husband's business has an account, mostly for caulking, but when I made a VSCT fence system I was able to purchase an oil-based "professional" enamel paint that wore like iron.