# Dark paint for exterior of sun-exposed house



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Fades, super heats the whole house, subject to peeling, alligatoring.


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## Brushjockey (Mar 8, 2011)

And...... Joes right!!

Some paints will hold up better than others in dark colors- but for those reasons it usually goes the other way. Ol Sol is a pretty strong force.


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## BraniksPainting (Jan 20, 2012)

MidgeTenant said:


> I'm going to need to repaint my house, and am partial to dark blue with white trim. However, I have noticed only a few homes painted in dark shades, and have begun to wonder if this is because others know something I don't. (It wouldn't be the first time! )
> 
> Are there significant disadvantages to a dark exterior paint used as the primary color, rather than as a trim color? Does it fade more quickly? Does it retain much more heat?
> 
> The front of the house gets plenty of sun all year.


Both Joe & Brush are right. For instance, both my neighbor and I put dark plastic type shutters on our homes. Both have faded. I repainted mine the same dark green color and they look incredible. We'll see how quickly they fade now. Surely the darker colors will fade more than lighter colors.
If dark is what you want, don't let the other small issues deter you.


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## Ironlight (Apr 13, 2011)

Some pigments are more fade prone than others, particularly any organic pigments. Blue is more likely to have mineral-based pigments, on average, than say greens or reds, but there is no way of telling how well the paint is going to perform.

For the record, we painted out previous cape code style bungalow with a darker grayish blue and experienced no fading and no significant paint deterioration or failure over the course of 13 years.

That said, all other things being equal, a lighter color paint which reflects more light and so absorbs less heat (as well as UV) is going to last longer than a darker color. But your mileage may vary. A lot.


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## Brushjockey (Mar 8, 2011)

Over on the Pro board, if they're talking deep colors very many of them turn to BM Aura. Spendy, but this would be why.


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## MidgeTenant (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks very much for the responses, everyone! 

I should have posted a little more information: This is for a small row house in San Francisco, of the type shown in these shots:

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/mister_goleta/37751714/
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/anomalous_a/3403999062/

(There must be tens of thousands of houses here like it!)

The front of the house is stucco, and that's the side that gets all day sun. I'm less nervous about the fading than about making the house cook. S.F. is a cool city, but the house doesn't have air conditioning, and with a flat roof and no attic above, it can get toasty here in September.


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## BraniksPainting (Jan 20, 2012)

MidgeTenant said:


> I'm less nervous about the fading than about making the house cook. S.F. is a cool city, but the house doesn't have air conditioning, and with a flat roof and no attic above, it can get toasty here in September.


Three words for you........window air conditioner! :laughing:


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## Mr. Paint (Nov 10, 2011)

Midge,
If you are in the Sunset, perhaps the extra summer warmth will be desirable. Use a blue like Delta Blue or Teton Blue available at Kelly-Moore. These are no longer factory standards but, they can be mixed for you.

Branick: Air conditioning in San Francisco?? :laughing:


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## Ironlight (Apr 13, 2011)

MidgeTenant said:


> The front of the house is stucco, and that's the side that gets all day sun. I'm less nervous about the fading than about making the house cook. S.F. is a cool city, but the house doesn't have air conditioning, and with a flat roof and no attic above, it can get toasty here in September.


It won't make that much of a difference. It's much more important what is on your roof. If it's black tar, that's going to absorb exponentially more heat than some darker paint on the front.


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## MidgeTenant (Jan 22, 2012)

Agreed: not too many window air conditioners here! 

The roof is black tar. That explains the heat.

Thanks again to everyone for providing feedback.


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## MidgeTenant (Jan 22, 2012)

(April, 2015) I ought to update this thread with the results, for the benefit of anyone who runs across this page via Google:

Both Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams sell premium, higher-cost exterior paints. BM's is Aura; I think SW's has changed the brand name in the past several years. 

My eyebrows went up when I realized that neither would sell me a premium shade in amber, which I'd also considered for the exterior. Dark blue was a go; amber, nope. The sales rep said that amber, yellow and other similar-to-sunlight shades are less likely to last in direct sun.

I went with BW 'bold blue.' A guy down the street painted his stucco house with an amber shade I'd liked. (Pure coincidence; we never spoke.) I thought his house turned out well, but it's 2015 now, and I can see that his paint has faded. My dark blue has held up. 

If I had it to do all over again, I'd look first to see what shades BM and SW are willing to sell in their premium exterior brands. If they'll sell it in their top-of-the-line, I wouldn't worry about fading.


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## klaatu (Mar 9, 2015)

I would definitely use the BM over the SW especially using BM's Gennex colorant. SW is still using what is actually just a hopped up old school glycol based colorant, and it is no where near as fade resistant as the Gennex colorants at BM are. Regardless of what the people at the SW store on the SW payroll to only sell SW paint will tell you.


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