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ainting can be like real es-tate—driven by location,location, location. Projectconditions can vary dra-matically from region to re-gion, season to season, andbuilding to building. Hu-midity, altitude, UV expo-

sure and temperature can all affectyour exterior coatings approach.And those are just the climate vari-

ables. Factor in substrates and struc-tures of every type, age and condition,and it’s clear that one type of exteriorcoating won’t—can’t—fit all.The fact is, geography makes a dif-

ference in what exterior paints andstains you buy and how you applythem. But how much of a difference?The answer isn’t simple. Yes, many

By Joe Maty

Pbrands and retailers are the same fromcoast to coast. Consolidation in the in-dustry has eclipsed many local and re-gional paint makers.Meanwhile, advances in coatings

technology have upended some time-honored rules and made the once-im-possible possible. Gone, for example,are the days when exposed wood de-manded an oil-based primer or stain, orwhen a chill in the air ruled out awater-based product.Still, many considerations remain.

Some may be more a matter of nuancethan sharp contrast. But geographydoes play a role in buying and apply-ing exterior paints and coatings, andcontractors who want the best resultswill keep the fine points in mind, theexperts say.

Geography, by the way, takes inmorethan climate and location. It also re-flects regional differences in architec-ture, construction materials, environ-mental conditions and even laws. Anyof these can affect what products areavailable—and which are best for thejob at hand.

Southwest: Stucco and styleAnyonewho has traveled knows that

building exteriors tend to reflect re-gional differences built upon tradition,supply abundance, costs and/or stylepreferences.“There is some regionality in-

volved,” says Dennis Centofante, di-rector, technical, customer support andmaterials management for Ace Paint, adivision of Ace Hardware Corp. “For

Differences in climate,substrates and laws have

remade the exteriorcoating landscape.Know your options.

Olympic Paints and Stains

WWW.PWC-MAGAZINE.COM PWC 15

example, in the Southwestern part ofthe U.S., there is a lot of stucco andma-sonry.”Thus, weather considerations aside,

exterior finishes must be designed toresist the alkalinity of cementitioussubstrates, which include masonry,fiber-cement board, stucco and con-crete.Sherwin-Williams, for example, pro-

duces a line of waterborne products tai-lored to cementitious substrates, saysSteve Revnew, vice president of prod-uct development.Ace Paint, meanwhile, has intro-

duced a hybrid combination of elas-tomeric and conventional exteriorpaints that apply like regular paint butbridge the hairline cracks that are com-mon to cementitious substrates. The100% acrylic paint also is formulatedto resist UV, high pH and efflorescence.But while those performance features

may suggest the rigors of a Southwest-ern climate, the product is actually dis-tributed nationwide. Like most majormanufacturers, Ace thinks nationallywhen it comes to paint formulation.“We produce one product to serve all

regions” to meet the high-performancedemands of temperature extremes, hu-midity, UV and other conditions,Centofante says.

Southeast: Stormy weatherThe same is true at Olympic Paints

and Stains, a division of PPG IndustriesInc. Resistance to alkali, efflorescenceand laitance is a priority for allOlympic primers and topcoats de-signed for cementitious substrates, saysPaul Wilson, technical director, PPGArchitectural Coatings.A thicker film build is built into elas-

tomeric grades, which see considerableuse in the Southeast and Florida, where

resistance to wind-driven rain and sub-strate cracking are critical, Wilsonnotes.The Southeast is also home to pow-

erful UV exposure and high humiditylevels—the ideal environment for moldandmildew. That makes fungicides/al-gaecides a necessity, andmost high-endproducts have them, says Centofante.“The label should indicate this.”Of course, no paint mildewcide can

compensate for insufficient surfacepreparation. “If you put paint overmildew, you are encasing it, and it willeventually rupture through,” Cento-fante says. (See “Taking Hold ofMold,”page 40.)

The West: Into thin airIn the mountainous regions of the

West, high elevation adds another ele-ment to the environmental mix, inten-

See EXTERIORS on page 18

California ProductsWhatever the substrate, invest in the best paint possible, advises one Ohio contractor.“We don’t look at the price. We look at the quality of the product.”

The Sherwin-Williams Co.Today’s high-performing exterior paints includebeefed-up UV and mildew resistance.

Learn how you can be part of the PPG Porter Paints experience.Call 412.434.3882 or visit www.ppgporterpaints.com.

It starts with our people, flows through our paints, and lasts with our customers for life.

Circle No. 32 on Reader Service Card

FFoouurr SSeeaassoonnss,, OOnnee CChhooiicceePainting in any regional climate brings challenges. But what do you do in a four-

season state, where Mother Nature dishes out everything from saunas to snow-storms in any given year?Answer: Turn to premium, high-performance exterior coatings. This is no time

to pinch pennies, says veteran painting contractor Terry Miller, owner of TegreyFamily of Coatings in Canton, Ohio.“Unfortunately, in Ohio, we deal with this problem, due to the heat in summer

and the cold in winter,” says Miller. “We always have to be aware of climatechanges and their effects on the substrate.”The Midwestern climate subjects painted exteriors to a variety of harsh condi-

tions—“it can be 100 in the summer, 20 below in the win-ter,” says Miller—with humidity and moisture that cancause mildew and make application a challenge.“A key is moisture in the air and on the surface,” Miller

says. “You want it to cure before it’s too late” in the day.Miller’s crews encounter a range of exterior residential

and commercial substrates in their work—from wood, vinyland metal siding to stucco and EIFs. His company usespaints from several manufacturers, but all of the productshave something in common.They are 100% acrylics, water based and top of the line.

“We don’t look at the price. We look at the quality of theproduct,” says Miller.Tougher VOC limits have moved Miller’s company away

from solvent-borne products, but he is fine with that. “The paints they are mak-ing today are tremendous, with their color retention and durability,” he says.Sometimes, he will add adhesion-promoting agents to enhance coating per-

formance on siding. And yes, he adds, siding needs painting, at least in his part ofthe country, due to dirt and discoloration from acid rain and mildew.

18 PWC MARCH/APRIL 2010

sifying the effect of UV exposure in theso-called “thin air.” Here, 100% acrylicpaints get high marks due to the resinchemistry’s fade-resistance prowess.Some products, particularly stains, mayhave beefed-up sunlight resistance,thanks to the addition of UV absorbersand high-performance resins.Temperature extremes can have a

powerful effect on both application andperformance. A temperature range of 50and 90 degrees Fahrenheit is best forapplication. Colder surfaces and airtemperatures can lead to prematurepeeling, chalking and fading. Too muchheat, on the other hand, can adversely

affect “open time,” lap and surfacepenetration.Freeze-thaw cycling, meanwhile,

causes the substrate to expand andcontract, making flexibility a criticalfeature for any primer or topcoat.

Wood worldsWhile EIFS and other cementitious

substrates have gained traction in con-struction of single- and multi-familyhousing, wood retains a major positionin new and existing building exteriors,particularly in the Northeast, North-west and Midwest.Wood exteriors present a number of

challenges to successful finishing, due

to their sponge-like absorption ten-dencies and weather-related degrada-tion. While stains have been thetraditional finish of choice for woodexteriors, waterborne paints havecaught on in a big way. Although some users still prefer the

penetration of oil-based primers, thenewest waterborne primers can per-form just as well—and, in many areas,may be the only option for more andmore parts of the country, due to ever-tighter VOC limits, experts say.At California Products Corp., Ron

Boyajian, vice president of product de-velopment and technical sales alsosings the praises of 100% acrylics forexterior finish applications. The NewEngland-based company has expandedits reach westward to the Rockies.

Stains or paints? Applying stain to New England’s

ubiquitous wood-clad residentialbuildings might be compared to root-ing for the Boston Red Sox. It’s tradi-tion; why would you do anything else?But tradition has its limits when the

issue is choosing a finish for exteriorwood, which takes a beating in NewEngland’s harsh climate, says RobLevine, a regional manager for PrimeTouch Services in Natick, Mass. Painting wood exteriors of condos

dominates the work portfolio at PrimeTouch, a regional contractor that servesall of New England. Customers chooseboth paint and stain finishes, withpreferences often dictated by habit.“When you ask someone why they

want stain, they’ll probably say ‘that’show my father did it,’” says Levine.Levine generally recommends the

use of a stain on surfaces that are agedor damaged, due to the ability of thestain’s inherently matte finish to maskproblem areas.At California Products, however,

which has been in New England for a

EXTERIORS from page 15

See EXTERIORS on page 20

Today’s waterbornepaints “are tremen-dous, with their colorretention and durabil-ity,” says contractorTerry Miller.

Your mother’s going to love this. You will, too. Because

after a long day on the job the last thing you want to do

is clean up adhesive residue. Scotch® Tough Duct Tape—

Outdoor Painter’s Clean Removal gives you the weather-

resistant holding power you need and the hassle-free

removal you’ve only dreamed of. Get all the details at

www.3M.com/ProPainter or call 1-800-494-3552.

While you’re at it, call your mother.

© 3M 2010. All rights reserved.

Circle No. 11 on Reader Service Card

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20 PWC MARCH/APRIL 2010

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century, Boyajian recommends thethicker film build of a paint for dura-bility and protection.Another big California Products seller

is a stain-blocking primer offered inacrylic or linseed-oil versions. The oil-based product offers exceptionally

strong stain-blocking over wood sub-strates prone to tannin bleed, Boyajiansays.Non-wood siding also represents an

important market component for paintsand coatings, says Sherwin-Williams’Revnew.The company has introduced a prod-

uct designed to allow the use of darkercolors on vinyl siding without heat-re-lated buckling of the substrate—a com-mon defect. The paints are formulatedfor direct application to properlycleaned siding.The market for such products is

driven both by faded and discoloredexteriors and by changing tastes incolor preferences, Revnew says.

The environmental mandateA patchwork of federal, state and

local environmental mandates has alsoshaped the current crop of exteriorcoatings. Most major manufacturers have gen-

erally sought to formulate at the lowestVOC content levels possible, while re-taining important application and film-formation properties, says Wilson.A common exception is California’s

South Coast Air Quality ManagementDistrict (SCAQMD), where productsmust meet VOC limits as low as 50grams per liter. Here, manufacturersmust either formulate products exclu-sively for sale in the district or else notmarket their products there.Coatings manufacturers must be

aware of six different sets of VOC-com-pliance standards nationwide, notesRevnew. These include the U.S. Envi-ronmental Protection Agency’s na-tional VOC rule on architectural andindustrial maintenance coatings; theOzone Transport Commission (OTC)Model Rule in the northeastern andMid-Atlantic states; and regulations inparts of California, Arizona and Wash-ington.States in the Great Lakes region also

have moved toward adopting regula-tions along the lines of the OTC ModelRule, with action already taken in Ohioand Illinois.Dunn-Edwards Corp., a Los Angeles-

based company with a lengthy trackrecord of living within the dictates ofthe SCAQMD, has refined its product

EXTERIORS from page 18

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WWW.PWC-MAGAZINE.COM PWC 21

mix more than most companies inorder to market products effectively inthe different areas of its distributionrange, which includes California, Ari-zona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. “We contend with four different reg-

ulatory regimes affecting the allowableVOC content of products,” says RobertWendoll, the company’s director of en-vironmental affairs.That means a somewhat different

product mix for different markets. Forexample, Wendoll says, the companyoffers higher-VOC flat and non-flatlatex coatings in the arid desert regions,where higher-VOC waterborne prod-ucts perform better. Higher-VOC wa-terborne coatings and solvent-bornealkyd rust-preventative coatings arealso sold in cooler, more humid North-ern California, as allowed under thoseregional rules.

On the other hand, he says,SCAQMD’s extremely low limits haveled the company to create “an innova-tive mix of products that we are con-stantly expanding and improving”—some of which are now distributed na-tionwide.All of this change is headed for the

rest of North America as well. Environ-mental regulation of architecturalpaints and coatings is an idea thatCanadian manufacturers and their cus-tomers will need to get used to soon,says Cathy Currie, coatings lab managerfor the Beauti-Tone Paint and HomeProducts Division of Home HardwareStores Ltd., a national dealer-ownedchain of retail stores.A nationwide regulation enacted in

September 2009 will bring a wholesaleshift to waterborne products for mostprojects, Currie says. When totally

phased in by September 2012, the ruleswill, in effect, require the use of water-borne paints and stains for most appli-cations.

Joe Maty is the editor of jacjournal.com, the web home of the former Jour-nal of Architectural Coatings. pwc

Checking Out the Deck:

Deck materials and coatings arechanging. Make sure you’re usingthe right finish.

The New England Way:Wood exteriors get special treat-ment in the Northeast.

Now atpwc-magazine.com!

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