Best exterior paints for fiber-cement siding?

15 years ago

My builder screwed up and failed to order the factory painted Certainteed fiber-cement siding I wanted in time to get it in in a reasonable time. Didn't bother to tell me he hadn't ordered the siding until the house was already wrapped in Tyvek. GRRR! So, I got stuck with letting him use primed but not painted Hardie siding which was all that was quickly available in my part of the country.

So, now it is time to paint and Builder is suggesting Sherwin-Williams. But apparently SW reformulated their exterior paints relatively recently and I can't find anything about how their newer exterior formulations hold up.

Can anyone recommend a top quality exterior paint that you know from experience will hold up on Hardie or other fiber-cement sidings? I want something with as long warranty as I can find and, if at all possible, a brand that has not been reformulated recently b/c with new formulations it is impossible to really predict how the paint will hold up.

Frankly, I'm not worried about the cost because if builder had gotten the factory-painted like I had asked, he wouldn't be having to paint at all. (Plus, builder has already admitted that buying Certainteed pre-painted would have saved about $700 over the cost of unpainted Hardie plus painting costs.... if he had only ordered it in time!)

So I'm going to insist on the best quality exterior paint I can find and if it winds up costing him a bit more than he had expected, too bad.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

paintguy22
15 years ago
All brands are reformulated every year and all manufacturers deny that they are reformulated. There is really no way to know for sure how long a coating will last because all manufacturers lie and there are no exceptions. A paint that is good one year may not be so good the next year and that is just how the painting industry is. There is no one paint maker that I can say I have used every year for the past 20 years. There is no one brand that I can say is my trusted brand. They have all let me down at one point or another and I have learned that there is nothing I can do about it....it is just the nature of the painting industry, and maybe any industry? It's all about the cash when you break it all down.

I thought that Duration was the big winner for Hardie Board, but I was recently pleased with C2 Direct To Substrate for some I painted about a month ago. Will it hold up for 2 years or more? Heck if I know.
tommyw
15 years ago
I would use Benjamin Moore MoorGuard exterior. I found it to be very good and last very long. It's expensive but if your not paying for it then go for it!
Related Professionals
East Providence Painters · Carpinteria Painters · Dorchester Painters · Frankfort Painters · Inver Grove Heights Painters · Madison Painters · Newcastle Cabinets & Cabinetry · Palos Verdes Estates Cabinets & Cabinetry · Central Cabinets & Cabinetry · Fairfax Flooring Contractors · Framingham Flooring Contractors · New Rochelle Flooring Contractors · Orlando Flooring Contractors · Shepherdsville Flooring Contractors · Westminster Flooring Contractors
Michael
15 years ago
The warranty of the paint doesn't mean much if the fibercement isn't dusted prior to painting it. The slightest bit of dust will cause adhesion problems. Where does the dust come from? The cutting and installation creates a lot of dust.

Be sure it's dust free before proceeding. If they exceed the time limit of 180 days exposure, you must prime again before painting. All field cut edges, butts, corners,etc., must be primed or painted to protect warranty coverage.

I would paint mine with two coats of SW Resilience in satin sheen.

Michael
grnmtnpr
9 years ago
Thank you for the dusting tip. SW is Sherwin Williams?