What Makes a High-Quality Paint?

There is no doubt once you’ve built your new home, you will want to decorate it in a way that reflects your own personal style and character. It is often said that the easiest and most inexpensive way to give a room a whole new look is to paint the room. That doesn’t mean you should choose the least expensive paint in order to add your own character and style. Painting a room is an investment in product, time and labor so it is important to choose a high-quality paint with a long lasting finish. If you take the time to select a high-quality paint when you begin, you will reap the benefits for many years to come. These paints provide complete coverage with fewer coats on any surface from wood and vinyl to concrete, drywall and metal. Having high durability, they can withstand more wear and tear, scrubbing and washing than lower-quality paints saving you time in labor and money in product.

High-quality paints are made with better ingredients than lower-quality paints making them easier to apply, look better and last longer. Almost all high-quality paints offer one or more unique features such as extended durability, zero VOCs, washability, ultra smooth finish, one-coat hide, superior touchup, mar-resistance and low odor.

High-Quality Paints: Key Ingredients (as researched and reported by The Sherwin-Williams Company)

• Pigment – Each can of paint contains two types of pigments. Prime pigments provide color and hide the old coat of paint. Extender pigments add bulk to the can of paint, but offer little value in regards to color. High-quality paints contain more of the prime pigments resulting in easier application, stronger durability and better color retention.
• Binders – The type, quality and amount of binder plays in important role in the ultimate finish of a paint. Binders are responsible for everything from stain resistance and gloss to adhesion and crack resistance. High-quality paints use high-quality binders ensuring the paint adheres to surfaces better, as well as providing durability and strength against blistering, cracking and peeling. There are a wide variety of binders used in paints. In general, latex paints use some form of an acrylic binder while oil paints use a form of an oil-based binder.
• Liquids – Liquids do not actually enhance the performance benefits of any paint. Liquid is actually the form or “carrier” of the paint product allowing the paint to be transferred from the can to the surface you are painting. High-quality paints have a greater ratio of solids, such as the pigments and binders, than liquids, while low-quality paints are more watered down with liquids.
• Additives – Paints mixed with additives deliver specific benefits and qualities they might not otherwise have without the additives. Some commonly used paint additives include dispersing agents (keeping pigment evenly distributed), mildewcides (which help prevent mildew on the painted surface) and preservatives (which prevent the paint from spoiling during storage). Additives increase the cost of top quality paints, but they offer significant added benefits.

Remember, if you want to get the best performance and look from your paint, quality is a necessity. Of course you will pay a little more up front, but it will save you time, labor, frustration and money in the end.

For more information about high-quality paints for the interior and exterior of your home, please read Top-Quality Interior and Exterior Paints.

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