Illustrating Performance Benefits of Quality Paints
Maintaining Color

Background: Today, exterior painting is often done in order to utilize a color or color scheme to enhance appearance – gone are the days when home and building owners repainted only out of necessity because the old paint is failing. Color is often viewed as the primary focal point of the exterior paint job. Expectations are that the color will last. While paint cannot be expected to maintain its color indefinitely, there are factors to be taken into account in order to achieve maximum color retention.

Factors to be Taken Into Account:

• Sunny exposures can cause colors to shift or    fade because      - The paint chalks more than in shaded areas.      - The color pigment may be subject to degrading         by sunshine. • Some “organic” pigments such as bright reds and    yellows tend to be faded by sunshine. • Metal oxide “inorganic” earth colors are more    permanent; examples are yellow iron oxide,    umber, and brown iron oxide. • Paint types vary in their general capability to    maintain color, especially in sunny exposures:      - Top quality latex paints hold color well.      - Economy latex paints are more likely to        change color: flat paints because of chalking;        satin and semigloss because of darkening       with dirt collection.      - Oil-based paints tend to chalk and fade more        than quality latex paints in sunny areas.

For a printable copy of the PQI sheet illustrating the quality paint benefit of better color retention compared with economy paint, click on the image above. To see sheets on other quality paint performance benefits, please visit the Quality Paint Page on the PQI web site.

Industry News:
New legislation takes effect in California on October 1st that prescribes building codes that center on energy conservation. The California Energy Commission’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards, referred to as “Title 24,” require minimums for roofing reflectivity (the amount of solar energy that is reflected back to the sky) and emissivity (the ability of the surface to release built-up heat away from the surface). An excellent approach for complying with the new requirements is use of a white, reflective elastomeric roof coating (ERC). ERCs certified by the manufacturer to comply provide these benefits:

• Comply with energy requirements for Title 24 in California.
• Are readily applied to most types of existing roofing.
• Do not require a change in basic roofing construction.

Contractors qualified to install roof coatings will benefit from increased demand related to the new legal requirements that will result in benefits of occupant comfort as well as for energy and maintenance efficiency.

Background and additional information is available on the Rohm and Haas roof coating web site at: www.rooftopics.com


Extension Agents Visit PQI: Twenty Home Extension Agents (members of the National Extension Association of Family & Consumer Sciences; www.neafcs.org) visited The Paint Quality Institute recently to learn how interior and exterior paints are tested. The group discussed some of the more challenging questions about paint, that come from home owners. The agents provide guidance to homeowners on many topics of household management, including about painting, whether self-done or by a painting contractor.