House Paint Options

Water-Based Paint

• By far the most common house paint option is water-based paint. Not all are the same, however. Inexpensive latex paint is not as durable as 100 percent acrylic paint -- you'll pay a little more for quality paint, but budget-priced paint will start cracking, peeling and fading in less than half the time. The Paint Quality Institute recommends 100 percent acrylic paint for most house painting jobs and in tests found it superior to vinyl acrylic or latex paint.

Oil-Based Paint

• Oil-based and alkyd paint is rarely the best choice for exterior painting. It tends to yellow and fade much faster than acrylic paint. Because it dries to a very hard film, it cracks and peels as the surface underneath shifts or swells in response to temperature and humidity.

  The oils in oil-based paint can also encourage mildew growth, because mold and mildew will use oils for nutrients. Modern water-based paints out-perform oil-based paint on almost every level, according to the Paint Quality Institute. Oil-based paints can be used for metal such as wrought iron fences and steel doors, however.

Paint Sheen

• House paint is available in several sheen or gloss levels, from flat to high gloss. Typically, walls or siding are painted flat and trim and accents are painted satin or semi-gloss. The higher the gloss, the more it will accentuate surface irregularities. Rough surfaces such as masonry or resawn wood siding tend to look best in a flat or matte finish. Trim and doors in good condition can be highlighted with a contrasting color in a higher gloss.

Color Selection

• Possibly the hardest decision you'll make when choosing house paint is finding the best color combination for your home. If you live in a subdivision with covenants restricting your use of color, it's a relatively easy choice. Most people are faced with an overwhelming palette of colors. Most paint companies have material to help with color combinations in the form of brochures and online color visualizers.

  Once you have narrowed down your color choices, purchase a sample of each and try them on your home to make sure it's what you want. Choosing colors by looking at the little paint swatches can be tricky; testing them first ensures you won't end up with 15 gallons of paint in a color you don't love.