Exterior Masonry Paint

[niall Y]

This coming year I have to repaint the house, And , I'm on the lookout for a good masonry paint in a Cornish Cream colour. None of us can be oblivious to the rise in cost of paint over these last few years, so purchasing it in 5 litre containers at between £25. and £ 35 a pop, is no longer an option, especially as past experience shows me that I will need in the region of 6 tins, and I have various other primers, undercoats and topcoats to buy as well
I've been looking at 20 litre containers on Ebay where there are a few firms selling it in bulk, but I have no way of knowing if this paint, that is not manufactured by the usual suspects - Dulux, Johnstone, Sandtex, etc. - is any good. If anyone has any experience with this, or any advice to offer I would be interested to hear.
Niall

 

[Old.bodger]

Hi Niall
I have the same issue this coming summer on a property where I have no knowledge of the history of the coatings used on the ‘rough cast’ render. I was going for Sandtex, who do a Cornish Cream colour. Having used it for some patch repairs this summer, I was not really impressed, nothing massivly wrong just ‘didn’t like it’!

I have for several years, at work, specified Caperol Amphibolin for internal decorating. It is EXPENSIVE but lovely cover etc. I see it can be used outside and can be tinted any colour. Talking to the commercial painters a couple of weeks ago, they were all for using it, well diluted, and applied with an airless system that they hire. They say they did one this year and the spray system was worth the cost and the time taken masking up. Coverage in the wall texture was brilliant and the property was scheduled to take a week and was done in two days.

My next action is to talk to Paintshack.
https://paintshack.co.uk/products/amphibolin?variant=38651069966
Not sure that helps - but items to consider!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

... purchasing it in 5 litre containers at between £25. and £ 35 a pop, is no longer an option ...

That is silly cheap for decent paint, expect to pay way more than that.

 

[niall Y]

Everything is relative , bur silly cheap it isn't, especially when I need to purchase 30 litres. This is an exercise I have carried out over the past fifteen years at roughly 4 year intervals. Decent paint is one of those things that has gone up in price, more so than many other things. I can buy it cheaper if I wait for the deals that happen around February and March , which is probably my best option, as, after a little more research, the cheaper bulk buys of paints from other than the big players, don't seem to have any good reviews.

 

[niall Y]

Hi Niall
I have the same issue this coming summer on a property where I have no knowledge of the history of the coatings used on the ‘rough cast’ render. I was going for Sandtex, who do a Cornish Cream colour. Having used it for some patch repairs this summer, I was not really impressed, nothing massivly wrong just ‘didn’t like it’!

I have for several years, at work, specified Caperol Amphibolin for internal decorating. It is EXPENSIVE but lovely cover etc. I see it can be used outside and can be tinted any colour. Talking to the commercial painters a couple of weeks ago, they were all for using it, well diluted, and applied with an airless system that they hire. They say they did one this year and the spray system was worth the cost and the time taken masking up. Coverage in the wall texture was brilliant and the property was scheduled to take a week and was done in two days.

My next action is to talk to Paintshack.
https://paintshack.co.uk/products/amphibolin?variant=38651069966
Not sure that helps - but items to consider!

Thanks for your response. As I am doing the work myself, I would only be saving on time rather than money if I chose to go down the spraying option. I can only really cut the cost if I can bring the price of the materials down. 6 x 5 litres of the paint you are contemplating using would set me back about £ 470. which is a dearer option than say Sandtex at £183. As it stands at the moment I'll most likely wait around until the likes of someone like Toolstation reduce it in their spring sale.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Everything is relative , bur silly cheap it isn't, especially when I need to purchase 30 litres. This is an exercise I have carried out over the past fifteen years at roughly 4 year intervals. Decent paint is one of those things that has gone up in price, more so than many other things. I can buy it cheaper if I wait for the deals that happen around February and March , which is probably my best option, as, after a little more research, the cheaper bulk buys of paints from other than the big players, don't seem to have any good reviews.

I automatically look at oil based paints, though, rereading the op you're probably looking at water based paint. Silly cheap it is if you're looking at first class oil based paints no matter how much you're buying. I paid £35 per 5L 15 years ago for coloured Dulux and that was after a 25% discount (17 cans of white and coloured)
The cheaper bulk buys of paints from other than the big players, don't seem to have any good reviews? Be careful, there could be a reason for that. My neighbour, a builder sourced a load of water based masonry paint (curiously it was actually Cornish Cream) and was delighted with the bargain. Three days later he watched it all run down the road - it hadn't dried. He got his money back but of course had to do the job twice.
Keep your eye on Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree just in case - I picked up 20 litres of Armstead Pliolite in buttermilk for £40. (I did the front of the bungalow in Johnstone's Pliolite I got from a car boot for a fiver, that is superb paint) It doesn't hurt to look.

 

[niall Y]

Paint from manufacturers like Little Greene has become hellishly expensive, with some colours being well over £100 for 5 litres. I know to my cost as I purchased a couple of 5litre cans of their " Intelligent Emulsion" in March of last year.
My main problem is that I need so much of it, The odd can here and there wouldn't amount to much "dosh" but for 6 cans the price soon starts mounting. Coupled to this I'm a bit of ( what my wife would call) a "colour fascist" and colours have to be just so even if i have to mix them myself.
Having been thoroughly disillusioned by reviews of the cheaper bulk paint offers, I'll wait until around February/March when people are starting to think about outside DIY and the paint manufacturers start their offers in earnest, to attract customers. At present the best offer when buying 6 x 5litre cans as opposed to 1 litre , only amounts to a saving of less than £1 per can.
Having lived here for over 15 years, I have embraced the concept, and am now an honourary " Cardi" , by which I mean I don't believe in paying any more than I should for things. Some might wish to interpret this as " tight wad", though being careful with money might be a better definition.

 

[Against_The_Grain]

Pop into CardiBuilders in Llangoedmor, they have good quality masonry paint that doesn't cost the earth, pretty sure they've got Cornish Cream in stock, but if they don't they'll likely get it in for you, if you open an account you might even get a small discount. There's a massive difference between rubbish paint and quality paint, even with manufacturers like Dulux what they sell in B&Q and the like is far different than their "Trade" stuff, I think you'll find yourself repainting much sooner if you go with the rubbish stuff that's thinned down massively as it can actually "wash" off the walls, the quality stuff you can put a stirring stick in and it stays upright, so you're applying a much stronger coat to the building that's going to last.

Weigh it up, do you want to spend a little more now and have it last many years, or go the cheaper option and have to repaint it much sooner and spend however many hours doing that?

 

[eribaMotters]

I have always had houses with render that needs painting. I used to use Dulux Weathershield in a smooth finish until they stopped doing the light grey I preferred. I then swapped to Leyland Truguard and will now not use anything else. Because I kept to the same colour and used a brush to apply it to the pebbledash on a previous house, I found I only needed 1 coat if done every 4 years. Early in the year I'm going to get 10 x 5L tubs to paint our new bungalow. It will only be 2-3 years old but the Dulux Weathershield the builder had used is very thin and looks patchy.
I am so impressed with the stuff I used 140L [that is not a typo] to paint the interior walls of the garage/workshop on our last house. I'd decided if it will last 15 years outside it would last considerably longer inside and I'd hopefully never have to paint the thing again. As we've moved this is now a definite.

Colin

 

[RogerS]

Paint from manufacturers like Little Greene has become hellishly expensive, ......

aka you get what you pay for ? We switched away from 'Making Love in a Canoe' aka Farrow and Ball years ago to LG and never regretted it.

 

[eribaMotters]

Interesting to hear your comment on Farrow and Ball. Whilst we loved the Estate Emulsion finish, the adhesion to plasterwork left a lot to be desired, and it seemed to matter little if the plasterwork was old or new. We have stopped using it and find Crown Trade Matt Vinyl very nice..
On the flip side, the water based eggshell of Farrow and Ball is a joy to use, where the Crown equivalent I need to nock back 25% in order for it to be workable.

Colin

 

[Cabinetman]

I would stay away from cheap cheap paint, within reason you get what you pay for, it’s all down to the expensive pigment in the paint, and it’s the pigment that gives the paint coverage. Open an account with Johnstone’s to save cash on their list price, their paint is always above average to good quality.
Ian

 

[niall Y]

aka you get what you pay for ? We switched away from 'Making Love in a Canoe' aka Farrow and Ball years ago to LG and never regretted it.

The colours offered by Farrow and Ball were a godsend years ago, especially if one was decorating period properties. The quality of the paint however often left a lot to be desired. The best option was always to get it mixed up in a paint you trusted, which with the modern mixing machines, where you can scan the colour, is quite easy Though I have found this best done from an actual sample, rather than a colour chart.

I discovered Little Greene paints a few years back when I was trying to track down a matt oil based paint, at a time when Farrow and Ball had just switched their production water based. I haven't really looked back, since then. Their own water based eggshell, however , I do find find has a very " plasticky" surface when dry, which can be a bit annoying on horizontal surfaces, like window boards, that one tends to stand things on.

 

[niall Y]

A quick follow up to my question about masonry paint. I've managed to get the price down on Sandtex by purchasing it in 10 litre tubs from Screwfix. Minus a discount for signing up to their app, means it's it down to £20.70 for 5 litres - RESULT.....

 

[eribaMotters]

If you need any more then try here:- https://www.shoppaint.co.uk/products/smooth-masonry-10l?variant=47508418036047

Colin

 

[niall Y]

If you need any more then try here:- https://www.shoppaint.co.uk/products/smooth-masonry-10l?variant=47508418036047

Colin

Thanks for the link - great price, but by the time you add carriage of £7.99 it bumps the price up to more than I paid. Lots of firms Screwfix included won't even ship these type of 10 litre plastic tubs. probably because they won't reach their destination without mishap.
Niall

 

[deema]

Bite the bullet and opt for self coloured render. No more painting!

 

[eribaMotters]

We had K-Rend on our previous bungalow and in the two years we lived with it the finish was wonderful, but it is pricey. We paid nearly £14K for it, but this was part of a combined 60mm exterior insulation wrap.
It can be applied over some masonry finishes, but it really does need to be taken on by specialists and not the cowboys who have in the past sprayed on an exterior for life finish.

Colin