I have been painting houses for 30 years or so and have yet to see any( modern) paint last 15 years.Lifetime paint,IMO, does not exist,read the warranties carefully.

Right up there with the wagons that cruised around in the wild west days with miracle cures for everything imaginable. Dont fall for it!

I cant wrap my head around mfgr's claims being lifetime, especially on coatings. It is highly dependent on geographical location, and even on sides of the house that face more extremes. A coating that lasts longer in one area might not hold up as well in others. Dont expect not ot have to do it again at some point, no matter how quality the paint, but definetely go with a quality coating and proper prep/priming.

See if Ben Moore will give you a warranty that includes labor costs, that would be the ticket.

Manufacturers will either try to wiggle out by blaming substrate failure or just give you another 10-15 gallons.

In any case use top of the line paint, just don't count on the waranty.

Yep...
Even with top-O'-the line paints/prep/primers/technique, a good EXTERIOR paintjob has a realistic life of 10-15 yrs...TOPS.

There's Waaaaayyyy too many variables to just blindly offer a "Lifetime" warranty that'll cover Paint AND Labor. Won't happen.

Paint is a WEAR item.
Like a "Lifetime" car wax....you KNOW that'll never last a season. Nature is too rough on things.

>>> At MOST...mfr's. will ONLY replace the actual paint itself.
Even if there's PRISTINE preparation done, there's variables in the structure itself. Crappy older houses (or cheap NEW ones!) have notoriously bad insulation and moisture-exiting issues. This'll push off paint eventually, no matter how good the prep. is.

...and yet...People blame THE PAINT...

Faron

Lots of times it can be the paint. :D Assuming that a can of paint is smarter than a person is sometimes the right thing to do, but not always. lol!

Problem is paint manufacturer's can't have it both ways -- and they like to have their cake and eat it too. There's no paint can label police and they can put - well for the most part -- whatever they want to out there to sell their product. "Lifetime" is gonna help sell so it's gonna get a spot on cans, brochures, website, whatever. The small print to go with isn't always put so front and center. And it's the small print that's going to be their out, their means of disclosure. Just because you didn't - or couldn't read it without NASA space lenses - doesn't make them liable for "lifetime". It just means that they marketed the term, you bought into it, and it's your fault for not understanding what it *really* meant.

Paint's no different than anything else. Buyer Beware and don't be afraid to be a tough, yet fair, consumer -- make sure you know what you're buying and that you get what you pay for.

With all that said, I am particularly fond of SW Duration for exterior. Thicker mils than most, SW has a lovely exterior palette for most regions. Ben Moore MoorGard is another good option. Shop the paint and the color palette, take all the marketing with a grain of salt.

Ok, I understand that the paint job won't last forever. Just trying to get the most out of it. Would it be better to have the painter to just use "regular" exterior paint and use 2 coats? If so, what paint would you recommend? We are having to rent a snorkel lift for this job.

After proper preparation I would spot prime with Duration Exterior and then finish with 2 *full* coats of Duration Exterior.

However, make sure your painter is knowledgeable and experienced with Duration. It's not your ordinary, *regular* paint.

Michael