" New painter tells us HD carrys the same special kind for extieriors as DEs.….and is several hundreds cheaper. "

I would not use paint from HD, especially Behr. It is not the same as Dunn & Edwards or Sherman Williams. And quite honestly I would run from a painter who tried to tell me they were the same things and hundreds cheaper.

Get on the SW email list. They run sales of 40% off periodically. Pick out your colors and buy your paint in advance. Then get a painter. You'll save money.

When in LA we used exterior paint from Dunn Edwards, specially their elastomeric paint for stucco. They formulated it for the CA climate. Worth paying a few hundred more when you get proven quality and durability.

Thanks so much to you all. Your replies are as I expected.

An early lesson was to never "save" using budget paint. SW and Benjamin Moore here. Our latest designer favours Farrow and Ball. We're not quite there yet!

It isn't just brand. A high end Behr paint may be better than the lower end DE, SW or BM paint.

You haven't shared which paint the painter is suggesting is "the same thing".

Are you painting stucco?

Has it been painted before?

What coating was previously used?

What is the condition of the current surface?

If this is the first time painting have you read the pros and cons of painting stucco and the pros and cons of the different types of product that can be used on stucco?

I opted not to paint my stucco home because I didn't want the added maintenance.

There are different types of stucco.

These days, even in CA, it was difficult to find anyone that still did old style stucco with color added into the stucco. This should "never" be painted.

We had the basic gray-white stucco that was meant to be painted. It is an ugly "white" to have as a house color. The Dun Edwards Elastomeric paint and the southern CA climate meant that the stucco wouldn't need to be painted for 20 years, if power washed every few years.

We repainted ours when the house was 12 years old, because we did an addition and wanted a nicer color for everything. The stucco looked perfect when we sold the house 8 years later.