This article appeared in June 2010 Consumer Reports Magazine. Which finish lasts the longest? Top honors go to California, a relatively small brand that isn't sold in California. latest tests found four other paints and two stains that did almost as well and are as close as your local Home Depot, Lowe's, At $19 per gallon, Home Depot's Behr Premium Plus Flat almost matched the $35 California Fresh Coat Velvet Flat at fending off cracking, dirt, and mildew. Behr also won out among stains: Its $26 Deck Plus Solid Color Deck, Fence & Siding topped our charts for the second straightBut at just $21 per gallon, Sears' Weatherbeater Solid Deck, Fence & Siding is a bargain if your home doesn't face intenseAnd like most new stains, they work for siding and decks. Manufacturers are reformulating products to meet lower limits for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are linked to ozone, smog, respiratory illnesses, and memory impairment. Some of last year's top finishes have since been reformulated, so we're

All of this year's fully tested finishes meet expected federal limits of 100 to 250 grams per liter for paints and 250 grams per liter for stains. Several paints from Glidden and Sherwin-Williams also meet the more stringent, southerndiy wedding decor tips California VOC limit of 50 grams per liter and look promising. home decor on a budget diyAmong stains, the Sears Weatherbeater meets the 100-gram limitfrench country home decor stores for parts of California.christmas table decorations black Our accelerated tests under sun, rain, and snow—which simulate up to nine years of exposure—show that some brands are makingchristmas lights sales per year

painting and staining easier as well as cleaner. Here are the details: Valspar's Duramax Flat and Satin, $33 and $35 per gallon, respectively, are among a growing number of exterior paints thatdecoration for wedding for sale eliminate the need to prime bare surfaces. They are fine choices for shadier properties. Skipping the usual prime coat can also save you a significant part of a professional painter's labor cost. Last year, our Ratings included several oil-based stains that required mineral spirits to clean brushes and other tools. year, all except the $40 Sikkens Cetol SRD Semi-Transparent are lower-VOC, water-based stains that clean up with soap and Even the best semitransparent stain won't last as long as the best opaque finish. But the Sikkens Cetol SRD Semi-Transparent looks better than others from Olympic, Sherwin-Williams, and Wolman after the equivalent of three years and is a new top pick.

Can this paint job be saved? Painting an average-sized house can cost $6,000 or more. Some simple fixes can buy you time if most of the paint is sound: Clean with a pressure washer (about $100 to $300). Use a wide spray at least 12 inches away. Consider putting a single new coat only on the side that gets the most sun. If most of the paint is intact, touch up small cracks to seal them until you're ready to repaint the entire house.If your outdoor deck is looking tired, it may be high time to give it a “pick me up” in the form of a new deck coating. And there’s no better time to refinish a deck than spring, when you can enjoy the fruits of your labor all summer long. In years past, many homeowners used oil-based or “alkyd” deck stains, but these products have some major shortcomings: for one, they soon become very brittle; and second, they absorb the sun’s harmful UV rays. As a result, oil-based coatings quickly degrade, wear away, and must often be re-applied as often as once a year.

Fortunately, technology has come to the rescue, and manufacturers now offer some far better options in the form of water-based 100% acrylic deck coatings. These products share none of the shortcomings of oil-based coatings, so they not only make a deck look great . . . but, thankfully, they also last much longer. Read on to learn why 100% acrylic coatings perform so much better than oil-based products. Unlike oil-based deck coatings, water-based 100% acrylic coatings form a very flexible protective film that is also highly resistant to UV rays. So, acrylics are really the perfect ‘antidote’ for what ails oil-based deck products. The proof is easy to see on the hundreds of wood test decks at the Paint Quality Institute’s outdoor exposure locations. Time after time, the acrylic coatings outperform oil-based coatings, and that’s true on every type of wood, from redwood, cedar and pine, to pressure-treated wood and wood composite deck materials. If you like the idea of stretching out the staining cycle on your outdoor deck, then a water-based 100% acrylic coating is the way to go.

You can even choose from three popular options, each one offering some specific advantages: Semi-transparent acrylic stains are lightly pigmented coatings that permit you to either maintain, or change, the color of your wood or composite without hiding its grain or texture. These coatings are water-repellant and contain special ingredients to keep mildew in check. Semi-transparent coatings typically last about 18 months. Solid color acrylic stains -- sometimes referred to as opaque stains -- have more pigment than semi-transparent products, so their color tends to obscure the grain of the wood. At the same time, that added pigment provides extra UV protection and better durability, so solid color stains last longer, typically, three to five years. Wood restoration acrylic coatings are the product of choice for severely weathered and some habitually neglected decks. These are basically super-thick acrylic coatings that actually fill in and conceal cracks and crevices up to ¼-inch deep.