A Guide to Exterior Trim Paint

There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to exterior painting. You might find yourself overwhelmed by choices. To make it a little easier to figure out what to do, we’ve compiled a few simple principles to keep in mind when painting your house:

Color

Picking colors, and especially color schemes, is easier than you might think. Here are a few more basic points of advice:

1. Pay attention to the surrounding homes and landscape. Of course, the colors you pick for your home should harmonize themselves. However, if your colors don’t harmonize with the surrounding area, it still won’t be easy on the eyes. Whether you attempt to blend your home into the local fabric or make it stand out with a complementary color, keep the overall effect on the neighborhood in mind along with the effect on your own home.
2. Think about mood as well as harmony. Do you want your house to communicate “party time?” Or maybe something more serious, subtle, and refined? The use of bright and complementary colors might work very well for the first, but a more subtle approach might work better for the second. Try to imagine the daily mood you want to experience, and work from there.
3. Learn the regulations in your area. Your homeowner’s association may limit your choices in color.

If you are painting the exterior of your home, note that whatever color you pick can appear anywhere from half a tone to two or three tones lighter! The difference will depend on the amount of sun the surface gets. Because more natural light is gracing your home during the day, and your home is therefore also reflecting more of it, colors will appear lighter when exposed to natural light. Additionally, when you are picking your paint, our Benjamin Moore color system will be able to detect if the color you pick is not recommended for exterior use – generally, brighter colors tend to fade faster, and we can let you know if this is the case with your color.

Sheen

“Sheen” is what we call the relative luminosity of a surface. Visually, it appears to us as the “shininess” of a given surface. High-sheen finishes are highly specular, and in turn appear bright and reflective. Lower-sheen finishes are more diffused and appear “duller” and less bright.

Use low to high levels of sheen (Flat, Low-Lustre, or Semi-Gloss) for exterior trim, shutters, and doors. First pick whether you want bright doors or bright trims. If you want the first, consider a satin finish on the door. If you want bright trims, consider a semi-gloss. Don’t overwhelm with both! Note again that light tends to make colors brighter and more reflective. If the surface you are painting gets heavy amounts of light, consider a lower level of sheen.

For trim paint, our Cardinal experts recommend MoorGlo Soft Gloss Finish for trim, but ask one of our paint associates about your specific product needs.

Painting Exterior Trim

When installing new exterior trim, prime and paint the trim before you hang it, and then again from the latter after you hang it. The second coat will hide all the pesky parts of the process – drill holes, blemishes, mistakes – which occur as part of the process.

The first coat should be straightforward. Brush in full strokes without lifting or breaking in the middle. Don’t apply either too little or too much paint: too little paint will result in uneven streaks, too much paint will cause drips.

After you’ve hung the trim, you’re ready to apply the second coat of paint. And here’s a tip, if you are up on a ladder, you can use a ladder hook for gallon-size paint cans, or you can pour your paint into a handy-pail, which makes it easier to handle while you climb up! Then, climb the ladder – starting at the top – and slowly work your way down the trim. Use the same painting technique you used on the first coat.

Have more questions? Stop by one of our three Cardinal Home Center locations and ask one of our Cardinal Specialists.