Painting the outside of your home is usually an exhausting and tiring endeavor, usually best left for someone else to do. However, even with the right person doing the painting, the results may still be a disaster if the right kind of paint is not used.

So, what exactly is the right paint? Well, it actually depends on what you need. But first, what is in paint anyway?

Most paints have three major components: pigments, binders, and thinners or solvents. Pigments are what give the paint its color, binders hold the pigment together after the paint has dried and determine how it is in the long run, and thinners or solvents combine with the first two components to determine the consistency of the paint.

Most paint manufacturers have different quality paints, and they usually charge more for the more premium ones. To help determine whether the paint is good or not, you can do the “touch” test. What you need to do is shake the paint can, open it and literally touch the paint. If the paint feels smooth and silky, then it’s good. Lower quality paint has cheaper materials like talc that can’t be ground as finely as more expensive components, giving low quality paint a gritty feel.

Find the right paint that will suit your home, prepare the surfaces to be painted, and your home will be on its way to a brighter and more colorful future.