Tips for choosing colors and buying paint.

HOA house painting requirements.
Home owners who have a Home Owners Association (HOA) in their subdivision and planning on repainting an exterior of their home will need their colors approved prior to painting. Usually HOA have a list of pre-approved colors, that a home owner is able to choose from. Sometimes a home owner is allowed to pick his own colors and submit them for approval. The process will vary with each particular subdivision. It is best to call your HOA and ask them what the requirements are, and how long does it take on average to get the colors approved.
It is a good idea to get a pre-approval letter (or email) from home owners' association prior to schedule any painting, as it may take as long as a few weeks. Members of the HOA are usually non paid volunteers and they do not always respond very quickly to the painting needs of the homeowners.
Most of the homes are painted with Dunn Edwards paint, and with the name of the color and the color code, which is usually located next to the name, any painting contractor will be able to buy the amount needed for the painting project. When the color is a non Dunn Edwards product, is is still very easy to match the paint, by using a small sample of previously painted object or an actual sample of the paint from another store.

How much money to spend on paint.
When painting an exterior of the house premium paints will always have to be used. Not all premium paints are equal. In Dunn Edwards store there are a few grades of premium paints. They are Acri-hues, Acri-flat, and Evershield. Evershield is the best available paint that is sold by Dunn Edwards store. It is supposed to last about 15 years. The painting contractor writing this article have seen houses painted with Eveshield paint, that looked very good even after 15 years. But paint on a lot of houses will look less then perfect after such a long time. And it is not necessarily the paint that will make the homeowner think about re-painting the house. Concrete (stucco) expands and give cracks. Woodpeckers sometimes cause damage to stucco as well, looking for food or during the mating season. So, even the paint in most places still looks fine, some areas will call for a re-paint earlier than 15 years and home owners may not get the best value for their money. Acri-hues or Acri-flat is expected to last about 10 years. As a 10 year period is the best time frame for repainting one's house, those two grades may work out better. If it is an upscale house, or just a very labor intense painting project, Evershield may be the best choice. A particular painting project will determine whether the top of the line paints will help to save money or not.

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