Benjamin Moore Outdoor Paint

[Retired]

Hi,

I've mentioned Benjamin Moore paint a number of times but this morning I found an old picture to demonstrate the problems I've suffered over many years trying to maintain our exterior paintwork.

Over the years both living here and our previous house I've tried lots of brands of paint but all gave way to our dire Yorkshire climate;

Above shows the ongoing fight I endured over many years using all kinds of paint including extreme high temperature engine manifold paint all proving an absolute waste of time; I replaced the softwood beading then replaced this with hardwood beading I even tried applying a layer of filler over the beading but every year it was just the same.

Here is the same window with the beading still looking like brand new after 5 years exposure to severe weather on the valley side; the paint is Benjamin Moore Exterior Aura Satin; also the cladding which is 18mm thick WBP plywood is fully sealed to all edges and both faces with BM paint this too done 5 years ago. What a tremendous difference and I don't begrudge paying extra for such wonderful paint.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

WOW I must have had a senior moment; I knew I'd posted about this paint previously but I'm still convinced I've got the best paint and it's not doing any harm to post again.

https://www.diy-forums.com/threads/benjamin-moore-paint.290847/

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Ian]

Have you used Dulux Weather Shield before? That's been my exterior paint of choice for the last 10 years, but I've also had good experiences with BM paints (Scuff-X in particular), so I'm considering switching to try Benjamin Moore Exterior Aura Satin. Just wondering if you've tried the Dulux equivalent before, to see what the comparison is like.

My rear patio doors are starting to flake and peel and will need a coat of paint in the next year. They get a lot of sunshine in the summer, plus a deluge of rain!

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks for asking Ian. No I didn't try Dulux Weather Shield but I have used Sikkens HLS & Cetol Filter 7 their microporous coatings and I even used Sikkens Rubbol gloss now owned by Dulux.

The best gloss paint I used was Johnstone's it like the Sikkens Rubbol went on to give a brilliant gloss but both are oil based; I think the longevity of the BM paint is because it's water based so not as adversly affected by the sunlight which causes the damage. I've not tried BM

https://benjaminmoorepaint.co.uk/products/aura-grand-entrance/

If I ever repaint the exterior doors I'll give it a try but at the moment I'm happy with the Aura Exterior satin. I gave up on spending a lot of time to gain a mirror finish only for the weather to eventually ruin it so the satin is fine now for me; I believe BM has a lifetime guarantee?

I've just used BM Advance Matte on the window frames in the rear extension and also the inner face of the front door; I'm unsure how this will stand up to handling but with just the two of us living here it won't get stressed and being water based it shouldn't turn yellow; a while ago Dulux received lots of really bad reviews because their brilliant white quickly turned yellow; perhaps Dulux has overcome this by now. The BM Advance Matte feels like very fine abrasive paper to touch the Aura exterior satin is much smoother; I'm still playing around with paint but since 2016 I now prefer BM. I've even used Little Greene paint.

As I become older I want less exterior maintenance to do to the bungalow hence the choice of the more expensive BM Aura and after five years I'm still happy with it. I stress I'm not a professional painter but I've been painting our home for 44 years.

Benjamin Moore Advance Matte on the door and side frame; the paint goes on incredibly easy and the brush washes out rapidly. Sorry about picture quality but I live in a black hole called Yorkshire which gives me so much grief trying to keep the climate outside.

Here's the BM Advance Matte on the frames and cill which I've only just completed the pictures taken a few minutes ago. Some of my woodturned items on display; I'll be interested to watch how this paint holds up and how long it remains white. If there is a better paint than BM then I'm open to suggestions; funds aren't a problem.

Good luck Ian.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

An update to bump this thread.

I've been absolutely delighted to use Benjamin Moore paint giving it full well deserved praise. Due to recent extremely rare very hot weather a wooden glazing bead shrank in length to our front porch door which isn't a huge probem considering I made the porch and door.

I needed the BM colour once again so I tried to order 1L from BM website; a message box appesared; no longer available? I tried other colours and each time the same pop up box appeared; I discussed this with my lovely wife Bron and Bron suggested painting the door black so black it is. Every black I selected on the BM site still gave this pop up box even the highlighted 10 Downing Street? I emailed BM through their standard form initially asking if they still sold paint because I was having lots of trouble ordering; this was totally ignored apart from me receiving a number to say they would get back to me.

I then opened my BM account and sent another email once again stating I was having problems ordering from their website; I even sent a list of colours including lots of blacks all being rejected by this pop up box; BM reply was if the colour is no longer available it can't be added to their shopping basket. A paint company unable to supply gloss black is new to me so in the end I've walked away from BM much to my sadness and their loss.

Looking now at alternative paint suppliers; I won't bore you with the amount of time I've spent browsing the web but I've now ordered 2.5L of Zinsser Allcoat satin black;

https://www.zinsseruk.com/product/allcoat-exterior/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/311894240480?var=610722856930

Expected life is up to 15 years and at considerably less cost but above all no hassle in buying it; £41.50 for 2.5L delivered. Compare price of just 1L of BM paint?

I fully admit I'm annoyed at BM; I gave our detached bungalow a comprehensive exterior paint makeover using BM paint never expecting the two colours used to be no longer available; in spite of the high cost of BM paint I'd still prefer to use it but can't buy it.

I've not had previous problems using BM's website for ordering online and if I can't order online just receiving the email reply from BM it's pointless wasting more time trying to obtain paint from them by phone.

Trying to buy Grand Entrance Gloss black from the black choices where to click on a black the colour pops up with buy now but clicking on this the pop up box appears saying out of stock; no explanation at all from BM just the short email reply I received.

1630
2121-10
2125-2
1609
AF-560
1484
CC-542
2134-30

All from the top line of blacks; every other black I selected all brought up this;

Not just black but other colours too; I've tried ordering and I've contacted BM by email sending similar details of this pop up box; time for a change I think.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[AC Power]

I used Benjamin Moore paint on my exterior, and it was great paint! They called it "oil emulsion". Hands down it's the best paint I've used for residential purposes.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I couldn't agree more @AC Power BM is brilliant paint and I wouldn't use anything else but if BM are unable to supply I'm forced to look eleswhere. I did think it was just a BM website problem but after emailing BM obviously not. If BM are unable to supply why don't they remove the colours from their website which are no longer available. BM paint is expensive but fantastic.

I've been busy prepping the doors in readiness for Zinsser paint arrival; fingers crossed it will arrive today otherwise it will be Tuesday because of the bank holiday; I want to get on top of this job before we resume back to normal wet Yorkshire weather.

I'm disappointed by Benjamin Moore replying if I can't add the paint to the basket it's not available; I find it difficult to believe BM are out of so many blacks; if it was just a temporary supply problem I'd accept this but after spending a lot of money with BM I did expect a better explanation; other suppliers of different brands of paint appear fine supplying orders; it's strange.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Ian]

I wonder if they are having some technical problems - as that seems like an unusual error and a bit of a surprise? I bought some BM paint last week funnily enough (Scuff-X Satin), but the price on the official site was WAY higher than last time I bought it, so I did some Googling. In the end I bought from another supplier for a much better price and it arrived really quickly. The website was https://www.graysdecoratingsupplies.co.uk/ - I wonder if it's worth seeing if they do the paint (although if you've bought the Zinsser it may not be much use).

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Ian for the "Grays" link which I've made a note of. I too thought it must be a website glitch hence I set an email to BM including lots of colours and the whole range of black but I got the impression BM couldn't care less and they stated if the order won't go into the shopping trolley then the paint isn't availabe; I've even sent BM a link to this thread; the green colour I only bought a few weeks ago was also showing out of stock on their website.

The Zinsser first coat I applied this morning really upset me; it went on terribly even though I'd fully abraded the original BM paint and washed it down with suger soap; it didn't go on at all like BM but a couple of hours later the smile is on my face having applied a second coat; I'm using a synthetic 1" paint brush and a 4" mini roller from my Pelican; I tried using a foam roller but it was useless so I swapped to a pile roller which was better but the first coat looked bad. BM paint the Aura Exterior always went on like a dream; this Zinsser is very thick from the tin but perhaps once I get the knack of applying it I'll settle with it; the second coat though does look good so once I've completed the doors I'll post pictures. I'm very picky indeed when it comes to anything I do; I never do compromise unless as in this instance I can't obtain the material I want.

I had a look at Gray's website and tried to place BM Grand Entrance into their basket just to test but for colours they ask for a phone call. I didn't try phoning BM though because I was tormented with phones for many years before retiring; I detest the things and I certainly don't have a mobile phone welded to my ear; I was in charge of three departments hence had three offices with five phones between them and on top of this if the phones weren't tomenting me my pager was and on a good day I could have up to three pagers when my colleagues were off site; I refuse to phone BM when they can't be bothered with my emails; perhaps they do have a website problem but I've wasted enough time trying to order through their website.

I've used my "Pelican" with disposable liner for years; whilst using BM Aura exterior I only ever used the original liner because the BM paint wasn't difficult to wash out; this morning I washed the Zinsser out and boy it sure sticks it took so long to remove from the liner in future I'll dispose of the liner each time; I'll be more than happy if the Zinsser has adhered to my doors in the same way.

Sorry to bang on but it's rattled my cage being unable to buy the BM paint I wanted/needed. 3 months ago I bought 2 gallon of Yellow Green 2033-10 costing £205.00 no longer available?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Out of interest I've checked BM website again and this time a selection of blacks are available;

Too late I'm with Zinsser.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I've now completed painting the doors and I'm delighted with the finish from the 4" pile roller; having suffered the first coat problems I thinned the paint for the second coat which transformed it; the first coat did work as a base though so it worked out OK in the end. I'm now happy to use Zinsser but it's early days as to its long term performance but I think it's going to last well for many years.

My bad luck never ever leaves me; I've yet to apply top coats without it being rained on; this morning I was greeted with this after overnight rain; I could scream. GRRRRRRRR

Garage/workshop doors completed looking excellent and it's Zinsser paint not Benjamin Moore.

Here's our porch front door; all three doors look rich and posh; I've now got my happy head on and buying the Zinsser was a great deal cheaper.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

A friend tipped me off Valspar paint is sold at B&Q with a colour matching service so I thought I'd try it out considering Valspar is given up to 15 year life span.

I've not visited our local B&Q warehouse for years but I arrived in the paint mixing section without difficulty and stood in queue behind a lady who had been painting an 160' long fence she bringing a huge container of paint back because it didn't match the first lot of paint as to colour.

I'd taken along a short length of glass wooden beading and asked to have this matched for Valspar exterior satin; the guy doing this was very pleasant and helpful; I bought 1L and he told me it was a good match which is just as well because I'm hopelessly colour blind.

Can you spot the slight colour difference between fallpipe and new wood to the right? I gave two coats of the colour matched paint to the wood but it made no difference; I'm sure I could have matched the colour better just comparing the beading colour to ready mixed paint. It's too much hassle to return the paint.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Ian]

Gosh that's quite a difference!?! So much so, I'm wondering if I'm comparing the right parts!

I've had reasonable luck with colour matching at a Dulux decorators centre, although it wasn't a like-for-like match it was a close enough colour to paint a full single wall within a room and for it to match the rest ok.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Yes Ian the colour match was terrible; I'm just saddened I couldn't obtain the original colour from BM; I thought I'd be a BM buyer for life but recently it's upset me when I couldn't even buy BM black.

The 15 year Valspar though goes on as easily as BM and covers well whilst being much cheaper; I wasn't too concerned about the cost of BM knowing it's well worth the money but if I can't obtain BM then I've no choice than to look elsewhere.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

It's quite a while since I posted regarding Benjamin Moore paint. A miracle has occurred; the two colours Baja Dunes Code 997 & Taos Taupe Code 2111-40 are once again available so I've just bought a gallon of each; I admit I was miffed and disappointed when BM in a curt email reply stated if the colours are not listed then they aren't available with no other explanation. My wife and I bought a lot of these colours when we gave our bungalow exterior a comprehensive makeover.

The colours not being available put me right off BM for future use; would I need to repaint the whole bungalow exterior again if I needed more paint; yes I was miffed indeed.

A visitor collecting logs was very complimentary about how posh our bungalow looked with these two colours; once again I thought I'd try BM and WOW suddenly I'm delighted hence in future I'll stick with BM because it's such wonderful long lasting paint; at around £220 for the two gallons the price has shot up but I reckon still well worth it. If only BM had been more thoughtful and explained the colours would once again be available in future I'd have been much happier.

Just updating; I'm happy once again to highly recommend BM paint.

Kind regards, Colin.