If we have the right kind of paint, painting our house should be easier than ever. Decades ago, paints were just paints. They look and smell the same. However, things are very different now. There are oil-based paints and other kinds of paints that we need to know. Some water paints can be used for exterior houses. Some finishes are so strong, they could withstand the onslaught of children. Some paints can dry really fast that they can start to dry barely one minute after we finish putting it on. However, we should be aware that no single product could do everything similarly. These paints are available under different brand names, some are obvious, but other can be rather confusing. Some could use the word “rubber” as their commercial names, but they don’t contain any rubber at all. In this case, we should read the labels and other descriptions in the fine print to help us find out what they really are. As an example, the paint could be consisted of vinyl, which is related to tough version of plastic used for floor tiles and upholstery. However, it can be thinned with water.

Vinyl can be used on almost any surface, except painted wood. This material should work well on masonry blocks, concrete, stucco, brick, asbestos shingle and wood shingles. One big advantage of vinyl is that it can use water as thinner. This will make it easier to handle vinyl during the actual painting process. Vinyl also dries fast and may dry completely as quickly as 10 minutes if the condition is warm and dry. However, it requires 12 hours for a vinyl layer to cure and after this period, it will form into an exceptionally long lasting and tough film that can withstand exposure of factory smoke, salt air, sun and weather. However, it is not possible to paint with vinyl at very cold condition. When the temperature is under 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the chemical reaction that can turn vinyl into durable finish won’t happen. Although vinyl paints are excellent for exterior, some types may not suitable for the interior. However, we should be able find some vinyl paints designed for interior usages. However, we could still use vinyl primer sealer that can be used as the base coat for standard interior paints.

Acrylic is another type of paint we can use at home and it is essentially plastic and water. Solid acrylic is known for its beautiful glasslike appearance. Acrylic really shines inside the house and it keeps color better and dries faster than other types of paints. However, acrylic could be more expensive than typical paints. One big advantage of acrylic paint is that we don’t have to choose at what weather we should apply the paint. It can be applied at both hot, humid days or very cold ones. Acrylic should work well, as long as it is still above the freezing level. Alkyd is actually an old interior paint, but we could combine it with a special kind of chemical. We can mix it with super refined petroleum chemical that has no odour. We can thin it with turpentine or mineral spirits. It is very resistant to scrubbing and exceptionally tough.