Are there alternatives to Coolwall Paint? How much are we talking (in L?

April 14, 2013 4:12 PM

I had someone through Costco come out to our house to give a quote on painting the house with Coolwall paint. It wasn't a quote just for the paint, but for all the prep work, repairs in our stucco, and the trim. We don't live in a large house--it's less than 1,400 square feet. He extolled the benefits of this paint. It's highly reflective and thus reduces damage to the paint, and also keeps the house cooler in the summer. The way the guy went on about it, it's a miracle product. He quoted $18,600 to prep and paint our house with this stuff. Again, it's through Costco and has a lifetime warranty. And they don't strip off the existing paint or stucco--they repair it, bond it, and paint right over it. Are there similar alternatives that would cost much less?

Costco stuff is good, and I trust it. But $18,600? I want what he's smoking. But one of the things that made it attractive versus regular house-painting was that they wouldn't remove the old paint--which he claims costs about $1,000 for lead abatement.

So I ask you--are there reflective, high quality alternatives? Can we get the house painted without removing the old stuff (ie. bonding and painting over it)?

How much for a really nice professionally-applied paint job?

posted by rybreadmed to Home & Garden (12 answers total)

That had better be some awesome paint. My house is over 50% larger than yours, and the quotes I got were in the 4-6k range for the most part. My guess is that this guy is selling you some grade A snake oil.
posted by deadmessenger at 4:49 PM on April 14, 2013

Hrm. I live in a 2300 sq foot 3 story Queen Anne, and all our house painting quotes (in Maine) were in the ballpark of $13K. This includes an up-charge for the protective work they need to do in case there is lead paint lurking on the house somewhere (the lead abatement part).

So, yeah, sounds pretty high to me. Did he split out the cost of the labor vs. the actual materials cost?
posted by anastasiav at 5:13 PM on April 14, 2013

Best answer: One of the problems with the CoolWall stuff is lack of breathability. Your house is not unlike a living organism and needs an exchange of vapors, this stuff seals everything in. The PaintTalk forums have some interesting discussions about elastomerics in general, so you might find your answers there. The professionals there also discuss alternatives and products they steer their clients to.

For reference, my house is just shy of 4000sq.ft. and I've been quoted $3-5K incl top of the line paint (brand/series chosen by me) and all prep work.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 5:14 PM on April 14, 2013

I have found the small fee for joining Angie's List to be worth its weight in gold for this sort of thing. I have used it for pest control, roofing, dental work, house cleaning and more. I wouldn't be without it now.
posted by michellenoel at 5:34 PM on April 14, 2013

Response by poster: All good advice, and yeah--$3k to $5k seems far, far more realistic. And the words "snake oil salesman" kept running through my mind while this clown was talking to me. I'd tried Angie's List in the past, but repeatedly had bad luck: no listings for infant day care, too few reviews for lots of topics, and when we did get service from through it it was quite expensive. But maybe it's worth another try.
posted by rybreadmed at 6:03 PM on April 14, 2013

which he claims costs about $1,000 for lead abatement.

How old is your house? This smells like "shady upsell" to me. And over $100 a sq. ft. is super, super high.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:07 PM on April 14, 2013

Our house is quite a bit bigger and we paid 2700 last year to have our house and windows all painted.
posted by sulaine at 7:28 PM on April 14, 2013

Well, to give you some data points, I live in a 2500 square foot home which was painted a few years ago for $2K (though they just sprayed the shingles and stucco). Next, I had a good bit of yard regrading, downspout redirection, concrete work and a decorative wall done for $10K, and recently a kitchen done for $25K (that was the middle quote, the high quote came in at $33K with *cheaper* finishes and materials---rolls eyes). So since your quote falls between a significant outdoor project and a kitchen renovation, I would say it sounds totally unreasonable to me. FWIW.
posted by forthright at 8:00 PM on April 14, 2013

You can't go by the square feet of floorspace, but the square feet of exterior walls. In other words, the surface area of the parts of the building that are being painted.

Secondly, if this is actually the kind of insulating paint that adds R-value to the building, then the cost can be much more in line. That stuff is really expensive. However, it can lead to significant energy savings. A friend did a single interior wall with it and it paid for itself in under a year in cooling cost savings.

There are new requirements for lead abatement that went into effect in the last year or two. They have to treat it almost like asbestos, with the double bagging and plastic sheeting everywhere and whatnot. So $1000 extra for that is not out of line.

All that said, this still sounds awfully expensive. I would expect one hell of a warranty for that price.
posted by gjc at 8:07 PM on April 14, 2013

How much for a really nice professionally-applied paint job?

Your home inspector or your local paint store can recommend a someone.

I shopped around for painters, out of three, I ended up with the highest costing quote, but from a guy with a fat binder of testimonial letters. He was worth it.
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:41 PM on April 14, 2013

Be aware of "Lifetime" Warranties, unless thoroughly specified it sometimes will only mean 7-years. Also, what good is a long warranty when it does not include the labor? Thats the expense. If you have an issue within the warranty they are only going to send you a pail of paint. They say their certified applicators have to install it when they sell it to you originally but then when there is a problem they send you product to apply yourself? Also be cautious of the reflectivity claims and ask this question. If the reflectance is in the cool wall primer and then it is topcoated with the color coat...then how does it reflect once its covered? That has never made any sense. There are better options for less, look up ExcellPaint it has a high TiO2 loading which is the reflectant used. Most coatings included the one you looked at have very minimum amounts of TiO2. Be sure to ask and the companies will know what their TiO2 loading is per gallon.
posted by CoatingsGuy at 7:09 AM on April 15, 2013

Not sure if you are looking for that particular paint or specific properties in an exterior paint, but I just did a quick skim over the Consumer Reports ratings for exterior paint and they gave Best Buys to:

Behr Premium Plus Semi-Gloss Enamel (Home Depot)
Type: Semi-gloss exterior paints
Price as tested:
$28


Glidden Spred Semi-Gloss
Type: Semi-gloss exterior paints
Price as tested:
$28
posted by forkisbetter at 1:51 PM on April 16, 2013