Choosing Home Exterior Paint Color

[backhander]

Hey guys, was curious if you could give me a suggestion or advice on this.

We are planning on painting the exterior of our house. So naturally we've been paying attention to other home colors to see what would work with ours. Well a few neighborhoods away, there is this one house that has this really nice color combination that we would like to paint our house in. It's in a different neighborhood, so would not be near ours in anyway. But since color matching isn't always a safe bet, would it be proper to knock on their door and ask what colors they used?

I don't want to be weird about it, but I think that's the best way to get the color we want, since choosing a paint color can be so difficult.

Any advise?

Thanks

 

[hollywood9826]

If you want exactly then the only way is too ask them. If your nice about it they should not mind. Especially since you are complimenting them on their home. If the get mad they are A-Holes and you don't your house that color anyway.

 

[aimr75]

cant hurt to knock and ask.. they might get a kick out of someone liking their colour scheme so much that they had to ask

I came across a house i liked the colour of too. I didnt knock and ask, i just found the colours i thought looked close to that house at a paint store

turned out to be pretty close

 

[backhander]

Well I will probably ask them about the color, i just wanted get a consensus of whether or not that would be weird.

From past experience I know it can be hard to get the color you want that's why. Estimating the color you want and then seeing it dry on the wall into a different shade is frustrating.

 

[aimr75]

Estimating the color you want and then seeing it dry on the wall into a different shade is frustrating.

I got small sample tins to test before buying

 

[hollywood9826]

Yea paint is weird sometimes.

But if those poeple get all bent out of shape by you knocking on the door then they are the dumb butts

 

[blackfrido]

Hey guys, was curious if you could give me a suggestion or advice on this.

We are planning on painting the exterior of our house. So naturally we've been paying attention to other home colors to see what would work with ours. Well a few neighborhoods away, there is this one house that has this really nice color combination that we would like to paint our house in. It's in a different neighborhood, so would not be near ours in anyway. But since color matching isn't always a safe bet, would it be proper to knock on their door and ask what colors they used?

I don't want to be weird about it, but I think that's the best way to get the color we want, since choosing a paint color can be so difficult.

Any advise?

Thanks

take risks, make your house unique! it's you own house make yourself and your family proud about it. don't worry about the context.

 

[Limpinhitter]

Hey guys, was curious if you could give me a suggestion or advice on this.

We are planning on painting the exterior of our house. So naturally we've been paying attention to other home colors to see what would work with ours. Well a few neighborhoods away, there is this one house that has this really nice color combination that we would like to paint our house in. It's in a different neighborhood, so would not be near ours in anyway. But since color matching isn't always a safe bet, would it be proper to knock on their door and ask what colors they used?

I don't want to be weird about it, but I think that's the best way to get the color we want, since choosing a paint color can be so difficult.

Any advise?

Thanks

Absolutely! Nothing wrong with that! They should be complemented that you admire their paint job. But, before you plunk down $500+ for paint, even when you find out what it is, buy a quart and test it on a few square feet of your house in the back to see if it works on YOUR house the way you hope it will. You'll be surprised how different the same paint will look on different houses. The last time I painted my house we had about 12 samples (including about 5 shades of yellow), up in the back just to see how they looked and compared to each other. We did the same with the interior.

 

[r2473]

^^ Great advice.

Next question, what brand of paint are you using. I would advise you get the best paint you can find / afford.

Sherwin Williams "Duration" is good.

I used Sears "Weatherbeater Ultra". After reading I realized that it is basically the same thing as the Sherwin Williams. Sears actually developed the formula and contracted Sherwin Williams to make it in their factory. Through some sort of deal, Sears allowed Sherwin Williams to sell their own version (which they call Duration).

The Sears stores in my area are closing down their paint department, so I bought enough to paint my house again before they sold out.

No matter what, I would strongly advise you to not go cheap on the paint.

 

[aimr75]

No matter what, I would strongly advise you to not go cheap on the paint.

unless you enjoy repainting after a couple years

 

[backhander]

Absolutely! Nothing wrong with that! They should be complemented that you admire their paint job. But, before you plunk down $500+ for paint, even when you find out what it is, buy a quart and test it on a few square feet of your house in the back to see if it works on YOUR house the way you hope it will. You'll be surprised how different the same paint will look on different houses. The last time I painted my house we had about 12 samples (including about 5 shades of yellow), up in the back just to see how they looked and compared to each other. We did the same with the interior.

Oh yah, I definitely plan on doing that. This neighborhood, which is about 10 mins away is actually from the same builder as our house, so it's the same style. Different model, but same style, so that helps a lot.

 

[Limpinhitter]

^^ Great advice.

Next question, what brand of paint are you using. I would advise you get the best paint you can find / afford.

Sherwin Williams "Duration" is good.

I used Sears "Weatherbeater Ultra". After reading I realized that it is basically the same thing as the Sherwin Williams. Sears actually developed the formula and contracted Sherwin Williams to make it in their factory. Through some sort of deal, Sears allowed Sherwin Williams to sell their own version (which they call Duration).

The Sears stores in my area are closing down their paint department, so I bought enough to paint my house again before they sold out.

No matter what, I would strongly advise you to not go cheap on the paint.

Benjamin Moore!

 

[Cindysphinx]

Sure, go ahead and ask. Just be advised that they probably will not know. If someone asked me the colors on my house, I would say, "Black, white and red."

And no, I'm not going to go crawling around in the basement to find the old paint cans for you!

What I would do is go up to them and ask. If they don't know, ask if you can come back from time to time with paint chips to see how close you can get.

Then, if you are using Benjamin Moore, you can get the actual paint formulation from the store for the colors you are considering. Say I am trying to find a blue that will look nice with the sage green I am also using. I can get the formulations of the blues and see which one has some green. That one will have undertones that are likely to work with the sage green.

I have an architect/artist friend who helps me pick paint colors (for a fee, of course). She can discern undertones with her eyes that I don't even see. It's worth it to pay her to pick colors so that I don't spend money later on buying samples or re-doing the whole job.