Designing a Nursery

The next time you have your home's exterior painted, consider what your priorities are and whether you can choose a type of paint that's targeted towards your goals. Some specialized paints provide lower levels of VOCs to minimize any breathing problems and allergies, while others are recycled to lower their environmental impact.

Here are a few specialized types of paints to consider for your next exterior home painting job. 

1. Heat reflective paint

Heat reflective paint helps to keep the air inside your home heated and cooled. While it doesn't affect air leaks, it can reduce the heat transfer through your walls. Instead of allowing this thermal transfer, heat reflective paint reflects thermal heat back away from the wall. As such, if you have thermal reflective paint on the outside of a wall, you can reduce the amount of heat transfer into your home during the summer months, potentially helping your home stay cooler. Make sure you choose a highly-rated heat reflective paint since different options provide varying levels of effectiveness.

2. Low-VOC paint

VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are compounds that can evaporate into the air; basically, these are what create the fumes that come from wet paint. The fumes aren't great for your health, and can even cause breathing difficulties if you have allergies or some other respiratory issue.

Fortunately, some paints are manufactured in a way that means they produce as few fumes as possible. These low-VOC types of paint may be best to use around people who have any respiratory difficulties.

3. Natural paint

Some companies produce paints that are both eco-friendly and comparatively nontoxic. These natural paints, while they may still contain petroleum products, typically are manufactured without fungicides and similar toxic chemicals. They may even be called organic, although the term may not mean exactly the same thing that it means when applied to food.

While natural and organic paints are more commonly available for interior applications (where they don't have to weather the elements), some are also durable enough for outdoor use. Keep in mind that not all paints claiming to be natural are necessarily created equal; make sure you check into the manufacturer's claims before purchasing.

4. Recycled paint

Did you know that some types of paint actually have recycled content? This can be a great type of paint to choose if you prefer an eco-friendly lifestyle. Although it may not have a wide variety of paint colors available that a virgin-materials paint has, this type of paint can make up for such shortcomings with its eco-friendliness and affordable price.

These are just some of the specialized paint types to consider next time you plan an exterior paint job. Contact an exterior painting services contractor to discuss what types of paint may be best for your home and your lifestyle. An exterior painting service can provide further information.