What’s the best paint for exterior wood?

Project overview

When it comes to painting exterior wood, there are a few different ways you can decide which paint is right for you. In this guide, we’ll explain how to choose exterior wood paint and what you need to know.

Print Version

What do you want to do?

The kind of paint you use depends on what you want the outcome to be; it might not be paint you need.

If your wood is looking tired and grey, it’s because it’s lost its natural oils which keep it looking healthy. This can happen to decking, furniture, fences – basically, any outdoor wood exposed to the elements. Oil nourishes and protects the wood, restoring it to its old colour while protecting it from rain and sunlight. You can get it for a range of projects including decking and furniture.

If you want to change the colour of your wood, but still keep a natural-looking appearance, stains protect it while adding a woody colour. Think along the lines of cedar, mahogany and teak colours. It’s perfect if your wood needs reviving and you fancy a subtle change of colour. If your wood is grey and damaged, use 120-grit sandpaper to sand back the damaged wood until you reach a healthy colour. The healthier wood can then be stained.

And if you want to change the look and colour of your exterior wood completely, paint is the way to go. There are different types of paint available depending on the kind of protection and coverage you want (more on that later), but generally speaking, exterior wood paint comes in loads of different colours, not just natural wood hues. Paint often has a degree of protection against the weather too.

What makes a good paint?

The best exterior wood paints are durable. Because of how changeable our climate is, the paint should be able to withstand direct sunlight which greys the wood, and rain which can weaken the wood and cause it to rot.

The paint should also be rainproof reasonably quickly after you’ve used it, so you don’t have to worry about sudden downpours.

You also need to consider the minimum temperatures you can paint in. Not that you’ll be doing outdoor DIY projects in the heart of winter (or will you?!) but most paints can’t be used in temperatures below 10 degrees.

For decking, the best paint has anti-slip properties and can withstand frequent footfall.

Many of our exterior paints have weather protection plus a durability guarantee. In some instances, you won’t have to repaint for up to 10 years.