Although we’re still in the drizzly depths of winter at the moment, soon you’ll have to start planning your next big exterior painting project. Over the winter you may have transformed the interior of your home, with freshly painted walls, doors, skirting boards, and maybe even your IKEA furniture!
But when you step outside, it’s a very different story. Your exterior walls are looking weathered after months of rain (and even some snow!), and your paths and driveway are in dire need of some TLC.
Today we’re going to help you pick the best masonry paint for your home or commercial building, explain how to use it, and most importantly, tell you when is best to get started.
What is Masonry Paint?
‘Masonry’ is a word used for a lot of exterior surfaces. Bricks, concrete slabs, stones, and more can be sealed together with mortar to create tough, resilient materials for building. These all fall under the ‘masonry’ umbrella, but when it comes to painting, some need a unique approach that we’ll talk about in a moment.
Masonry paint can be used on any of these surfaces. When paired with our GripMaster primer, you can revitalise your tired stonework, making them look better than new.
One of the best things about masonry paint is its versatility. Around your home you likely have stone walls holding up your roof, shorter stone walls around your garden, and stone paths connecting parts together. You might also have a stone path, a concrete driveway, or even stone surfaces inside your home, such as in your garage.
This is a lot of masonry to paint, so a single product that can be used on all of them is perfect. That’s exactly what our Weathermaster masonry paint provides. You can order anything from 1L tins to 205L barrels, so you can cover as much ground (or wall!) as you need to, without having to order more and halt progress.
But this choice of size is far from the only reason to choose our Weathermaster paint.
The Best Masonry Paint
As well as versatility, there are two main factors that determine the quality of masonry paint.
The first is how durable your paint is. Exterior surfaces need tough paint, as unlike your walls, you want to avoid repainting them every few years, or whenever the mood takes you. Quality masonry paint should still look good after a decade, without the need for touch ups. Because of our Weathermaster’s thick compound, you get unmatched protection against rain, wind, snow, and everything else the elements throw at your stone surfaces.
And second is how your masonry paint looks. Protecting the surface is your no.1 priority, but it still needs to look great. You want to be able to customise your masonry to suit your style and overall look of your outdoor areas.
Our Weathermaster masonry paint is available in a wide variety of colours, and is also part of our Colour System. Simply enter a British Standard or RAL code at checkout and we’ll mix any colour, so you can make your masonry look exactly how you imagine.
When to Use Masonry Paint
One of the biggest challenges of exterior painting is finding the best time to do it. In winter, it’s very risky because even on a dry day, the cold air and high wind speeds can affect the finish of your paint. As a result, we recommend focusing on interior painting during winter, and save your exterior jobs for when the weather is more reliable.
However, you shouldn’t leave it until summer, although many people do. In summer you’ll be doing a lot of hosting, with barbeques and get-togethers keeping your garden full of people. Therefore you want to make sure your home looks fantastic before they arrive. So it’s ideal to get to work in late spring, or earlier if we have a good run of sunshine and blue skies. You will also have a number of surfaces to paint too – make sure you have enough free weekends.
Keep in mind that drying times can vary, and you’ll need at least 2 layers plus primer if you want to maximise longevity and ensure the best finish. Make sure you know how long drying will take before you commit.
How to Use Masonry Paint
Once you have some time set aside, and your masonry paint is ready to go, you’ll be keen to get started. However, you still need the right tools for the job.
Masonry surfaces are much rougher than our walls and doors, meaning that some brushes and paint rollers will catch on the surface, leading to an uneven finish that will look terrible even from a distance.
Our masonry paint brush is, as the name suggests, perfectly designed for painting masonry and other stone surfaces. The durable bristles mean it never gets caught on stonework imperfections but still holds plenty of paint for even coverage. Its large size also means that it can be used on larger walls and floors without making the job take too long, but a tough paint roller is ideal for the out-of-reach areas.
The UK’s Most Trusted Masonry Paint Provider
Many people are resistant to start painting their exterior surfaces because they’re tougher to work with than interior walls etc.
With a tin of our Weathermaster masonry paint, GripMaster primer, and our masonry paint brush, even amateur decorators can get professional-quality results. As long as you keep one eye on the skies, your masonry will soon look fantastic: ready to impress this summer.
If you have any questions about us or our painting products, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!