House paint: paying more pays off.(Product/Service Evaluation)

Don't assume you can simply buy more of the house paint you've favored in the past to tackle the job this time. Manufacturers reformulate familiar brands to cut costs, tweak performance, or comply with environmental regulations. That means you may have better choices than your standby paint.

Whichever brand you choose, you'll get the best results from the top-line variety. In our experience, "good" or "economy" grades don't weather as well as premium paints. You'll spend more time and money on paint in the long run because you'll need to repaint more often. We've also found that the few "contractor" grades of paint we've tested tended to be mediocre, despite ...