Water-based or Solvent-based Paint: What to Pick Where?

Indoors you almost always choose water-based paint: little smell, fast drying and white stays white for longer. Outdoors it is more nuanced. There the surface, the gloss you want, the old paint layer and that week's weather all count. On a front door that has to be crisp in high gloss, levelling weighs heavily. On a window frame that has to be done between two showers, drying time weighs more.

So one type of paint is not better than the other. Both last a long time if the preparation is right, and both let go if the timber was wet or greasy. Anyone who hangs the choice on the tin is looking at the wrong part of the job.

These are the general lines. The figures vary per product, so the drying time that counts is on the technical data sheet of that one paint.

In south-west Friesland the wind often blows from the south-west and water is never far away. In spring and autumn timber stays wet from the dew for a long time in the morning. That affects both types of paint, but in a different way. Water-based gloss needs warmth and dry air to form a good film; on a cold, damp evening that film can end up weaker. Solvent-based paint stays open for longer, so dirt and fluff from the air blow into it more easily.

As a rule of thumb we paint outside between 5 and 30 degrees, at a humidity of no more than 85 percent and on dry timber. How often that works out you can see per month on our page about painting weather in Friesland. By the waterside it works out differently from inland, which is why we look at the schedule separately for each house.

It can, provided the old layer is well bonded and has been sanded matt. Old high gloss is so smooth that a new coat cannot grip it. So first degrease, then sand, and where needed a bonding primer. Skip that, and after a season you can scratch the new paint off the door with your fingernail.

The other way round is possible too, although the result then yellows faster indoors. With older houses also watch out for what is underneath. White lead has been banned indoors since 1939 and outdoors since 2009, so a 1930s window frame may still carry layers of it. If in doubt we do not sand dry; read our explanation of old paint with lead.

White solvent-based gloss yellows fastest where little daylight comes in: behind a cupboard, on an interior door in the hallway, on the underside of a staircase. That is why a door sometimes looks cream after a few years while the skirting next to it still looks white. Outdoors this matters much less, because sunlight actually works against the process. There what counts is mainly how long the gloss and the colour hold.

Indoors, water-based is the norm in our trade for another reason too: you do not breathe in solvents, and neither do the residents. For a bedroom or a home that stays occupied, that is the deciding factor for most people. If you choose a colour close to white, you notice that difference first.

Paint advice from the sofa does not work, but with a few photos we get quite far. Send us:

• close-up photos, so we can see cracks, blisters and flaking paint
• the year the house was built, for the chance of old paint layers
• when it was last painted, and with what if you still know
• the exposure: facing south-west, sheltered or right on the water
• which gloss you want: high gloss or rather satin

We make the final choice at the site visit, once we have looked at the surface.

The difference between two types of paint is usually small across the whole job. The hours make up the bill: sanding, filling, sealing, priming and two topcoats. A water-based system can save a day because the coats follow each other faster. On the other hand, a crisp high gloss needs more preparation, whatever the paint.

As a national market indication exterior painting starts from €35 per m2 and interior painting from €25 per m2. With us you get a fixed price after the site visit with the agreed paint on the quote, so you know exactly what goes on your woodwork. How those amounts come about you can read at what a painter costs.

We work with Sikkens, Sigma and Wijzonol and choose per job, not out of habit. Mohamed first looks at the timber: is it sound, is it dry, what is already on it? Then the gloss and the colour come up, and only then the product. That choice is in the quote, so you do not have to ask afterwards what was used.

In their Google reviews, together good for 4.8 from 25 ratings, customers often mention the honest advice. Unsure what suits your window frames or walls? Send a few photos through the quote page or WhatsApp, and we will look along and plan a site visit.