Not certain if you are speaking about painting for the exterior or interior. Hardi Plank is, I believe, a concrete product. Therefore pretty unafffected by mositure and a quality latex paint should be fine. For the interior, I always provide rather contrary advise for new construction. That is to select a neutral paint which will please you for the first year. During that time you can get a feel for the lighting, furnishings and personal preferences for your new home to repaint - which will then be necessary. Reason it will be necessary is that during the first year your home will settle and the materials will dry. Accordingly you will begin to see nail pops and taping seam splits. These are inevitable and is why your builder will provide a 1-year follow-up inspection to repair these issues. But they won't repaint - that's your job! That's when a quality paint will be your best investment because better paints generally cover more area per gallon, cover in fewer coats, clean better and maintain their appearance for more years. Truly a $40 per gallon paint is worth the difference (and quite possibly less costly) unless you're planning to move shortly after completing the paint job. Personally I like SW Duration but many here like BM Aura - both top-of-the-line products. I'm not a fan of Behr, though I used it in our basement. I felt is was unusually thick and applied differently, and after about 5 years I notice it getting a chalky surface. Where in Iowa? I grew up on a farm near Newton and went to college in Iowa City. Know the climate well! Enjoy your new home.

We just met a painter on Thurs. who was recommended by 2 friends. We needed one side of our home painted after being re-stucco'ed. Also thought I would get a quote for the hallway that I had just taken a week to remove all the wallpaper from. The deal was they would do the walls and ceiling, one wall extending into the family room. It would all be 2 coats, and 2 colors plus white ceiling. Our quote was $ 375. for hallway and $ 375. for exterior ( which included a sealer coat on all painted walls and prep ). Plus we would pay for all the paint used. We jumped at it. The painter and helper started at 7:30am on Friday and worked through until 4:30p and then started at 7:30a on Sat. (today) until about noon and all of it was finished as promised. $ 1000. for both including paint. We are thrilled with it. I will paint the trim and doors myself. It saved my hours and hours of work over the next few weeks or more. BTW...The hallway included 7 doorways that they needed to cut around. If anyone lives in the N.Ca area and is looking for a good painter, I can highly recommend him.

Very Interesting News for EVERYONE. I just got a call from the Benjamin Moore store that sells the paint to the painter. Apparently BM just came out with a new version of Moorgard and Moorlife that has a LIFETIME warranty like Duration. The best part is the price does NOT change. Just like Duration the product is thicker and uses some new technology. I hate to be the guinea pig but a life time warranty for exterior paint sounds appealing. The only catch is the warranty is available only on the Exterior paint line. Apparently they didn't upgrade the interior paints. That will probably come later. The new model number is N105 and N103. The additional (N) in the part number is the important part. That specifies that the base is the new concentrated mix that comes with the lifetime warranty. If anyone else familiar with this? Thx Big Tex More Info: http://benjaminmoore.com/wrapper_pg3.asp?L=prod&K=xprods&N=prodext&groupid=8&productid=255#article Here is a link that might be useful: New Lifetime Warranty for Benjamin Moore!!!!

This is Agreeable Gray, Extra White and Gauntlet Gray. I actually think it would be a mistake to go too much gray on the body. You will already have a gray roof. Canvas Tan is a little grayer than Patience. I would not use those garage doors shown above. They are a modern design and your house is closer to traditional. I also think the wood grain and side windows when combined with stone would look too busy. I hope one of the professionals will speak to the door as I am just a person like you. What is the name of your HOA? Stay away from Unique Gray. It is lilac color.