New Lifetime Exterior Paint Products at Home Shows
When you visit a home show, you’ll often see many new “Lifetime Paint Companies” pop up with catchy names like Gorilla Coat, Turtle Coat, Armadillo Coat, Dog Coat, Shark Coat, Flying Squirrel Coat etc. These companies usually don’t last long, often surviving only a year or two if they’re lucky. They introduce mysterious products that leave customers wondering what they’ll get. Despite their promises of lifetime transferable warranties, their lack of experience and short business history make it hard for them to back up these claims.
What to Look for When Hiring a Lifetime Exterior Paint Company?
- Physical Business Location: Make sure they have an office you can visit.
- BBB Membership: Check if they’re members of the Better Business Bureau.
- Local Business License: Verify they have a local business license.
- Insurance: Confirm they have insurance.
- Product Data Sheet: Ask for the product data sheet.
- Product Verification: Ensure the product you’re purchasing is on-site by checking the labels.
- Research: Google the company name followed by “complaints” or “lawsuits” and look beyond the first page of results.
Avoid companies operating out of an apartment or home. A legitimate coating business should have a warehouse for storing, tinting, and preparing coatings before sending them to job sites. If a company relies on local big box stores or paint shops, they’re not using a specialized coating system for your property.
The Reality of Bargain Lifetime Exterior Paint Companies
Most discount coating companies at home shows or in local coupon books are just selling standard acrylic paint. Modern paints are usually designed to last 3 to 5 years because manufacturers want repeat business. Just because you call a paint a coating it doesn’t make it last longer. You can call your Prius a Porsche, but it won’t go any faster. You can’t take a person working out of the back of their truck too serious when they tell you about their lifetime paint warranty.
Are Lifetime Paints Worth the Money?
The value of permanent coatings or lifetime paints depends on the contractor and the product they use. Important factors include:
- Preparation: Proper preparation is key.
- Proven Experience: Choose companies with a proven track record.
- Product History: Make sure the product has a successful history.
Be careful about being one of the first projects the new local “Armadillo Coating” dealer does.
Home Shield Coating® Warranty Explained
What’s the Difference Between Home Shield Coating®, Tex Cote Paint, Rhino Shield Paint?
Everything! -different products and different warranties. Let’s compare our warranty to Tex-Cote and Rhino Shield. We have nothing to hide and are happy to explain our warranty and our competitors’ warranties as well. We’re so confident in our experience, product, application methods, and warranty. That we encourage you to schedule an estimate with both Tex-Cote and Rhino Shield as well.
Home Shield Coating’s Warranty Explained
Home Shield Coating® has been the premier permanent wall coating company in the industry since 1999. We started coating homes in Chicago, IL where our product has been put up against the harshest of weather conditions. Our coating is a two-part, three-coat permanent coating system that includes:
- Part A: Bonding Agent Primer (Pink Primer)
- Part B: HSC Topcoat, available in any color of your choice
Home Shield Coating® offers a 30-Year Combined Warranty:
- First 10 Years: Covers Labor and Material
- After 10 Years: 20-Year Material Warranty
Home Shield Coating® is the only company in the industry offering a 10-Year Labor Guarantee, showing our commitment to customer satisfaction and confidence in our products. We are the premier exterior wall coating company in the industry. We’re the company you hire when you want it done right the first
Tex Cote Paint Warranty Explained
Tex-Cote’s Lifetime Warranty What It Really Means
Tex-Cote sells a product called Coolwall through their dealer network and they offer a lifetime warranty on the product but exclude labor. Tex-Cote is upfront about this labor exclusion. The fact that they exclude labor doesn’t mean their coating doesn’t work or is inferior. Tex-Cote has been around for a long time and has contributed a lot to the coating industry. With Tex-Cote, it’s all about the dealer’s expertise. If you have a local dealer who knows what they’re doing, you can expect a long-lasting exterior finish that will look great for decades. Avoid dealers with less than five years of experience.
Why is Tex-Cote Dealer Experience Important
Hiring a new coating dealer with no experience can lead to poor results. The new local Tex-Cote dealer, AWA Coatings LLC in Orlando, FL, was so impressed with our before-and-after pictures that he not only used one on his website but also decided to clone our entire website design. He claims to be a veteran and to have been in business since 1961. Yet, despite these assertions, he doesn’t have any before-and-after pictures of his own work from that time. The truth is, he has been in business for only one year and has no experience in the coating industry. Most new coating dealers will fail within five years or less.
We have a copy of the letter our attorney sent him, along with screenshots of his cloned website, which features a cedar house we coated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, displayed as part of his website in Orlando, FL. Unfortunately, not all veterans are honorable; this dealer is off to a bad start. What he did is extremely shady and reflects poor judgment. We would never claim someone else’s work as our own.
They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and while we appreciate the compliment, we feel that AWA Coatings LLC took it a bit too far. We wish them the very best; it’s truly unfortunate that they had to meet one of our attorneys in their first year in business.
Rhino Shield Paint Warranty Explained
Rhino Shield’s 25 Year Warranty What It Really Means
Rhino Shield started in Indiana and was incorporated in Florida in December 2001. They sell and distribute Rhino Shield through their dealer network. Rhino Shield offers a 25-year warranty that covers labor for one year. Rhino Shield has upset quite a few customers because they weren’t aware of the 1-Year Labor Warranty. One customer contacted the local news in Orlando, FL, after the local Rhino Shield dealer went out of business.
Rhino Shield’s One Year Labor Warranty
According to an investigative news report, the responsibility to cover warranty claims falls on the local dealers, who may no longer be in business. New dealers aren’t responsible for previous dealers’ warranty claims. The new dealer can start fresh, turning problems into new income opportunities. Unfortunately, this has happened in several markets. The Rhino Shield office in Milwaukee, WI, has had three different owners. It’s been interesting to watch this unfold multiple times. New dealers offer potential customers a “whatever they need to hear to write a check” warrantee, but previous customers are stuck with a 1-Year Labor Warranty. The new dealer soon finds themselves losing money and end up going out of business.
Rhino Shield’s Unhappy Customers
Customers in Wisconsin and other states are upset to the point they were calling for a class action lawsuit. They don’t want to hear the same old “New Owners” story. This bad publicity has hurt the coating business in several markets. We’ve had to make crystal clear to people that the only similarity between Home Shield Coating and Rhino Shield is the word “SHIELD.”
Lifetime Paints Common Questions & Answers
How much should a Lifetime Paint (permanent wall coating system) cost?
A good quality lifetime paint (permanent wall coating system) should cost between $5.50 to $8.50 per square foot. This will depend on the material being coated and job complexity. If you’re being quoted more than this you are being price gouged and should get other bids. In some markets we have witnessed some extreme price gouging occurring.
If a coating contractor is part of a dealer network and goes out of business, who backs the warranty?
Short answer: not corporate. There’s a real possibility that your warranty could be void if the dealer closes or changes owners.
Is fading covered by exterior wall coating warranty?
No. Most coatings are fade-resistant, not fade-proof.
How much more expensive is a Lifetime Paint (exterior wall coating system)
vs traditional paint?
This is tough to answer because paint prices vary widely, a good quality professional paint job should cost $3.50 to $4.75 per square foot vs $5.50 to $8.50 per square foot for a permanent wall coating system. The best way to find out and get exact figures is to request an estimate below.
Do I have to keep the same color forever?
No, changing colors is simple and affordable.
Is there some sort of R-Value gained by the ceramics in wall coatings?
No, while ceramics have been known to reduce exterior wall temperatures. It’s impossible to determine any sort of R-Value since this will depend on what is in between the walls and the year the property was build and what type of insulation that was used during construction.
