France in Focus

We had the doors to one of our barns painted professionally four years ago but, currently, they are a disaster. We received assurances at the time but some tradesmen will say anything, won't they?

Does anyone have recommendations for any french paint products (primers, undercoats and in particular top coats) that will stand up to day long full sun? By "french" I mean any product readily available here. I have trawled the internet searching but anything that claims to be up to the job seems to be sold in the US.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Sorry but no.

We applied a ,paint "guaranteed" to last 8 years. Like you after 4 it was a total disaster and was looking bad after 2. We complained only to be told that the guarantee only applied at sea level. Since we live at altitude where the uv is twice as strong as sea level, no chance.

We either repaint every year or go for shabby chic. Laziness favours the latter.

This is what we use on our exterior woodwork - cant say how long it lasts as we tend to redo all the woodwork when it looks a bit shabby - not to posh it up but for protection from the sun.

https://www.v33.fr/produits-d-exterieur ... rieur.html

We've had a similar experience as Exile at our old place. The "guaranteed" paint just doesn't last whatever it says and however well prepared the woodwork is. We tried all different makes and none did as it said on the tin.
Again, like Exile, we favoured the shabby chic look, more in keeping with an old building

@ Loup-Garou, when we bought our house in the Nièvre in 2002 it had been renovated by an archtiect. Also responsible for all the projects carried out by the Préfecture in Nevers. He knew what he was talking about when he advised us to stay away from French paints, he preferred Tollens in those days. Today I still stick to Sikkens, Flexa and Wijzonol. Sikkens, if I remember well, had once a PR campaign with a text like this: What is good enough for the Royal Yacht Britannia should also be good enough for you. Also available in France today.

There are however exceptions: I painted the huge grange doors (facing south) of one of my neighbours with a French no name paint (Burgundy-Bordeaux red / rouge Basque), they had bought at a vide-greniers for un prix inbattable. Must have been more than 12 years ago, still in good condition. About 312 meters above sea level.

Thanks everybody - hopeless case it would seem. Unles-s-s-s, RA could you ask your mate if he has any left in the tin?

@ Loup-Garou, when finishing the job, there was only one centimeter paint left in the last tin. I'm afraid that even several blows on the tin lid with my Stanley Bluestrike hammer don't guarantee eternal life. I fully understand that this message doesn't make your day, sorry.

Next steps: this is/was the original paint (Burgundy red) as advised by monsieur l 'architecte in 2002:

TOLLENS Elastotop Satin et Brillant "Grand Totem 97" 1013-G


I'll get the Wijzonol pictures, also one of the lower cost childs in the Sikkens family, as soon as the photo website picr.de is in the air again. Maintenance going on right now.

We are right in the middle of ‘paint the volets ‘ project. The volets are facing south east, west and south west so get a load of sun and wether. We last did them in 2012. The paint had gone powdery to the touch but only peeled on the top and bottom edges of the volets. We are using the same paint again. Farrow and ball external wood paint with primer. They say it’ll last 5 years. We won’t be doing this job again ourselves.

For a natural wood finish I have had incredible durability with the products recommended in Sparkle's link. I don't have experience of coloured finishes but I would give them a try if there was nothing else recommended. I would avoid any UK products for exterior wood exposed to the intense sun encountered in southern France. I would avoid Cuprinol even if it was free. Sadolin's products last well but are hard to find here.

My opinions are from years in the trade but they are still only opinions.

I have used peinture-destock.com a couple of times. They have some very good deals from time to time and have some Sadolin products