It's real question time again.
 
I'm about to get the House of Ralph here in north Joisey (not on the  shore) 
painted again, for the first time in about 15 years.  It  is primarily clad in 
cedar shingles, with wood trim, and some steel storm  sash.  The last paint 
job was oil; the shingles I installed myself (about  1/4-1/3 of the whole 
house) were dip-stained before installation.  The  balance of the shingles had been 
painted by previous owners, and much of the old  paint is flaking off.  Some 
of my stained shingles are going bald  (after 20 years), but not flaking.
 
I thought I wanted  alkyd oil (Benj Moore or Sherwin Williams, or  a mix) 
this time around, but the painters have been telling me that oils now are  even 
shittier than they were 15 years ago, and that I should go over to  latexes. I 
am inclined to believe them, but the old  fart in me wants to believe there 
are still decent oils around--but  maybe there just aren't.  
 
One of the painters raves about a new Benj Moore latex paint called  Aura, 
which costs a fortune but he says is very good; an exterior version of it  has 
only recently been added to BM's website.  It's not available in  high gloss, 
only semi, though.  I doubt they make a stain for my shingles,  and I sure as 
hell don't want to paint the shingles that have only been  stained.
 
Anybody had any experience with this BM Aura stuff, or had a credible  
conversation with one of their tech reps about it?  Anybody got any recent  good, 
bad or indifferent experience with paints?
 
Thanks.
 
Ralph



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