From a certain perspective, deck paints and interior paints look pretty much identical. They both come in the same sized cans, both in the same range of colors, and both are applied in the same way. So why can’t they be interchangeable? Why can’t you paint your living room with deck paint?
You can certainly paint your living room with outdoor deck paint until your heart is content, but the reality is, you probably shouldn’t. Outdoor paint properties are simply different from indoor paint. They’re designed for their particular uses and should be applied accordingly.
You could get a roller and paint your entire living room with mop water if it suited you to do so. So, it’s not as if you can’t do something so much as you shouldn’t. It’s not as if you can’t buy that color you used on the outside deck for your interior walls. You should just buy the same color as an “interior” paint.
What is the Difference Between Indoor and Outdoor Paints?
While there are many characteristics that indoor and outdoor paints share, there is a difference in their formulas and what each paint type is designed to do. There is a constructive purpose behind each one beyond just the label of “outdoor” or “indoor.”
Exterior Paints
Outside paints are designed to resist situations that you would only run into outdoors. Rain, UV light, snow, mildew, fungus, mold spores, heat, cold, and wood expansion, and contraction, together are components that outdoor paints have to contend with.
- Fade resistance
- Mold, mildew, and fungus resistance
- Flexibility to adapt to expansion and contraction
- Water-resistant
- Resists UV damage
Exterior paints are largely cured in ambient, outside temperatures along with sunlight. The vapors that they emit are far more dangerous healthwise, which is an allowable side-effect since these paints are not expected to be used inside the home.
There are also additives within exterior paints, or resins if you will, that are designed to expand and contract with the wood that they are bonded to. This is an absolutely essential component in exterior paints since wood simply will not remain still with changing temperatures and fluctuations in humidity.
The resins in exterior paint are also designed with different binding principles in mind. For instance, exterior paint will bond with oak outside and fail to completely bond with oak on the inside. It’s the environment that makes the paint, not the other way around.
Interior Paints
Interior paints are far less volatile and they handle the environment in different ways that substantially separate them from exterior paint characteristics. While the fumes that interior paints emit while curing are dangerous to breathe, they aren’t as vicious as exterior paints.
- Abrasion resistance
- Aesthetics
- Washable so they’re moisture resistant
- Preserves the ambient environment within the home
- Easy maintenance
Indoor paints are main with robust and energetic kids in mind, even though you may not have any. In other words, it’s resistant to abrasions and is easy to clean if something is spilled or smeared on it.
Its also designed for its aesthetic appeal, so even though the colors may match an outdoor paint, it will still seem more vibrant, with the look and feel of being a comfortable, at-home appearance.
They preserve the environment by not continuing to release unhealthy vapors after they are finished curing. That doesn’t mean that if you are the one applying it, you should do so without a chemical mask. Only after it has completely cured will it be safe to breathe openly.
It’s very easy to maintain and if you follow the proper surface prep techniques, along with the right paint for sheetrock or wood, it will last a long time, bond well, and it will be very difficult to chip or otherwise deform.
Can You Use Interior Paint on a Deck?
It may sound ridiculous now, after reading all of the above, however, there are a lot of reasons why using interior paint outside would seem appealing at first glance. There are several components to inside paint that make it seem like an attractive, outdoor alternative.
Mostly, this question gets asked by those who are eyeballing an outdoor deck painting project and happen to have several gallons of leftover interior paint. It’s probably even the right color that you want too because that’s how these things always seem to go.
- Interior paint isn’t fade-resistant
- Although abrasion-resistant, it is still more susceptible than exterior paint
- Resins don’t bond as well outdoors
- Lacks mildew, mold, and fungus resistance
The lack of properties inherent in interior paint makes it impossible for outside use on a deck. Before you make it halfway through the year, your paint will peel, bubble, and crack all over the deck. This is especially true when the effects of the wood expanding and contracting take place.
Interior paint isn’t designed to deal with that level of stress. However, there are some applications, on the outside, where traditionally interior paints may be more beneficial.
If the exterior of your home has a lot of vinyl, especially under covered carports or within the well of a door entryway, inside paints are surprisingly effective. It’s not the same as wood and vinyl will not expand and contract the way that a wood deck will.
There are some other exterior surfaces that might be worth painting with what would be classified as indoor paint. However, you would want to stick with areas that are largely going to be hidden from the sun, not as exposed to the elements, and materials that are not made out of wood.
If you purchase a used home and notice all of the outside wood has a decaying, peeling paint look to them, the odds are high that these were painted with interior paints unbeknownst to the original owner.
Final Thoughts
So while you can paint your walls with deck paint, it’s highly inadvisable, both in terms of the material that you are covering and in terms of the ambient conditions that are so drastically different outdoors than they are indoors.
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