September 6, 2025 • 38 mins
SummaryFrom fashion faux pas to resale value, this episode of Home in Progress digs into the surprising stories behind the colors we choose for our homes and cars. Discover why “No White After Labor Day” has less to do with style and more to do with class, plus hear expert insights from Chris Hardesty on how car color affects safety, value, and upkeep. We’ll also tackle practical painting tips, including how to handle Andersen windows the right way.Resources Mentioned
Episode Guide:00:00 – Introduction and Show Overview00:43 – The History of “No White After Labor Day”06:19 – Breaking Design Rules in Home Décor08:24 – The Impact of Car Color on Resale Value16:00 – Car Color and Safety Considerations18:29 – Understanding Paint Swirls and Scratches19:22 – Color Fading and Resale Value20:22 – Issues with White Cars22:58 – Choosing Car Colors: Personal Preferences and Safety23:54 – The Myth of Red Cars and Traffic Stops25:35 – Exploring Popular Car Colors27:05 – Introduction to Painting Andersen Windows27:42 – Steps to Paint Your Windows35:40 – Final Tips and Cautions for Painting Windows37:07 – Conclusion and Listener Engagement
Episode Guide:00:00 – Introduction and Show Overview00:43 – The History of “No White After Labor Day”06:19 – Breaking Design Rules in Home Décor08:24 – The Impact of Car Color on Resale Value16:00 – Car Color and Safety Considerations18:29 – Understanding Paint Swirls and Scratches19:22 – Color Fading and Resale Value20:22 – Issues with White Cars22:58 – Choosing Car Colors: Personal Preferences and Safety23:54 – The Myth of Red Cars and Traffic Stops25:35 – Exploring Popular Car Colors27:05 – Introduction to Painting Andersen Windows27:42 – Steps to Paint Your Windows35:40 – Final Tips and Cautions for Painting Windows37:07 – Conclusion and Listener Engagement
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, everybody, Welcome back to Home in Progress, brought to
you by Repcolite Paints and Benjamin Moore. We've got a
full show planned for today. It's going to be ending
with a paint question from my inbox that I think
a ton of you will relate to. It's about painting
Anderson windows, the ins and outs of that, whether you can,
whether you can't, If you do try it, how do
(00:21):
you handle it. There's a ton of information to dig
into with this question, and we're going to get to
all of that coming up at the end. Before that,
I'll be joined by Chris Hardesty, Senior advice editor at
Cox Automotive, for conversation about car colors, how the shade
you pick can influence resale value, safety, and even how
much work it takes to keep your car looking sharp.
(00:43):
But first Labor Day is officially done, and we all
know what that means. You know, of course, it means
summer's over, people go back to school, But it also
means that it's time to put our favorite white clothes
away for the season. Right, you know, I've got to
pack up my white nineteen seventies vintage leisure suit with
the plunging neckline and the gold piping all around it.
(01:05):
I've got to pack that baby up for the season.
I've got to break out my fall versions, my pumpkin
orange leisure suit or maybe my forest green one or
my Paisley one. All of these things have to come out,
and I've got to put the white one away right
because it's after Labor Day. There's no white after Labor Day,
no white allout. Is that the case, I don't know,
(01:27):
but it is something that we've all heard forever. In fact,
it came up in a conversation with some friends over
the weekend and I had one particular friend who joked
that now she's going to get scolded at church every
Sunday for the next few months by all the little
church grandmas because she's still wearing white. And we were
laughing about it, but we did wonder where did the
idea come from? And I did some digging, thinking it'd
(01:50):
be great for the show, and it turns out it's
really interesting and it's not about fashion at all. Really,
it's all about class exclusivity, and it's one of the
cleverest little social traps ever invented, This whole no white
after Labor Day rule. All right, here's the deal. In
the late eighteen hundreds, if you were wealthy, summer's meant
escaping the grimy, dirty cities, you know, filth pots. You
(02:14):
have fled those places and you went to pristine vacation
spots like Newport or the Hampton's, you know, places like that.
And in those places, those fancy places, white clothing was
the perfect choice. You know. It was cool, you know,
not phonsie cool like a you know, but it was.
It was cool temperature wise, you know, it reflected the
heat a little bit, you know, it didn't get us hot.
(02:35):
It was cool phonsie wise. You know, people liked it. Hey,
that person's got money, looking at them wearing white. It
was stylish. It screamed. Its screamed sophistication. Because if you're
walking around in white, it means you've got to be
in spotless surroundings, you know, fancy places. You've got to
have you know, staff or servants or whatever to keep
all your your wardrobe immaculate, you know, and it means
(02:58):
you're living a life of life. You're not working with
your hands, because when we work with our hands, wearing
you know, like a white T shirt around the house
in the summer, you know, sweat stains. That's what's coming.
That's what happens when you wear white and you work
when it's hot. Sweat stains. And these rich people no
sweat stains. You know. That was one of the first
(03:20):
original you know, tests for richness was to just lift
up your arms, hold your arms in the air. No
sweat stains, You got money. I don't know if that's true.
They don't take that one to the bank, but it
could be true. And that's what I'm gonna I'm gonna
roll with here. So the cities, let's get back to this.
You know, the fancy places like Newport or the Hamptons,
(03:40):
those are clean. Those are wonderful. The rich people go there.
The city it's a mess. You know, it's a filth pot.
Like I said, the streets are filled with cold dust,
rotting garbage, horse manure everywhere you look, horse manure. You know.
One historian, as I'm doing the research here, called it
a mystery stew of filth. You know, that's the city.
So wearing white back home, you know, in the city
lost cause nobody did it. So when Labor Day made
(04:02):
a federal holiday in eighteen ninety four, When Labor Day
rolled around the elite, the rich, the fancy people would
pack up their white clothes and they'd return to their
filthy cities in darker, more practical clothes. It was a
seasonal rhythm and a signal of status. Now, by the
early nineteen hundreds, the growing middle class and the new
money crowd kind of started copying the elite habits. All right.
(04:26):
They were following the no white after labor Day rule,
and that became a badge of belonging, if that makes sense.
You know, that showed that they were in the group.
They were part of that group. If you broke that rule,
you risked looking like an outsider, like somebody who just
didn't know how society functioned. But here's the fun twist.
The truly wealthy didn't always follow that no white after
(04:48):
labor Day rule. They kind of made the rule and
then they refused to follow it in a lot of instances.
Coco Chanel, for example, she famously wore white year round
she could. Her status was untouchable. While social climbers clung
to the rule, they were absolutely terrified of slipping up,
So it became a trap. The insiders broke it because
they were confident in themselves, they knew what they were doing,
(05:10):
and the outsiders enforced it to try to prove that
they belonged to the group. I mean, it's a mess.
People are crazy, right Anyway, By mid century, Vogue, Harper's
Bizarre fashion magazines, they start reinforcing this seasonal shift, filling
all their fall pages with rich, dark tones. You know,
they're not just reporting on what's happening, they're dictating. They're
(05:33):
trying to dictate fashion. But by then the practical reasons
for the rule were kind of gone. Cities were cleaner
washing machines, They made laundry easier. You didn't need servants anymore.
We all have laundry machines. We can do the cleanup.
But still the pressure remained, you know, especially for the
middle class who's reading those magazines. Well, by the seventies
(05:53):
and the eighties, designers like Halston and Kelvin Klein rejected
the rule altogether. Winter white, that whole idea became chic,
you know. And today, you know, right now we've got
modern etiquette experts saying that the no white after labor
Day rule, that's a thing of the past, completely, a
thing of the past right now. The big thing is
that seasonal fashion is about fabric weight, you know, lightweight
(06:14):
woolf for winter, breatheable cotton for summer. It's not really
about color rules anymore. So I talk about this old
fashion rule on a home improvement show, Well, I'm doing
it because, of course, Labor Day was just here and
we might as well talk about it. I'm not going
to get to talk about it too much longer and
still be timely, So I'm talking about it for that reason,
but also because that no white after Labor Day story
(06:36):
is kind of like a masterclass in how, you know,
rules can control us long after they stopped serving a purpose.
You know, it started as a practical choice, became a
social marker, and it ends up as this psychological trap.
It's a bit of a reminder to question the traditions
that we follow, whether in fashion, design or even life,
you know, take home decorating. Let's just keep it simple,
(06:59):
let's keep it in mind, wheelhouse. How many times have
you heard that you can't use dark colors in a
small space, or that all trims should be white. Well,
these rules, like the no white after labor day rule,
they often come from a specific time in a place.
You know there is probably a practical reason for him
at the time, but today the reasons no longer apply
and you can often break those rules. You know, so
(07:19):
go for some color on your trim, or at least
think about it. You know, think about putting color on
the ceiling. It's definitely going to completely change how you
feel about that room in your house. Mixed metals, mixed
textures and patterns. Don't feel that an open floor plan
means that you can only use one color on the
walls throughout the whole space. You know. Rules can be guides,
but it's important to decide if it serves your vision
(07:40):
for your home or if it's just holding you back.
And if there's no real practical reason for the rule,
consider tossing it out, you know, especially when we're talking
home design. You know, don't let outdated design rules box
you in. You know, trust your instincts to make your
space yours. You know, after all, the best style, whether
in fashion or design or home design, what the best
(08:00):
fashion is the kind that reflects who you are now
what somebody else says you should be. And by all means,
if you need any help with any of that, stop
by your closest Repcolite. We've got color experts on hand.
We can walk you through everything, Bring your pictures, bring
your fabrics. Will help you find colors that will work
in your space, and we'll throw all those rules away
(08:21):
if we need to to get you where you want
to go. All right, speaking of color choices and all
of the rules that go with colors, have you ever
thought about how much impact the color of your car
can have on resale value, safety, durability, maintenance, even the
number of times law enforcement pulls you over. Well we're
going to dig into all of that right after. This
home in progress is brought to you by Repcolite Paints
(08:43):
and Benjamin Moore Top TOI your paint expert advice. Your
next project is way easier than you think it's going
to be. You know, when we're shopping for a car,
a lot of us, you know, most of us are
usually thinking about things like make, model, mileage, But I
don't know how many of us really think about color
more than just personal taste. You know, which color do
(09:03):
I like? And honestly, I don't even know about that.
A lot of the times when I'm looking for a car,
I've got to find everything lined up money wise and
all of that, and if I can tolerate the color,
I'll pick it. But it turns out color can impact,
you know, not just the resale value of the car,
which is something I hadn't thought about in the past,
but safety, upkeep, all of those things. It's very surprising
(09:26):
how much color plays into all of it. While today
I'm talking with Chris Hardesty, who wrote a great article
about all of this stuff and I ran into it
on autotrader dot com. Now, Chris is a senior advice
editor for Cox Automotive, producing consumer focused content for Kelly
Bluebook and Auto Trader on car buying, selling, safety, features, maintenance,
all of that stuff. He spent nearly three decades in newspapers,
(09:50):
leading research departments at The Mercury News and News Day. Later,
he went to serve as the how to Guides editor
at the Wall Street Journal. He lives in Metro Atlanta
with his wife and two young kids, and when I
reached out to him about coming on the show, he
said he was more than happy to do so. So, Chris,
thanks for.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Being here, Thanks for having me, Dan, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Well. I'm excited to talk about this first off, because
it's it's got the paint connection and that's really kind
of fun. So I'm excited to get into this and
right now, I guess let's just start right at the
top with you know, the color. It's not just an
esthetic decision. It's not just a choice, you know, a
personal choice, or at least it's not something that I
should just think of as something that matches my personal taste.
(10:30):
It's going to affect resale value. You know, some of
that's obvious, but let's dig into that right off the
bat Well.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Color is certainly important for the aesthetics and what you
like to see. It's the first thing that you notice
when you see a car, but there are all these
other considerations that come into play. You know, you touch
on a lot of things, safety and upkeep and resale value.
We can start off with the resale value, and that
is kind of a wonky sort of thing because you've
(10:57):
got you know, supply and demand issues come into play.
So you think, well, if I've got all of these
white cars and all these black cars and all these
gray cars, if there's a great supply of those, and
those prices should be lower, when in fact, some of
these you know, unusual hues, they might have a lower
(11:19):
resale value even though there's fewer of them because there's
a limited market for those colors. There are fewer people
who want a purple car, for example. On the other hand,
if you want a purple car, you might be willing
to pay more for that purple car.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So yeah, that's that's kind of crazy if you can
find the right buyer kind of right now.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
If you find the right buyer, then they're they're going
to be willing to pay for that purple car or
that pink car. That notion is good for people who
are selling their car individually to you through a private sale.
If you're trading in your car at a dealership, the dealer
is going to be less willing to pay more money
for that trade in because he's going to have to
(12:02):
find the person who's willing to buy the purple car
or the pink car or whatever.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Am I going to run into a struggle trading it
in to get even the normal value that I would expect?
Or am I going to get that? But I'm not
going to get more than that?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Is that what you're saying, No, you likely will get less.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I'll get less, it'll go lower because it's an unusual
color and he's going to have a harder time selling
it correct.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
One of the nice features on Kelly Bluebooks website KBB
dot com, which is another Cox automotive company, is a
calculator of sorts that will find your car's value and
what's my car worth? And you go through a series
of questions with putting in the make and model or
(12:47):
the year making model, and then how many miles you
have on it, and what the color is. And if
you do that as I have done in the past,
for just say a twenty twenty two Honda Civic, if
you put in the you know, identify it as a
color purple and get that value, it's going to be
(13:08):
several hundred dollars less than the value of the trade
in that is white, because there's a many more people
who would want a white car or as opposed to
the purple car. So it could be you know, a
matter of several hundred dollars or you know, maybe more
in some cases, and for some vehicles it might not matter. So,
(13:29):
like everything with buying a car, there's so many considerations.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
You know, you can have some funky colors in Jeep
and that that can work out just fine, right or
am I wrong on that?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
No, you're correct. A couple of years ago or a
few years ago now, Jeep introduced a Tuscadero pink I
believe is what it was called. And it's this big
pink jeep. And you know what, I want a big
pink Jeep. No, but somebody may and they're willing to
pay for it. And so it gets to that thing again.
(14:01):
If you can find the right person willing to pay
for it, they might pay a premium for them. And
with the tuscularo pink jeep, you know, a dealer might
recognize that there is, you know, a market for that
somewhere and pay or give some sort of premium for it.
But in general, those sorts of funky colors are you know,
something that the general population would you know, kind of
(14:24):
steer away from.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Now. I think the people who do buy these funkier
colors tend to hang on to them longer. Right. I
finally secured my whatever mustard yellow metallic dream car, and
I'm not going to trade that in as quickly. So
there is that aspect of things when I finally secure
this crazy color that I wanted. The people don't aren't
(14:46):
looking for that resale as quickly, right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
And you know, the car depreciation is something that all
car buyers should, you know, think about, and the depreciation
on those cars that have funky colors is going to
be a little bit sharper. However, that doesn't necessarily matter
to the buyer of that mustard yellow metallic car because hey,
(15:13):
that's their car, and that's the car that they like,
and that's the color they like, and it appeals to
them and they want to continue driving it, So gotcha.
For some people, the resale value doesn't really matter because
they don't intend to sell it.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Sell it as quickly. So what I'm hearing is that black, white, silver,
you know, those are safe bats when it comes to
resell value all of that stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah, if resale value is the main thing, then you know,
those neutral colors are you know, the way to go,
The boulder colors that make more of a statement. Those
are the ones that are going to be fine if
that's going to be your car for the next six, seven,
eight years. But the safe bet are those the white
and the gray and the black. Anything neutral is going
(15:55):
to be better.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Let's shift a little bit, because there's a lot more
involved with color than just just the re sale. And
one of the most surprising things in your article that
I found is that certain colors are link to higher
accident risk.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yes, there was a study done by I think it
was a university in Australia that looked at accident rates
and car color, and the gist of it was that
dark colors are more prone to accidents, and I think
it was you know, black cars have are twelve percent
(16:27):
more likely to have an accident than say a white car,
and that all has to do with visibility because even
you know, a lot goes into play with many accidents.
You know, driving conditions and you know driver attention and
speed and ability and all this sort of thing. But
one of the primary causes of accidents is visibility. You know.
(16:48):
That's why a lot of cars have you know, driver
with their headlights headlights automatically turn on now and motorcycles
have done that for years to just increase the visibility.
But it's just harder to see a black car or
a dark gray car, and that leads them to have
more accidents. I think red was also kind of high
(17:08):
in that list, and dark red is also harder to see.
Some people associate, you know, red with being fast, and
you know, fast cars lead to accidents. You know, that
might have something to do with it, but it also
might have to do with the you know, the driving
habits of people who drive red cars.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
You know, but so many little things involved that I
wouldn't even think about. So if safety is a major priority,
what's the safest or smartest colored choice? White?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
White would be good, Anything bright like a yellow would
be fine. But then you get into the you know,
the reso value of.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I'll be safe when I'm in it, but I'm never
going to be able to sell it. That's right, Okay, okay,
shifting gears a little bit. Let's talk about maintenance. Are
there certain colors that are harder to keep clean, harder
to keep looking good than other colors?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah, and that has to do with a number of things.
One of them is just the way light hits the
paint and the dirt and everything else that's on top
of it. White cars, you know, on one hand, you
might your instinct might be, oh, well, white car is
going to show dirt. Well no, actually, a white car
kind of makes dirt kind of subdued. Whereas a black
(18:23):
car you know, shows you know, dust and pollen and
all this sort of thing, and it all has to
do with the light refracting, and you might have more
knowledge of that since you're the paint guy, and how
light reflects off of colors to you know, so that
we see them. But the characteristics of different colors can
(18:43):
cause swirls in paint. Darker colors, you might notice that
you're at a stoplight in the car next to you,
if the sun's shining down on it, you might see
little swirls or spider web looking things, and those, you know,
very very light and delicate scratches are reflected in the
(19:03):
sunlight and it just makes it more pronounced.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
And that's on darker cars.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
On black, yeah, yeah, black, blue, red cars could show that,
you know, so the scratches and swirl marks, and some
colors are more prone to fading also, well, I.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Know we struggle with that, will struggle with that. But reds,
there's certain colors just the colorants that the pigments that
have to be used to create those just don't resist
the UV terribly.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Well, you know, so I don't know the science behind it,
but I do know that the reds and oranges are
more prone to the fading. And this is you know,
over time. So if if you are the type of
person who trades your car every few years or every
five years or whatever, not going to be you might
not need to worry about that, but it can become
an issue in the in the resale market. If you
(19:56):
step into a car lot, you see this red car,
but it's not white as brilliant as it you know,
was when it came off the showroom. Whereas this you know,
gray car that's the same age, it might kind of
look the same as it did, you know, X number
of years ago. And you know, with the average age
of a car on the road is you know, twelve
(20:16):
point eight years old, so that's a lot of time
to be sitting out in the sun. White cars can
have their own problems too.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Well, let's talk about those problems. We've covered everybody else's problems.
The white cars kind of skated by so far.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah, well, the white you know, white cars are very popular.
You know, we see hundreds of them every day, depending
on where you you know, where you're driving, how much
you drive. But many of them look very nice in
pristine But then you can run into some models that
just have these big chunks of missing paint and it
knows when once you start seeing it, you know, some
(20:54):
of your listeners might say, what, what's what's that guy
talking about. Well, once they see one, they're going to
start seeing you know, many more, right, Uh. And that
that has to do with a lot of reasons. Uh.
There have even been some class action lawsuits uh with
automakers regarding the paint durability of this white paint. And
(21:16):
there are all sorts of theories about why this happens. Uh.
Some has to do with the you know, lack of
pigment and requiring more coats of of the paint. And
then you know, more coats, the more coatings you have,
the more chances you have for you know, defects and
(21:37):
these effects can can you know kind of you know
snowball into just these big, you know, chunks of paint
falling off of the off of the car. It's noticeable
a lot on like work trucks, work fans you know
that you see run around a roofers truck or a
plumber's truck and you see, you know, they're often white
(22:00):
and you see the big chunks of paint and that
that might have to do with just general maintenance and
upkeep of the exterior. And it could be that, hey,
this is my work truck. I don't need to take
it to be washed.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
I don't need to somebody else wax on it.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
And right, yeah, but you know, if you keeping your
car clean, just like many other many other things in
your in your life, if you keep it clean, it's
going to help protect it. You know, you've got a
clear coat, and if you've got you know, you wax
the car, it's going to keep all these impurities from
gathering on to the paint and you know, diminishing the
(22:38):
effectiveness of the clear coat and all that any other
protectan you have on there. And so if that, if
it's neglected and not washed and waxed regularly, then the
paint is going to be not as strong as it
should be, and then it just starts to get messed up.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
When you're buying your car, your personal car, what are
you thinking about? What are you wane and what colors
are you picking?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Well, I'm looking for something that doesn't stand out. I
you know, I don't want to have big, a stunning
look on my minivan. I just want to blend in.
You know, I would want to consider the resale value
of the trade, and value certainly the safety since I'm
toning around children and other people's children, and also the
(23:25):
maintenance costs. I you know, Yeah, I want to keep
a clean car, and I know that keeping the exterior
clean is going to you know, it should be just
part of the regular maintenance. It's going to you know,
optimize the the longevity of the of the finish so
safety wise, you know, it is. I do have a
black minivan, but I don't really drive at night, so
(23:49):
I'm not as concerned about the visibility at night time.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Talk about the red thing though, You mentioned that, and
I've always been curious about it, I guess, being naive,
I've always written it off as a little bit of
an urban legend. But the whole idea about red is
that more likely, truly more likely to be pulled over
by the police. You mentioned something about more accidents, and
you thought maybe people who buy a red car associate
(24:15):
that with driving faster, is what I'm assuming.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah, I you know, and this is just my speculation.
That study that was done didn't necessarily take into the
take into account the reasons why people had those color cars.
It was just these color cars. And so if it
was seven percent or red cars were seven percent more
(24:38):
likely to be in an accident, Is that, you know,
because of the visibility or is it because of the
driving habits of the people who buy red cars? So
could it be that the people who drive red cars
are more prone to driving faster? Or is it that
you know, the highway patrol officer is more notices that
(25:00):
vehicle and and then you know, does his you know,
his radar radars.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Okay, it's just that he sees it quicker. Yeah, it's more.
It just it's more in your face. It's it's right there.
Like you said, you want to blend in. You don't
want to have that that car that stands out. You
could think it could be just that it stands out.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
It could be it'd be I wonder now if there
have been any real studies done or if it is
just urban legend abount the you know, the red cars
being stopped. But then you'd have to get into the
what proportion of red cars make up the entire Uh?
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yeah, because their.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Population, you know, because there you know, there are you
know a couple of paint companies have done. You know,
they've done studies on the most popular paint colors that
we've talked about. You know, the black, there's neutral, or
they're black and the gray and the white and silver,
but then blue is coming up and so but anyway,
(25:58):
it'd be interesting to see what the of all automobiles
are red and then compare that to the number of
cars that are stopped. And then you have to, you know,
think about, well, why were they stopped? Was it because
the officer noticed them? Was it because the people who
bought the red car tend to drive faster?
Speaker 1 (26:19):
So many questions. I mean, really we could keep going,
We're not going to be able to get to all
the answers. Color it has a way bigger impact than
what we think about, you know, just when we're looking
for our favorite color on the lot, keep in mind
all the different things, the fact that resell value is
going to be affected by the colors you choose one
way or the other, safety, even down to cleaning the vehicle. Chris,
(26:41):
if our listeners want to get more info, they want
to find more of your work, how do they find that?
Speaker 2 (26:48):
They can visit autotrader dot com for for some of
my stuff and They can visit KBB dot com Kelly
Bluebook's website to read more.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Thanks for hanging out, Thanks for talking about car colors
and all of that stuff. Thanks Dan, I appreciate it.
All Right. Let's say you've got Anderson windows. Can you
repaint them? What do you need to do? How do
you figure out which Anderson windows you've got? You know
what surfaces can be painted, what surfaces can't, and if
you can paint them, how in the world do you
go about doing that? What are the steps? Well? I
got that question this past week from a listener and
(27:20):
we're going to dig into all the answers right after this.
This is home in progress where the to do list
is long, and that's all right. We're not crabbing at you.
We're not going to yell at you. That's how it is.
It's how ours is to It's probably supported by repcoal
like paints and Benjamin Moore because home projects are easier
when you've got people you can trust. All Right, I
(27:42):
want to dive into a paint question that I received
this past week or so, and right off the bat,
Before I do that, I want to let all of
you know that you can send your paint questions to
radio at repcoal Light dot com. So send your paint design,
you know, all kinds of questions like that, send them
to radio at Repcolite dot com and I'll dig into
(28:02):
them and i'll get you your answers. But also, if
I use your question on the air, like I'm doing
with this one right now, I'll send you a fifty
dollars gift certificate to Repcolite. So please, if you've got
a question that's stumping you, a paint question, reach out
radio at Repcolight dot com. All right, with that said,
let's get to the question that I've got for today.
A customer emailed last week and wondered whether or not
(28:24):
he could paint his nineteen nineties Anderson windows. Now, at
first glance, this sounds like a super simple, straightforward question.
But when I dug into it a little bit, you know,
to make sure that I was giving out the best
information possible, the absolute best. I mean, is there anything
else that you would expect from this show? As I
was digging into it, I found it's a little loaded.
(28:45):
You know, there's a lot going on here, and we'll
get to all of that as we work through the question.
But The place to start with all of this is
to just figure out what kind of material you're dealing with,
And right off the bat, I do want to say
that if you don't have Anderson windows but you are
wondering about the possible ability of repainting them, most of
this info is going to apply to you as well.
You know, you're just gonna have to dig into the
(29:05):
info with the manufacturer of your windows, but most of
what I'm gonna say is going to apply anyway. We're
going to stick with Anderson as a manufacturer for this
conversation because that's what my customer is dealing with now.
Like most window manufacturers, Anderson has made windows, you know,
throughout the years from just about everything you know, wood, vinyl, aluminum, cladding, fiberglass,
(29:30):
They've even got a Fibrex composite. You know, a lot
of different things, and each one of these materials behaves
differently or somewhat differently when it comes to paint. So
that's why it's important to figure out what exactly you're
dealing with now. The easiest way to know for sure
if you've got an Anderson window is to hop on
their website, and they've got to find my window tool
(29:51):
where you basically punch in some details the style, approximate age,
even serial numbers, stuff like that, if you can find them,
and it will tell you what you're working with, what
kind of window you've got, and what kind of materials
were used. But let's say you don't have that, you
can still play detective and it's really not that tricky.
You know, you don't have to be Columbo here to
(30:12):
figure it out. You know, wood is going to look
and feel like wood. Vinyl is smooth, it's got welded corners.
Fiberglass is going to feel harder and more rigid than
vinyl and aluminum. You know, it's metal and you should
know it when you touch it. So head to Anderson's
website if you've got Anderson windows, or do the detective
work if you've got another brand. But figure out what
(30:33):
you're working with. That's the first step. Now, once you
know that, can you paint the windows? All right? Here's
what Anderson says on their website. If you're dealing with
wood interiors, absolutely paint away, you know, just clean them, scuff,
sand them, prime where you need to, and top coat
with a good interior trim paint you know, that's great.
If you've got vinyl exteriors, what can you do, well,
(30:54):
Anderson says, don't do it. They explain that the paint
doesn't naturally bond to the vinyl and painting them will
void your warranty. All right, What if you've got aluminum
cladding on the exterior of the windows. Well, in this instance,
Anderson is super crystal clear. Their aluminum clad products can't
be painted. According to their website, it's not a matter
of shouldn't be painted, but a matter of can't be painted.
(31:18):
Their factory finish is specially designed to resist paint adhesion.
So that's the official line that Anderson gives you, and
it kind of leaves you without a lot of options.
But in the real world, because that's where we live,
right in the real world, after twenty five or thirty
years of UV exposure, you know, those factory coatings that
(31:39):
were designed to resist paint, they've all broken down a bit.
You know, the surface gets rougher, it becomes more porous,
and suddenly the paint has something to grab onto. You know,
they're giving you those statements and those those answers on
their website because they don't know who they're dealing with.
You know, they don't well that sounds crazy. They don't
know what situation your windows are in. They don't know
(31:59):
that their old win windows. They're warning you don't don't
paint your new windows. You know you've got a color
you don't like. Don't throw a new color on a
new window. The aluminum cladding or whatever, it's going to
resist it. But for somebody who's got thirty year old windows,
there's a lot you can do. I was just talking
to a contractor the other day who painted his nineteen nineties,
same situation Anderson Vinyl windows. He painted them like fifteen
(32:22):
years ago, I think it was, and he just had
to repaint them again recently. You know. He said, no
major paint failures, and while he's voided his warranty, he's
been really happy with the results. Now for the customer
who just emailed me, his windows are also from the
early nineties, and I really can't imagine that the warranty
at this point is really that big of a concern.
(32:43):
You know, it's not the big thing anymore. The bigger
concern is just making the windows look good again. And
if that's the case, if that's the situation you find
yourself in, you can absolutely paint most of these surfaces. Now,
one quick thing to think about before we jump into everything.
You know, if you've got vinyl windows, I'll explain how
you can paint them, but just remember that painting the
(33:04):
vinyl windows is going to turn them into a maintenance
issue down the road. You're just going to have to
refresh that paint from time to time. Vinyl's main benefit
is its low maintenance. If the windows are dingy, it's
possible that just a good cleaning could refresh them, but
that doesn't always work. And if that doesn't work in
your situation, or maybe you've got a darker color Vinyl
(33:25):
that you'd like to lighten up, then you can paint
them all right, whether you've got vinyl or aluminum cladding
on those windows, you do need to make sure that
you do the right prep work to get the best results.
So start with a deep clean TSP, a TSP substitute
something like that. That'll work great for cutting through decades of chalking,
oxidation and grime that builds up on these older windows.
(33:45):
So get that mixed up with water and then scrub
the surface with a maroon Scotch bright pad. We sell
these little things at Repcolite, and they'll upbraid the surface
a small amount as you wash it. Now, if you
do have mold or mildew or anything like that, you're
going to want to make sure that you get a
mold or mildew cleaner and deal with that. You know,
a little bit of bleach diluted with water. Be careful
(34:06):
around plants and all of that stuff, but you got
to kill mold and mildew. So make sure you wash everything.
Once you've done that and you let it dry, do
a quick scuff sanding, probably with like a two twenty
grit sandpaper. Rinse that really well and then let it dry. Now,
once you've done that, brushed the surface with your hand
to make sure there's no chalky residue still remaining on
the vinyl or the aluminum cladding. Now, if there isn't,
(34:29):
then you're good to go. But if there is some
chalky residue, you know, you see some chalky residue on
your palm after wiping the window frames, then you do
need to reclean those surfaces. You know that really stinks,
but that chalkiness has to be completely removed or your
paint's going to bond to that and it's going to
fail later. All right, Assuming the surface is clean when
you rub it with your hand, and assuming you're dealing
(34:50):
with vinyl windows or aluminum cladding, you may want to
prime them with a bonding primer, you know, something like sticks.
We talk about sticks a lot. It's a Benjamin More product.
It's made to bond difficult surfaces. It will work interior
or exterior, and it'd be great in this situation. Now,
priming isn't absolutely necessary in a situation like this, but
(35:11):
it's gonna give you your best protection against failure down
the road, So I'd probably recommend it. But you know
your situation is yours, and we can work some of
those details out in the store when you come in
for your paint. Now, once it's primed, just go to
your high quality exterior acrylic finish paint, Reptolites and Dura exterior,
Benjamin Moore's Regal or Aura exteriors, even Benjamin Moore's Element Guard,
(35:33):
all of those are great options. So that'll get your
windows painted and refreshed. But I mentioned earlier that there
was a lot going on with this question. Turns out
there's one more thing to think about, especially with vinyl
color matters. I don't have time to go deeply into
it because I've got to wrap this up real soon.
But don't go with a darker color than what you
previously had on those windows. Black, which is becoming more
(35:56):
and more popular on windows, can literally absorb so much
heat that it can can destroy the vinyl windows. You know,
vinyl starts to soften and warp around one hundred and
sixty degrees, and in direct sunlight, a dark painted vinyl
frame can hit over two hundred and twenty degrees, and
that can make the frame's bow and warp. Seals can break,
locks can stop lining up, and so on. It's not
(36:17):
just a theory. There are documented cases of this happening.
How common is it. I don't know about that. I
know what happens with vinyl siding can happen. I guess
my route here is to just take the safest way,
the most responsible way possible, and try to avoid using
a color that could potentially warp windows or warp the vinyl.
(36:38):
You know, so you're looking at using a color that's
as light or lighter than the original color. And I
know in most situations. That's probably going to mean that
you're working with white, and that might seem a little boring.
You wanted to make a color change, but making that
color change could be problematic, It could be catastrophic, and
none of us want that on our conscience. So I
(36:58):
would encourage you to probably think think twice about that
before you jump in and put another color up there.
Stick with white and you won't be dealing with any
potential warping issues down the road. All right, I know
I ran through a lot of steps. I've got a
blog post about this at repcoll Light dot com. You
can check it out. And remember, if you've got a
question like that, you know, any kind of paint question
and you want to get fifty bucks, just send the
(37:20):
question to me and if I use it on air,
I'll send you that gift card. Send those questions to
radio at repcoll Light dot com. All right, that's going
to do it for today's episode of Home in Progress,
brought to you by Repcolllite Paints and Benjamin Moore. Thanks
so much for listening. If you found that you enjoyed
the show, make sure you follow or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
(37:41):
or wherever you listen so you don't miss another episode,
and if you would, if you feel so inclined, leave
us a review or a rating. It really helps more
people find the show. Now. For more home improvement tips,
past episodes, pain advice, you name it, head over to
repcoll Light dot com. That's our ep C. O. L.
I T. E. Do. Head there and you can find
(38:02):
all that info. Or you can also connect with us
on Facebook and Instagram. Just search for Home and Progress
on either of those platforms. All right, have a great
weekend everybody, and I'll see you next week. I'm Dan Hanson.
Thanks for listening.
Hey, everybody, Welcome back to Home in Progress, brought to
you by Repcolite Paints and Benjamin Moore. We've got a
full show planned for today. It's going to be ending
with a paint question from my inbox that I think
a ton of you will relate to. It's about painting
Anderson windows, the ins and outs of that, whether you can,
whether you can't, If you do try it, how do
(00:21):
you handle it. There's a ton of information to dig
into with this question, and we're going to get to
all of that coming up at the end. Before that,
I'll be joined by Chris Hardesty, Senior advice editor at
Cox Automotive, for conversation about car colors, how the shade
you pick can influence resale value, safety, and even how
much work it takes to keep your car looking sharp.
(00:43):
But first Labor Day is officially done, and we all
know what that means. You know, of course, it means
summer's over, people go back to school, But it also
means that it's time to put our favorite white clothes
away for the season. Right, you know, I've got to
pack up my white nineteen seventies vintage leisure suit with
the plunging neckline and the gold piping all around it.
(01:05):
I've got to pack that baby up for the season.
I've got to break out my fall versions, my pumpkin
orange leisure suit or maybe my forest green one or
my Paisley one. All of these things have to come out,
and I've got to put the white one away right
because it's after Labor Day. There's no white after Labor Day,
no white allout. Is that the case, I don't know,
(01:27):
but it is something that we've all heard forever. In fact,
it came up in a conversation with some friends over
the weekend and I had one particular friend who joked
that now she's going to get scolded at church every
Sunday for the next few months by all the little
church grandmas because she's still wearing white. And we were
laughing about it, but we did wonder where did the
idea come from? And I did some digging, thinking it'd
(01:50):
be great for the show, and it turns out it's
really interesting and it's not about fashion at all. Really,
it's all about class exclusivity, and it's one of the
cleverest little social traps ever invented, This whole no white
after Labor Day rule. All right, here's the deal. In
the late eighteen hundreds, if you were wealthy, summer's meant
escaping the grimy, dirty cities, you know, filth pots. You
(02:14):
have fled those places and you went to pristine vacation
spots like Newport or the Hampton's, you know, places like that.
And in those places, those fancy places, white clothing was
the perfect choice. You know. It was cool, you know,
not phonsie cool like a you know, but it was.
It was cool temperature wise, you know, it reflected the
heat a little bit, you know, it didn't get us hot.
(02:35):
It was cool phonsie wise. You know, people liked it. Hey,
that person's got money, looking at them wearing white. It
was stylish. It screamed. Its screamed sophistication. Because if you're
walking around in white, it means you've got to be
in spotless surroundings, you know, fancy places. You've got to
have you know, staff or servants or whatever to keep
all your your wardrobe immaculate, you know, and it means
(02:58):
you're living a life of life. You're not working with
your hands, because when we work with our hands, wearing
you know, like a white T shirt around the house
in the summer, you know, sweat stains. That's what's coming.
That's what happens when you wear white and you work
when it's hot. Sweat stains. And these rich people no
sweat stains. You know. That was one of the first
(03:20):
original you know, tests for richness was to just lift
up your arms, hold your arms in the air. No
sweat stains, You got money. I don't know if that's true.
They don't take that one to the bank, but it
could be true. And that's what I'm gonna I'm gonna
roll with here. So the cities, let's get back to this.
You know, the fancy places like Newport or the Hamptons,
(03:40):
those are clean. Those are wonderful. The rich people go there.
The city it's a mess. You know, it's a filth pot.
Like I said, the streets are filled with cold dust,
rotting garbage, horse manure everywhere you look, horse manure. You know.
One historian, as I'm doing the research here, called it
a mystery stew of filth. You know, that's the city.
So wearing white back home, you know, in the city
lost cause nobody did it. So when Labor Day made
(04:02):
a federal holiday in eighteen ninety four, When Labor Day
rolled around the elite, the rich, the fancy people would
pack up their white clothes and they'd return to their
filthy cities in darker, more practical clothes. It was a
seasonal rhythm and a signal of status. Now, by the
early nineteen hundreds, the growing middle class and the new
money crowd kind of started copying the elite habits. All right.
(04:26):
They were following the no white after labor Day rule,
and that became a badge of belonging, if that makes sense.
You know, that showed that they were in the group.
They were part of that group. If you broke that rule,
you risked looking like an outsider, like somebody who just
didn't know how society functioned. But here's the fun twist.
The truly wealthy didn't always follow that no white after
(04:48):
labor Day rule. They kind of made the rule and
then they refused to follow it in a lot of instances.
Coco Chanel, for example, she famously wore white year round
she could. Her status was untouchable. While social climbers clung
to the rule, they were absolutely terrified of slipping up,
So it became a trap. The insiders broke it because
they were confident in themselves, they knew what they were doing,
(05:10):
and the outsiders enforced it to try to prove that
they belonged to the group. I mean, it's a mess.
People are crazy, right Anyway, By mid century, Vogue, Harper's
Bizarre fashion magazines, they start reinforcing this seasonal shift, filling
all their fall pages with rich, dark tones. You know,
they're not just reporting on what's happening, they're dictating. They're
(05:33):
trying to dictate fashion. But by then the practical reasons
for the rule were kind of gone. Cities were cleaner
washing machines, They made laundry easier. You didn't need servants anymore.
We all have laundry machines. We can do the cleanup.
But still the pressure remained, you know, especially for the
middle class who's reading those magazines. Well, by the seventies
(05:53):
and the eighties, designers like Halston and Kelvin Klein rejected
the rule altogether. Winter white, that whole idea became chic,
you know. And today, you know, right now we've got
modern etiquette experts saying that the no white after labor
Day rule, that's a thing of the past, completely, a
thing of the past right now. The big thing is
that seasonal fashion is about fabric weight, you know, lightweight
(06:14):
woolf for winter, breatheable cotton for summer. It's not really
about color rules anymore. So I talk about this old
fashion rule on a home improvement show, Well, I'm doing
it because, of course, Labor Day was just here and
we might as well talk about it. I'm not going
to get to talk about it too much longer and
still be timely, So I'm talking about it for that reason,
but also because that no white after Labor Day story
(06:36):
is kind of like a masterclass in how, you know,
rules can control us long after they stopped serving a purpose.
You know, it started as a practical choice, became a
social marker, and it ends up as this psychological trap.
It's a bit of a reminder to question the traditions
that we follow, whether in fashion, design or even life,
you know, take home decorating. Let's just keep it simple,
(06:59):
let's keep it in mind, wheelhouse. How many times have
you heard that you can't use dark colors in a
small space, or that all trims should be white. Well,
these rules, like the no white after labor day rule,
they often come from a specific time in a place.
You know there is probably a practical reason for him
at the time, but today the reasons no longer apply
and you can often break those rules. You know, so
(07:19):
go for some color on your trim, or at least
think about it. You know, think about putting color on
the ceiling. It's definitely going to completely change how you
feel about that room in your house. Mixed metals, mixed
textures and patterns. Don't feel that an open floor plan
means that you can only use one color on the
walls throughout the whole space. You know. Rules can be guides,
but it's important to decide if it serves your vision
(07:40):
for your home or if it's just holding you back.
And if there's no real practical reason for the rule,
consider tossing it out, you know, especially when we're talking
home design. You know, don't let outdated design rules box
you in. You know, trust your instincts to make your
space yours. You know, after all, the best style, whether
in fashion or design or home design, what the best
(08:00):
fashion is the kind that reflects who you are now
what somebody else says you should be. And by all means,
if you need any help with any of that, stop
by your closest Repcolite. We've got color experts on hand.
We can walk you through everything, Bring your pictures, bring
your fabrics. Will help you find colors that will work
in your space, and we'll throw all those rules away
(08:21):
if we need to to get you where you want
to go. All right, speaking of color choices and all
of the rules that go with colors, have you ever
thought about how much impact the color of your car
can have on resale value, safety, durability, maintenance, even the
number of times law enforcement pulls you over. Well we're
going to dig into all of that right after. This
home in progress is brought to you by Repcolite Paints
(08:43):
and Benjamin Moore Top TOI your paint expert advice. Your
next project is way easier than you think it's going
to be. You know, when we're shopping for a car,
a lot of us, you know, most of us are
usually thinking about things like make, model, mileage, But I
don't know how many of us really think about color
more than just personal taste. You know, which color do
(09:03):
I like? And honestly, I don't even know about that.
A lot of the times when I'm looking for a car,
I've got to find everything lined up money wise and
all of that, and if I can tolerate the color,
I'll pick it. But it turns out color can impact,
you know, not just the resale value of the car,
which is something I hadn't thought about in the past,
but safety, upkeep, all of those things. It's very surprising
(09:26):
how much color plays into all of it. While today
I'm talking with Chris Hardesty, who wrote a great article
about all of this stuff and I ran into it
on autotrader dot com. Now, Chris is a senior advice
editor for Cox Automotive, producing consumer focused content for Kelly
Bluebook and Auto Trader on car buying, selling, safety, features, maintenance,
all of that stuff. He spent nearly three decades in newspapers,
(09:50):
leading research departments at The Mercury News and News Day. Later,
he went to serve as the how to Guides editor
at the Wall Street Journal. He lives in Metro Atlanta
with his wife and two young kids, and when I
reached out to him about coming on the show, he
said he was more than happy to do so. So, Chris,
thanks for.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Being here, Thanks for having me, Dan, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Well. I'm excited to talk about this first off, because
it's it's got the paint connection and that's really kind
of fun. So I'm excited to get into this and
right now, I guess let's just start right at the
top with you know, the color. It's not just an
esthetic decision. It's not just a choice, you know, a
personal choice, or at least it's not something that I
should just think of as something that matches my personal taste.
(10:30):
It's going to affect resale value. You know, some of
that's obvious, but let's dig into that right off the
bat Well.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Color is certainly important for the aesthetics and what you
like to see. It's the first thing that you notice
when you see a car, but there are all these
other considerations that come into play. You know, you touch
on a lot of things, safety and upkeep and resale value.
We can start off with the resale value, and that
is kind of a wonky sort of thing because you've
(10:57):
got you know, supply and demand issues come into play.
So you think, well, if I've got all of these
white cars and all these black cars and all these
gray cars, if there's a great supply of those, and
those prices should be lower, when in fact, some of
these you know, unusual hues, they might have a lower
(11:19):
resale value even though there's fewer of them because there's
a limited market for those colors. There are fewer people
who want a purple car, for example. On the other hand,
if you want a purple car, you might be willing
to pay more for that purple car.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So yeah, that's that's kind of crazy if you can
find the right buyer kind of right now.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
If you find the right buyer, then they're they're going
to be willing to pay for that purple car or
that pink car. That notion is good for people who
are selling their car individually to you through a private sale.
If you're trading in your car at a dealership, the dealer
is going to be less willing to pay more money
for that trade in because he's going to have to
(12:02):
find the person who's willing to buy the purple car
or the pink car or whatever.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Am I going to run into a struggle trading it
in to get even the normal value that I would expect?
Or am I going to get that? But I'm not
going to get more than that?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Is that what you're saying, No, you likely will get less.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I'll get less, it'll go lower because it's an unusual
color and he's going to have a harder time selling
it correct.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
One of the nice features on Kelly Bluebooks website KBB
dot com, which is another Cox automotive company, is a
calculator of sorts that will find your car's value and
what's my car worth? And you go through a series
of questions with putting in the make and model or
(12:47):
the year making model, and then how many miles you
have on it, and what the color is. And if
you do that as I have done in the past,
for just say a twenty twenty two Honda Civic, if
you put in the you know, identify it as a
color purple and get that value, it's going to be
(13:08):
several hundred dollars less than the value of the trade
in that is white, because there's a many more people
who would want a white car or as opposed to
the purple car. So it could be you know, a
matter of several hundred dollars or you know, maybe more
in some cases, and for some vehicles it might not matter. So,
(13:29):
like everything with buying a car, there's so many considerations.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
You know, you can have some funky colors in Jeep
and that that can work out just fine, right or
am I wrong on that?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
No, you're correct. A couple of years ago or a
few years ago now, Jeep introduced a Tuscadero pink I
believe is what it was called. And it's this big
pink jeep. And you know what, I want a big
pink Jeep. No, but somebody may and they're willing to
pay for it. And so it gets to that thing again.
(14:01):
If you can find the right person willing to pay
for it, they might pay a premium for them. And
with the tuscularo pink jeep, you know, a dealer might
recognize that there is, you know, a market for that
somewhere and pay or give some sort of premium for it.
But in general, those sorts of funky colors are you know,
something that the general population would you know, kind of
(14:24):
steer away from.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Now. I think the people who do buy these funkier
colors tend to hang on to them longer. Right. I
finally secured my whatever mustard yellow metallic dream car, and
I'm not going to trade that in as quickly. So
there is that aspect of things when I finally secure
this crazy color that I wanted. The people don't aren't
(14:46):
looking for that resale as quickly, right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
And you know, the car depreciation is something that all
car buyers should, you know, think about, and the depreciation
on those cars that have funky colors is going to
be a little bit sharper. However, that doesn't necessarily matter
to the buyer of that mustard yellow metallic car because hey,
(15:13):
that's their car, and that's the car that they like,
and that's the color they like, and it appeals to
them and they want to continue driving it, So gotcha.
For some people, the resale value doesn't really matter because
they don't intend to sell it.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Sell it as quickly. So what I'm hearing is that black, white, silver,
you know, those are safe bats when it comes to
resell value all of that stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah, if resale value is the main thing, then you know,
those neutral colors are you know, the way to go,
The boulder colors that make more of a statement. Those
are the ones that are going to be fine if
that's going to be your car for the next six, seven,
eight years. But the safe bet are those the white
and the gray and the black. Anything neutral is going
(15:55):
to be better.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Let's shift a little bit, because there's a lot more
involved with color than just just the re sale. And
one of the most surprising things in your article that
I found is that certain colors are link to higher
accident risk.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yes, there was a study done by I think it
was a university in Australia that looked at accident rates
and car color, and the gist of it was that
dark colors are more prone to accidents, and I think
it was you know, black cars have are twelve percent
(16:27):
more likely to have an accident than say a white car,
and that all has to do with visibility because even
you know, a lot goes into play with many accidents.
You know, driving conditions and you know driver attention and
speed and ability and all this sort of thing. But
one of the primary causes of accidents is visibility. You know.
(16:48):
That's why a lot of cars have you know, driver
with their headlights headlights automatically turn on now and motorcycles
have done that for years to just increase the visibility.
But it's just harder to see a black car or
a dark gray car, and that leads them to have
more accidents. I think red was also kind of high
(17:08):
in that list, and dark red is also harder to see.
Some people associate, you know, red with being fast, and
you know, fast cars lead to accidents. You know, that
might have something to do with it, but it also
might have to do with the you know, the driving
habits of people who drive red cars.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
You know, but so many little things involved that I
wouldn't even think about. So if safety is a major priority,
what's the safest or smartest colored choice? White?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
White would be good, Anything bright like a yellow would
be fine. But then you get into the you know,
the reso value of.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I'll be safe when I'm in it, but I'm never
going to be able to sell it. That's right, Okay, okay,
shifting gears a little bit. Let's talk about maintenance. Are
there certain colors that are harder to keep clean, harder
to keep looking good than other colors?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah, and that has to do with a number of things.
One of them is just the way light hits the
paint and the dirt and everything else that's on top
of it. White cars, you know, on one hand, you
might your instinct might be, oh, well, white car is
going to show dirt. Well no, actually, a white car
kind of makes dirt kind of subdued. Whereas a black
(18:23):
car you know, shows you know, dust and pollen and
all this sort of thing, and it all has to
do with the light refracting, and you might have more
knowledge of that since you're the paint guy, and how
light reflects off of colors to you know, so that
we see them. But the characteristics of different colors can
(18:43):
cause swirls in paint. Darker colors, you might notice that
you're at a stoplight in the car next to you,
if the sun's shining down on it, you might see
little swirls or spider web looking things, and those, you know,
very very light and delicate scratches are reflected in the
(19:03):
sunlight and it just makes it more pronounced.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
And that's on darker cars.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
On black, yeah, yeah, black, blue, red cars could show that,
you know, so the scratches and swirl marks, and some
colors are more prone to fading also, well, I.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Know we struggle with that, will struggle with that. But reds,
there's certain colors just the colorants that the pigments that
have to be used to create those just don't resist
the UV terribly.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Well, you know, so I don't know the science behind it,
but I do know that the reds and oranges are
more prone to the fading. And this is you know,
over time. So if if you are the type of
person who trades your car every few years or every
five years or whatever, not going to be you might
not need to worry about that, but it can become
an issue in the in the resale market. If you
(19:56):
step into a car lot, you see this red car,
but it's not white as brilliant as it you know,
was when it came off the showroom. Whereas this you know,
gray car that's the same age, it might kind of
look the same as it did, you know, X number
of years ago. And you know, with the average age
of a car on the road is you know, twelve
(20:16):
point eight years old, so that's a lot of time
to be sitting out in the sun. White cars can
have their own problems too.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Well, let's talk about those problems. We've covered everybody else's problems.
The white cars kind of skated by so far.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah, well, the white you know, white cars are very popular.
You know, we see hundreds of them every day, depending
on where you you know, where you're driving, how much
you drive. But many of them look very nice in
pristine But then you can run into some models that
just have these big chunks of missing paint and it
knows when once you start seeing it, you know, some
(20:54):
of your listeners might say, what, what's what's that guy
talking about. Well, once they see one, they're going to
start seeing you know, many more, right, Uh. And that
that has to do with a lot of reasons. Uh.
There have even been some class action lawsuits uh with
automakers regarding the paint durability of this white paint. And
(21:16):
there are all sorts of theories about why this happens. Uh.
Some has to do with the you know, lack of
pigment and requiring more coats of of the paint. And
then you know, more coats, the more coatings you have,
the more chances you have for you know, defects and
(21:37):
these effects can can you know kind of you know
snowball into just these big, you know, chunks of paint
falling off of the off of the car. It's noticeable
a lot on like work trucks, work fans you know
that you see run around a roofers truck or a
plumber's truck and you see, you know, they're often white
(22:00):
and you see the big chunks of paint and that
that might have to do with just general maintenance and
upkeep of the exterior. And it could be that, hey,
this is my work truck. I don't need to take
it to be washed.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
I don't need to somebody else wax on it.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
And right, yeah, but you know, if you keeping your
car clean, just like many other many other things in
your in your life, if you keep it clean, it's
going to help protect it. You know, you've got a
clear coat, and if you've got you know, you wax
the car, it's going to keep all these impurities from
gathering on to the paint and you know, diminishing the
(22:38):
effectiveness of the clear coat and all that any other
protectan you have on there. And so if that, if
it's neglected and not washed and waxed regularly, then the
paint is going to be not as strong as it
should be, and then it just starts to get messed up.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
When you're buying your car, your personal car, what are
you thinking about? What are you wane and what colors
are you picking?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Well, I'm looking for something that doesn't stand out. I
you know, I don't want to have big, a stunning
look on my minivan. I just want to blend in.
You know, I would want to consider the resale value
of the trade, and value certainly the safety since I'm
toning around children and other people's children, and also the
(23:25):
maintenance costs. I you know, Yeah, I want to keep
a clean car, and I know that keeping the exterior
clean is going to you know, it should be just
part of the regular maintenance. It's going to you know,
optimize the the longevity of the of the finish so
safety wise, you know, it is. I do have a
black minivan, but I don't really drive at night, so
(23:49):
I'm not as concerned about the visibility at night time.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Talk about the red thing though, You mentioned that, and
I've always been curious about it, I guess, being naive,
I've always written it off as a little bit of
an urban legend. But the whole idea about red is
that more likely, truly more likely to be pulled over
by the police. You mentioned something about more accidents, and
you thought maybe people who buy a red car associate
(24:15):
that with driving faster, is what I'm assuming.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah, I you know, and this is just my speculation.
That study that was done didn't necessarily take into the
take into account the reasons why people had those color cars.
It was just these color cars. And so if it
was seven percent or red cars were seven percent more
(24:38):
likely to be in an accident, Is that, you know,
because of the visibility or is it because of the
driving habits of the people who buy red cars? So
could it be that the people who drive red cars
are more prone to driving faster? Or is it that
you know, the highway patrol officer is more notices that
(25:00):
vehicle and and then you know, does his you know,
his radar radars.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Okay, it's just that he sees it quicker. Yeah, it's more.
It just it's more in your face. It's it's right there.
Like you said, you want to blend in. You don't
want to have that that car that stands out. You
could think it could be just that it stands out.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
It could be it'd be I wonder now if there
have been any real studies done or if it is
just urban legend abount the you know, the red cars
being stopped. But then you'd have to get into the
what proportion of red cars make up the entire Uh?
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yeah, because their.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Population, you know, because there you know, there are you
know a couple of paint companies have done. You know,
they've done studies on the most popular paint colors that
we've talked about. You know, the black, there's neutral, or
they're black and the gray and the white and silver,
but then blue is coming up and so but anyway,
(25:58):
it'd be interesting to see what the of all automobiles
are red and then compare that to the number of
cars that are stopped. And then you have to, you know,
think about, well, why were they stopped? Was it because
the officer noticed them? Was it because the people who
bought the red car tend to drive faster?
Speaker 1 (26:19):
So many questions. I mean, really we could keep going,
We're not going to be able to get to all
the answers. Color it has a way bigger impact than
what we think about, you know, just when we're looking
for our favorite color on the lot, keep in mind
all the different things, the fact that resell value is
going to be affected by the colors you choose one
way or the other, safety, even down to cleaning the vehicle. Chris,
(26:41):
if our listeners want to get more info, they want
to find more of your work, how do they find that?
Speaker 2 (26:48):
They can visit autotrader dot com for for some of
my stuff and They can visit KBB dot com Kelly
Bluebook's website to read more.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Thanks for hanging out, Thanks for talking about car colors
and all of that stuff. Thanks Dan, I appreciate it.
All Right. Let's say you've got Anderson windows. Can you
repaint them? What do you need to do? How do
you figure out which Anderson windows you've got? You know
what surfaces can be painted, what surfaces can't, and if
you can paint them, how in the world do you
go about doing that? What are the steps? Well? I
got that question this past week from a listener and
(27:20):
we're going to dig into all the answers right after this.
This is home in progress where the to do list
is long, and that's all right. We're not crabbing at you.
We're not going to yell at you. That's how it is.
It's how ours is to It's probably supported by repcoal
like paints and Benjamin Moore because home projects are easier
when you've got people you can trust. All Right, I
(27:42):
want to dive into a paint question that I received
this past week or so, and right off the bat,
Before I do that, I want to let all of
you know that you can send your paint questions to
radio at repcoal Light dot com. So send your paint design,
you know, all kinds of questions like that, send them
to radio at Repcolite dot com and I'll dig into
(28:02):
them and i'll get you your answers. But also, if
I use your question on the air, like I'm doing
with this one right now, I'll send you a fifty
dollars gift certificate to Repcolite. So please, if you've got
a question that's stumping you, a paint question, reach out
radio at Repcolight dot com. All right, with that said,
let's get to the question that I've got for today.
A customer emailed last week and wondered whether or not
(28:24):
he could paint his nineteen nineties Anderson windows. Now, at
first glance, this sounds like a super simple, straightforward question.
But when I dug into it a little bit, you know,
to make sure that I was giving out the best
information possible, the absolute best. I mean, is there anything
else that you would expect from this show? As I
was digging into it, I found it's a little loaded.
(28:45):
You know, there's a lot going on here, and we'll
get to all of that as we work through the question.
But The place to start with all of this is
to just figure out what kind of material you're dealing with,
And right off the bat, I do want to say
that if you don't have Anderson windows but you are
wondering about the possible ability of repainting them, most of
this info is going to apply to you as well.
You know, you're just gonna have to dig into the
(29:05):
info with the manufacturer of your windows, but most of
what I'm gonna say is going to apply anyway. We're
going to stick with Anderson as a manufacturer for this
conversation because that's what my customer is dealing with now.
Like most window manufacturers, Anderson has made windows, you know,
throughout the years from just about everything you know, wood, vinyl, aluminum, cladding, fiberglass,
(29:30):
They've even got a Fibrex composite. You know, a lot
of different things, and each one of these materials behaves
differently or somewhat differently when it comes to paint. So
that's why it's important to figure out what exactly you're
dealing with now. The easiest way to know for sure
if you've got an Anderson window is to hop on
their website, and they've got to find my window tool
(29:51):
where you basically punch in some details the style, approximate age,
even serial numbers, stuff like that, if you can find them,
and it will tell you what you're working with, what
kind of window you've got, and what kind of materials
were used. But let's say you don't have that, you
can still play detective and it's really not that tricky.
You know, you don't have to be Columbo here to
(30:12):
figure it out. You know, wood is going to look
and feel like wood. Vinyl is smooth, it's got welded corners.
Fiberglass is going to feel harder and more rigid than
vinyl and aluminum. You know, it's metal and you should
know it when you touch it. So head to Anderson's
website if you've got Anderson windows, or do the detective
work if you've got another brand. But figure out what
(30:33):
you're working with. That's the first step. Now, once you
know that, can you paint the windows? All right? Here's
what Anderson says on their website. If you're dealing with
wood interiors, absolutely paint away, you know, just clean them, scuff,
sand them, prime where you need to, and top coat
with a good interior trim paint you know, that's great.
If you've got vinyl exteriors, what can you do, well,
(30:54):
Anderson says, don't do it. They explain that the paint
doesn't naturally bond to the vinyl and painting them will
void your warranty. All right, What if you've got aluminum
cladding on the exterior of the windows. Well, in this instance,
Anderson is super crystal clear. Their aluminum clad products can't
be painted. According to their website, it's not a matter
of shouldn't be painted, but a matter of can't be painted.
(31:18):
Their factory finish is specially designed to resist paint adhesion.
So that's the official line that Anderson gives you, and
it kind of leaves you without a lot of options.
But in the real world, because that's where we live,
right in the real world, after twenty five or thirty
years of UV exposure, you know, those factory coatings that
(31:39):
were designed to resist paint, they've all broken down a bit.
You know, the surface gets rougher, it becomes more porous,
and suddenly the paint has something to grab onto. You know,
they're giving you those statements and those those answers on
their website because they don't know who they're dealing with.
You know, they don't well that sounds crazy. They don't
know what situation your windows are in. They don't know
(31:59):
that their old win windows. They're warning you don't don't
paint your new windows. You know you've got a color
you don't like. Don't throw a new color on a
new window. The aluminum cladding or whatever, it's going to
resist it. But for somebody who's got thirty year old windows,
there's a lot you can do. I was just talking
to a contractor the other day who painted his nineteen nineties,
same situation Anderson Vinyl windows. He painted them like fifteen
(32:22):
years ago, I think it was, and he just had
to repaint them again recently. You know. He said, no
major paint failures, and while he's voided his warranty, he's
been really happy with the results. Now for the customer
who just emailed me, his windows are also from the
early nineties, and I really can't imagine that the warranty
at this point is really that big of a concern.
(32:43):
You know, it's not the big thing anymore. The bigger
concern is just making the windows look good again. And
if that's the case, if that's the situation you find
yourself in, you can absolutely paint most of these surfaces. Now,
one quick thing to think about before we jump into everything.
You know, if you've got vinyl windows, I'll explain how
you can paint them, but just remember that painting the
(33:04):
vinyl windows is going to turn them into a maintenance
issue down the road. You're just going to have to
refresh that paint from time to time. Vinyl's main benefit
is its low maintenance. If the windows are dingy, it's
possible that just a good cleaning could refresh them, but
that doesn't always work. And if that doesn't work in
your situation, or maybe you've got a darker color Vinyl
(33:25):
that you'd like to lighten up, then you can paint
them all right, whether you've got vinyl or aluminum cladding
on those windows, you do need to make sure that
you do the right prep work to get the best results.
So start with a deep clean TSP, a TSP substitute
something like that. That'll work great for cutting through decades of chalking,
oxidation and grime that builds up on these older windows.
(33:45):
So get that mixed up with water and then scrub
the surface with a maroon Scotch bright pad. We sell
these little things at Repcolite, and they'll upbraid the surface
a small amount as you wash it. Now, if you
do have mold or mildew or anything like that, you're
going to want to make sure that you get a
mold or mildew cleaner and deal with that. You know,
a little bit of bleach diluted with water. Be careful
(34:06):
around plants and all of that stuff, but you got
to kill mold and mildew. So make sure you wash everything.
Once you've done that and you let it dry, do
a quick scuff sanding, probably with like a two twenty
grit sandpaper. Rinse that really well and then let it dry. Now,
once you've done that, brushed the surface with your hand
to make sure there's no chalky residue still remaining on
the vinyl or the aluminum cladding. Now, if there isn't,
(34:29):
then you're good to go. But if there is some
chalky residue, you know, you see some chalky residue on
your palm after wiping the window frames, then you do
need to reclean those surfaces. You know that really stinks,
but that chalkiness has to be completely removed or your
paint's going to bond to that and it's going to
fail later. All right, Assuming the surface is clean when
you rub it with your hand, and assuming you're dealing
(34:50):
with vinyl windows or aluminum cladding, you may want to
prime them with a bonding primer, you know, something like sticks.
We talk about sticks a lot. It's a Benjamin More product.
It's made to bond difficult surfaces. It will work interior
or exterior, and it'd be great in this situation. Now,
priming isn't absolutely necessary in a situation like this, but
(35:11):
it's gonna give you your best protection against failure down
the road, So I'd probably recommend it. But you know
your situation is yours, and we can work some of
those details out in the store when you come in
for your paint. Now, once it's primed, just go to
your high quality exterior acrylic finish paint, Reptolites and Dura exterior,
Benjamin Moore's Regal or Aura exteriors, even Benjamin Moore's Element Guard,
(35:33):
all of those are great options. So that'll get your
windows painted and refreshed. But I mentioned earlier that there
was a lot going on with this question. Turns out
there's one more thing to think about, especially with vinyl
color matters. I don't have time to go deeply into
it because I've got to wrap this up real soon.
But don't go with a darker color than what you
previously had on those windows. Black, which is becoming more
(35:56):
and more popular on windows, can literally absorb so much
heat that it can can destroy the vinyl windows. You know,
vinyl starts to soften and warp around one hundred and
sixty degrees, and in direct sunlight, a dark painted vinyl
frame can hit over two hundred and twenty degrees, and
that can make the frame's bow and warp. Seals can break,
locks can stop lining up, and so on. It's not
(36:17):
just a theory. There are documented cases of this happening.
How common is it. I don't know about that. I
know what happens with vinyl siding can happen. I guess
my route here is to just take the safest way,
the most responsible way possible, and try to avoid using
a color that could potentially warp windows or warp the vinyl.
(36:38):
You know, so you're looking at using a color that's
as light or lighter than the original color. And I
know in most situations. That's probably going to mean that
you're working with white, and that might seem a little boring.
You wanted to make a color change, but making that
color change could be problematic, It could be catastrophic, and
none of us want that on our conscience. So I
(36:58):
would encourage you to probably think think twice about that
before you jump in and put another color up there.
Stick with white and you won't be dealing with any
potential warping issues down the road. All right, I know
I ran through a lot of steps. I've got a
blog post about this at repcoll Light dot com. You
can check it out. And remember, if you've got a
question like that, you know, any kind of paint question
and you want to get fifty bucks, just send the
(37:20):
question to me and if I use it on air,
I'll send you that gift card. Send those questions to
radio at repcoll Light dot com. All right, that's going
to do it for today's episode of Home in Progress,
brought to you by Repcolllite Paints and Benjamin Moore. Thanks
so much for listening. If you found that you enjoyed
the show, make sure you follow or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
(37:41):
or wherever you listen so you don't miss another episode,
and if you would, if you feel so inclined, leave
us a review or a rating. It really helps more
people find the show. Now. For more home improvement tips,
past episodes, pain advice, you name it, head over to
repcoll Light dot com. That's our ep C. O. L.
I T. E. Do. Head there and you can find
(38:02):
all that info. Or you can also connect with us
on Facebook and Instagram. Just search for Home and Progress
on either of those platforms. All right, have a great
weekend everybody, and I'll see you next week. I'm Dan Hanson.
Thanks for listening.
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