The limited areas of my house exterior that are painted were painted with a mid-grade SW paint in 2013 right before we bought it. I know because they left part of a gallon. The largest surface is two sides of clapboard siding on the dining room. It was peeling badly in spots this spring so I sanded to bare wood, primed, and painted with the best Behr exterior paint, tinted to match the SW color. It was $50 for the gallon. In part of the area, I put a coat of the SW paint on first to use it up. The Behr was thicker and seemed stickier. We'll see how it holds up.
I believe Consumer Reports rates Behr exterior paint higher than Lowe's and SW. I like my local SW store, it is well stocked with good items, but I hate their prices. Most SW paint is at least OK but it is heavily tilted to what contractors want. The interior primer, for instance, goes on easily and is easily sanded. But if you use it on softwood, as the contractor that built my former house did, all the knots bleed through. I tried to get him to use Kilz and he said the painting contractor wanted some huge premium. So I had to deal with the bleed through later. I should have just paid the premium. On drywall it is fine but on wood it is not. Kilz total one goes on almost as easily, doesn't sand well at all, but hides knots. My latest project got a no-bleed spray primer from Hood Industries under Resisthane. That is expensive too but is really durable.
I think $50/gallon is plenty for really good paint. It still seems very expensive to me. But I don't like to paint and if it lasts longer it is worth a few more dollars. I've repainted my entire interior and now some exterior of the current house. I use Zinseer ceiling paint (the kind that goes on with a pink tint then turns white), Valspar mid or high level interior paint (not much difference but high grade is supposed to be mold resistant so I used it in a bathroom), and Behr Ultra exterior paint. When I prime, I use Kilz total one. Too early to tell about durability but they all go on well and clean up well. I'll probably switch to Behr interior when the current gallons run out (Valspar was the wife's choice).
