In recent years, homeowners in the United States have become increasingly discerning in their spending habits, prioritizing home improvement projects and repairs that offer the most significant value. This trend has led to a surge in replacement projects, which accounted for 48 percent of total expenditures in 2021.
In 2022, a record amount of $567 billion was spent on home improvements in the country. These projects included roofing, siding, windows, doors, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems, critical components that require regular upgrades and replacements to ensure a safe and comfortable living environment.
BASF’s Specialty Exterior Portfolio has introduced a range of product offerings in response to these changing consumer preferences and evolving needs. The BASF Technical Service teams specialize in developing traditional coatings for walls and doors and have extended their expertise into the specialty coatings arena. With their innovative approach and commitment to providing high-quality, versatile products, the team is helping homeowners reimagine their homes and outdoor living spaces in new and exciting ways.
The product line includes a range of coatings for specialty applications, such as outdoor furniture, stains for decks, fences, porches, and even basement concrete. Moreover, the team has expanded its focus to include concrete patios. The line offers various coating solutions to help homeowners create more durable, weather-resistant outdoor spaces. Jack Johnson, Market Segment Manager, shares that the team has recently focused on solutions for a few applications, including porch/floor paint, bonding primer, and deck/fence coatings.
“Customers have been requesting these specialty applications for some time, and the team has been working diligently to provide sustainable solutions that meet their needs.”
Jack Johnson
Market Segment Manager
To develop these specialized products, the team evaluated the architectural, industrial, and construction coatings portfolio to identify existing products that could perform in these specialty areas. To assess performance, the team had to create new test methods, including an accelerated dirt pickup test, adhesion to oily concrete, and adhesion to wet wood to assess variability. Shelby Kellogg, Technical Team Leader, explains that ACRONAL® EDGE 4248 and 4142 were the final candidates for the porch and floor paint application, providing a new satin white base formula. Additional work is planned to develop satin neutral and high-gloss white base formulas to complete the porch and floor line.
The team discovered that ACRONAL 5041 could be used as a bonding primer. It provides superior adhesion to multiple substrates such as concrete, wood, glass, aluminum, and even damp substrates and oily concrete, making it highly versatile. ACRONAL 5041 also showed exceptional alkali and efflorescence resistance and water resistance, which are critical properties for outdoor and concrete substrates. It simplifies customer substrate preparation as they can use one universal primer on all substrates instead of needing a specialized primer for each one.
Another important feature of ACRONAL 5041 is its ability to be formulated with minimal Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) content. With a minimum film forming temperature of 0°C, solvents or coalescents are not required to ensure a proper film formation, Yasmin Nassar, Technical Specialist, adds.
Johnson said the team also developed ACRONAL EDGE 4282 for deck stains. This product outperformed most commercial binders, including those from European and Asian Pacific binder systems. Over two years of horizontal deck exposure at the Charlotte site, ACRONAL EDGE 4282 offered a truly differentiating performance.
“We also found when paired with the right light stabilizer system, we were able to extend performance even more,” Johnson said. “After two years, we saw excellent color retention and durability out of these optimal combinations.”
ACRONAL EDGE 4282 would apply as transparent to opaque deck coatings and substrates in demanding environments such as outdoor furniture and fencing. With its commitment to sustainability and innovation, the BASF Technical Service team is poised to continue providing high-quality, versatile products that help homeowners create the living spaces of their dreams.
“At the end of the day, this is just further proof that we can dig deeper into our portfolio to find unique solutions from our existing products,” Johnson said.
Contact BASF to request a sample or learn more about the Acronal line and the Exterior Specialty Portfolio.