For years, Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint has been a workhorse on exterior repaint projects across the Valley, and it earned that reputation. So when we tell clients we’ve moved our standard exterior system over to Sherwin-Williams Latitude with ClimateFlex Technology, the natural question is: why change something that works?
The short answer is that Arizona doesn’t paint like the rest of the country, and Latitude was built for exactly the kind of punishment our climate dishes out. Here’s the longer answer.
The Arizona Problem
Phoenix-area exteriors face a combination few other markets do: triple-digit surface temperatures for months at a time, intense year-round UV exposure, monsoon moisture that shows up with little warning, and dust that wants to embed itself in every fresh coat. A paint that performs beautifully in Ohio can age fast here. When we evaluate a product, we’re not asking how it performs in a lab — we’re asking how it holds up on a west-facing stucco wall in August.
What Latitude Brings to the Job
Sherwin-Williams built Latitude around its ClimateFlex Technology, a weather-adaptive formula designed to deliver a durable, consistent finish even when conditions are far from ideal. The features Sherwin-Williams lists for Latitude read like a checklist written for Arizona painting contractors:
Smooth application from 35°F to 120°F. Latitude applies smoothly across air, surface, and material temperatures from 35 degrees all the way up to 120. Most exterior paints, SuperPaint included, are only rated down to 35°F on the cold end — but it’s the high end of that range that matters here. Being formulated to go on properly at temperatures we actually see on Arizona walls means better film formation, better adhesion, and a longer-lasting finish, without compressing our painting schedule into a few early-morning hours.
Best-in-class early moisture resistance. Latitude develops moisture resistance in as little as 30 minutes after application. During monsoon season, that’s the difference between finishing a project on schedule and losing days waiting out a forecast. A surprise afternoon storm or heavy overnight dew no longer threatens a fresh coat.
Resistance to early dirt pickup. Fresh paint that stays tacky in the heat collects dust — and in the desert, there’s plenty of it. Latitude resists early dirt pickup, so the finish stays cleaner through cure and looks better longer.
A durable film that resists peeling and cracking. The ClimateFlex formula is engineered to protect against the peeling, cracking, and dirt accumulation that shorten a paint job’s life — the exact failure modes extreme heat cycling causes.
Outstanding hide and coverage. Latitude achieves a nearly flawless finish in fewer coats, with strong hide and block resistance. Fewer coats means efficient projects without sacrificing film build where it counts.
A full range of sheens. Latitude is available in flat, low lustre, satin, and gloss, so we can spec the same high-performance system across body, fascia, and trim.
The Deciding Factor: Color Retention Under the Arizona Sun
Features on a sell sheet are one thing. What actually pushed us to make the switch is what we’ve seen on real projects: Latitude’s color retention has proven to be significantly better than SuperPaint’s under the Arizona sun — and the gap is widest exactly where it matters most, on darker colors.
Dark and rich colors are more popular than ever on Valley properties — deep grays, charcoals, earth tones, black trim. They’re also the colors most vulnerable to UV fade, because they absorb more solar energy and take the most heat stress. We’ve watched dark SuperPaint applications soften and chalk noticeably after a few Arizona summers. The Latitude projects we’ve done are holding their depth of color remarkably well by comparison. If your property’s design leans into today’s darker palettes, that difference will be visible on your building years from now.
For a repaint you expect to last a decade or more, color retention isn’t a cosmetic detail — it’s the thing your tenants, residents, and prospects see every single day.
What This Means for Your Project
Nothing about our process changes: proper prep, the right primer, and full film thickness still do most of the heavy lifting on any quality repaint. What changes is that the topcoat we trust as our standard is now one engineered for extreme-temperature application, fast moisture resistance, dirt resistance, and — most importantly for Arizona — lasting color.
SuperPaint remains a good product, and we’ll still use it where a project calls for it. But when our name is on an exterior that has to look sharp under this sun for years, Latitude is the paint we’re putting on the wall.
Thinking about an exterior repaint for your community or commercial property? Reach out to American Exterior Systems for a walk-through and a proposal — we’re happy to show you Latitude projects around the Valley and let the color speak for itself.