Why are Barns painted red?

[DFB]

Ahh the deep space intricacies of painting your barn.


Hey but everybody really knows...red is simply the cheapest paint to buy. Google THAT! :laughing:


Barns Are Painted Red Because of the Physics of Dying Stars | Smart News | Smithsonian

 

[MoKelly]

The true reason most barns (not all) are painted red is because farmers tend to be STL Cardinal fans. Simple as that.:thumbsup:

MoKelly

 

[Eric Salop]

When Harold Ferguson started mass producing tractors after the second world war, he opted to use "Battle ship grey" because there was a surplus available at a good price. Precise color matching was never an issue at war time, so the exact color of each paint batch he bought varied a good deal.

To this day no one can agree on which shade to use to restore a classic Ferguson tractor.
This was the original "50 shades of grey".

 

[MacLawn]

To the original question: I don't know.

 

[Garandman]

The true reason most barns (not all) are painted red is because farmers tend to be Boston Red Sox fans. Simple as that.:thumbsup:

MoKelly

FFY..

 

[davesl708]

Red paint also holds up well in sunlight. Especially the old lead based paint.

 

[tallyho8]

In the south, many years ago, many barns, outbuildings, slave quarters and sharecroppers homes were painted pink. When I was young in the 1950s you could still ride down River Road and see many of these old buildings, almost all are gone now.

The pink was made from adding pig's blood to whitewash (lime) and this was the cheapest color available to paint at that time and it was remarkably long lasting.

 

[caver]

I recall vehicles painted red pull a higher resale value. I also looking into painting a camper shell to match my red truck and the autobody guy said the fancy red paint costs more. Not sure how true that is.

 

[kcflhrc]

Yep, it's called Resale Red in the Auto Industry. However the farmers are KC Chiefs fans.

 

[joecoin]

I was told that there was some sort of mineral in the pigment that made the paint job last a long time. Iron Oxide??????