Calling all painters!!!

[taz157]

What brand of paint do you like the best and why?

DH and I bought a house on Thursday and in our opinion, every room needs to be painted. In the past, we've used Lowe's Valspar, Home Depot's Behr, Walmart's Glidden, and Duron's/Sherrwin William brand, and besides price, I couldn't tell a difference. The reason I used Valspar was the wallpaper book I was using to get a sample was at Lowe's and I wanted to get a paint to match one of the colors in my wallpaper boarder. For Behr and Glidden, we were at those stores when we decided to pay paint. For Duron/Sherrwin Williams, an old friend used to get a really good deal on paint when it was Duron. When we sold our house, we wanted the same color (it was neutral), so we stuck with Sherrwin Williams since they took over/purchased (not sure which) Duron.

Since we will be painting 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, living/family, room, hallways, and probably the garage, I would like to get something that works for a long period of time and doesn't require many coats to do that.

Thanks in advance!

ETA: Advice on exterior paint is useful to as we would like to change the trim color too.

[suek1958]

HI Taz, congrats on the new house!    I really like Benjamin Moore paints. 

[toomuchreality]

I don't have much paint advice, sorry. (I prefer latex semi-gloss usually. -Easy to wipe off finger prints.)

But CONGRATS on the new house! 

Are you going to live in it, rent it, flip it?

[Deleted]

Using Sherwin Williams for exterior & interior now.  Exterior because it is my contractors preferred paint.  Covered well & looks good.  Interior - one coat in a light color and there is no show through, seems like it covers well and I like the color tones.

Behr - mildews in our damp climate.  Not sure if they changed formulas, but historically I loved Behr one coat product.  Something must have changed because last time round, bad results!!!  Also had SUPER BAD results with deck protective coat product that they insist isn't bad & isn't subject to their recall (it's not but should be - utter crap)   Won't use their products any longer. 

Ralph Lauren - LOVED that paint, but can't figure out who is carrying it now . . . it just disappeared from the store!

Valspar I used once - too thin & required multiple coats.  I really don't have the patience to paint a room twice, so that annoyed me.

[Spellbound454]

I don't know if you can get them over there but we have "one coat" emulsions.....(Dulux Once, Crown Solo) 
They are thicker and with better coverage.....more expensive but you don't have to keep painting an area, so it less of a task.

I normally do the colour schemes and matching online.. where I can get the furnishings and paper samples next to me, to get them to fit.
I'm not trawling around hundreds of colours in the store and buying on a whim.....You only get a bit shell shocked and end up making a mistake.

[chiver78]

I've typically used Behr because that is my mom's first choice and she has painted pretty much every room in my house and hers. (she loves painting and shrugs off anyone trying to help!) I have no complaints about its quality, and the price is great compared to other brands.

my master bathroom is a color from Benjamin Moore's "historical collection" that I think is mixed using their "Aura" paint base. it was markedly more expensive than the Behr I'm used to, and I will say that the paint thickened up in the tray much quicker than I'm used to. I like the finished results, but it took a second coat for a very not-bold color.

hope that helps

sent from my electronic distraction

[Regis]

We've painted every room in our house in the last six years except for the laundry room.  We've used Porter paints every time.

[kittensaver]

Behr and Sherwin-Williams. The Behr is less expensive - but I like them both. The paint world has taken some big steps forward recently (the last few years) with the one-coat, paint-and-primer-in one coatings.

My experience is different than Rock It's with the Behr. I live a mile from the Pacific Ocean and get a good deal of damp fog during certain periods of the year. It's never mildewed on me. But maybe that's just me.

[Deleted]

The paint world has taken some big steps forward recently (the last few years) with the one-coat, paint-and-primer-in one coatings.

Maybe they all aren't equal or maybe it depends on what color your covering? I know someone that used the one-coat & had to paint the room 4 times to get coverage.

Me? I have no idea. I have painted a lot of rooms over the years but I'm sure I used a bunch of different companies paint. If I were you I would look for someone here that has done a lot of painting (maybe a professional) & knows all of the different companies paints & knows what they like (& doesn't like).

[Deleted]

We like Benjamin Moore, but it's pricey. I like Behr if you want cheaper....

[Deleted]

Aug 18, 2013 10:45:04 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Behr and Sherwin-Williams. The Behr is less expensive - but I like them both. The paint world has taken some big steps forward recently (the last few years) with the one-coat, paint-and-primer-in one coatings.

My experience is different than Rock It's with the Behr. I live a mile from the Pacific Ocean and get a good deal of damp fog during certain periods of the year. It's never mildewed on me. But maybe that's just me.

My experience too.  I've got 3 properties < 1/2 mi from the ocean. I do like their bath paint that has the midewcide already mixed in.

I've also used Frazee, Dunn Edwards, and Ace Hardware paint at the other two properties.

And you all know that you can have a color matching service done at most paint stores, right? Just bring in a sample of your old paint and they can match it at no cost.

[midjd]

We used Sherwin-Williams Cashmere paint in all but one room of our house, and are very happy with it - went on smoothly, only needed one coat, and still looks great 2.5 years later, even in the bathrooms.

In our old apartment, we used Valspar and the results made it clear that we were not professional painters.  The Cashmere seems to hide mistakes much better.

SW runs a 30% off deal at least once every couple of months, so it's easy enough to get the price down to something more comparable to Behr, etc.

[Lizard Queen]

We've used SW, Behr and Valspar. The SW was used to cover ugly dark paneling. After 2-3 coats of primer, we still needed 3-4 coats of the SW paint. We did slightly better in our master bedroom with the Behr paint. We went from an ugly pink to midnight blue with about 3 coats of paint over 1-2 of tinted primer.  We've done several other rooms as well, mostly with valspar. I really don't think the brand of paint matters, as long as you don't get the cheapest stuff.

[pinkbow832]

I've used both Benjamin Moore and Behr recently and had completely different results.  The BM was great and covered very well (I used both Aura and Ben bases).  The Behr was horrible- it took 3 coats of the paint and primer in one to cover and we had to do 3 coats of paint on the ceiling and it still looks uneven.  That part was absolute hell and the reason that we'll never use Behr paint again.  To contrast, I did 1 coat of BM on the ceiling in another room and it looked great.

Make sure if you're buying good paint, you're also using decent painting supplies- don't cheap out on the rollers and get the ones that leave fuzz everywhere!  Maybe if you have to do so many rooms, getting one of the automatic rollers would make it go faster? Especially if you have large rooms to paint or one to do one color for multiple rooms.

[Bob Ross]

Aug 17, 2013 22:08:00 GMT -5 taz157 said:

What brand of paint do you like the best and why?

I like my own brand.

My favorite colors are alizarin crimson, prussian blue, phthalo green, van dyke brown, yellow ochre, and titanium white.

If you use that mass-produced Home Depot shite, your little trees won't end up so happy.

[Deleted]

I once painted the side of a house cosmopolitan pink.    Why oh why was I drinking Cosmos?

[Formerly SK]

I'm confused by the Behr issues.  I've painted the interior of two homes with Behr and I love strong colors.  I've never had to do more than two coats.  Even my bold red accent walls were only two coats (not even a primer).  Maybe I apply the paint thicker than the average person? 

Behr is always rated either #1 or #2 with Consumer Reports, which is why I've always used them. 

[Sam_2.0]

We know someone who used to be a professional painter. He said there are really only a couple of actual manufacturers for the paint and then it all gets sold under the different brand names. He recommended just the normal Walmart paint so that is what we've always used and had good luck with. It's more about getting the right tint and finish (gloss, semi-gloss, satin, flat) for the look that you want. I love the flat finish, but we are always touching it up with DD around.

*ETA - get a GOOD roller! Don't skimp on the roller. It makes all the difference in how many coats you will need and what kind of coverage you get.

[kittensaver]

Aug 19, 2013 10:57:26 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

We know someone who used to be a professional painter. He said there are really only a couple of actual manufacturers for the paint and then it all gets sold under the different brand names. He recommended just the normal Walmart paint so that is what we've always used and had good luck with. It's more about getting the right tint and finish (gloss, semi-gloss, satin, flat) for the look that you want. I love the flat finish, but we are always touching it up with DD around.

*ETA - get a GOOD roller! Don't skimp on the roller. It makes all the difference in how many coats you will need and what kind of coverage you get.

I agree with Sam! The paint is only part of the equation. Don't "cheap out" on the applicators (brushes, rollers etc) you use. From my personal experience they make a huge difference.

[Deleted]

Aug 19, 2013 10:57:26 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

We know someone who used to be a professional painter. He said there are really only a couple of actual manufacturers for the paint and then it all gets sold under the different brand names. He recommended just the normal Walmart paint so that is what we've always used and had good luck with. It's more about getting the right tint and finish (gloss, semi-gloss, satin, flat) for the look that you want. I love the flat finish, but we are always touching it up with DD around.

*ETA - get a GOOD roller! Don't skimp on the roller. It makes all the difference in how many coats you will need and what kind of coverage you get.

When I painted the house 10 years ago I used Walmart paint as or Lowes (I tried Berh, but didn't like it).  I am a 2 coat kind of person.  They do not make a brand of paint that will please me in one coat.  So if I am going to do 2 coats anyway, I just go with the cheaper stuff.  I also do not like thick paint. 

I am getting ready to repaint the whole interior after 10 years.  I was shocked at the price of paint.  10 years ago, paint was a cheap way to change a room.  Now $$$$.  The walmart paint doesn't cover as well as it did, so I am going to try Lowes.