Paint Recommendations?

Written by nickel - 17 Comments

We’re starting to think about painting the interior of our house, and we’re in the market for good paint… At our old house we used Pratt & Lambert with an eggshell finish. It wasn’t cheap, but we really liked it. Unfortunately, Pratt & Lambert is relatively hard to come by in our new area. So… We’re now considering the likes of Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Porter, or Duron. To be honest, we’re somewhat biased against the latter two, as we’ve experienced the builder-grade ‘flat’ version of both, and we weren’t happy with them. But to be fair, pretty much all flat-finish paint sucks, so it’s possible that we’d be much happier with a better grade of either of these two brands.

Anyway, we’re once again interested in an eggshell or satin finish and, given the amount of labor involved, we’re not interested in dirt cheap paint. Rather, we want a good, durable paint (but we don’t want to overpay, either). So, can anyone provide any insight? (Preferably based on personal experience.) Thanks!

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Published on July 26th, 2006 - 17 Comments
Filed under: House & Home
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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

The best coverage for my money has been Benjamin Moore. I buy it from a “paint” store not a “super” store. This way if I have a problem or need color matching or want to pull up a record of the color I did the bathroom 2 years ago, they can handle it.
Comment by D — Jul 26th 2006 @ 8:23 am
Not personal experience, but my mother-in-law is a professional faux finish painter and she swears by Benjamin Moore. As a side note, she’s good enough that our last home appraiser said it was the best she’d seen in any house and hired her to do her own home…so she knows what she’s talking about.

Norm
Comment by Norm — Jul 26th 2006 @ 9:19 am
Benj-Moore. As a former house painter no question. Also have a close friend in the commericial painting business - painted Gilette Stadium, Fenway Park - swears by Benj-Moore.
Comment by Cuddy — Jul 26th 2006 @ 9:47 am
Another vote from a past painter. Benjamin Moore is a great paint. Even their flat is good.
Comment by Tim — Jul 26th 2006 @ 10:32 am
We have never used Benjiman-Moore, but I have heard good things about it. I own multiples rentals properties in Southern California and the US and while this may sound crazy, we use an exterior flat or an exterior satin for the wet areas and we get it from Walmart. I know you say, exterior? An exterior flat has a little sheen to it, because it has a polymer to repell. Repell, means durable. I can scrub the wall and the paint doesn’t come off. Secondly, you say, Walmart? Well Walmart paint is all the return paints like Benji-Moore. The color’s are stripped out and then used again to make your custom color. For durability and price you can’t beat it. I have the same paint in my primary home and it looks beautiful. With all due respect to the professional painters out there, side-by-side they can’t tell the difference between Benjamin-Moore and Walmart. The application is really what the professional paitner is hired for. Straight-lines, no holidays, even application is what is going to make your home look the best.
Comment by Patrick — Jul 26th 2006 @ 11:26 am
I used to work for Sherwin Williams about 15 years ago. Truck drivers who had visited their plants said that the SW paint was no different than Dutch Boy, which is sold in Sears, Walmart, etc. You won’t get the same service, of course, with Dutch Boy. See http://www2.sherwin-williams.c.....index.html for a list of brands they make. I had to chuckle that they still have their environmentally unfriendly logo.
Comment by Fina — Jul 26th 2006 @ 12:23 pm
For what it’s worth, we used Sherwin Williams exterior paint when we had the outside of our house repainted last year, and it looks great. Of course, I paid someone else to do the labor since I’m a wimp and can’t handle painting in 100 degree weather, so I can’t tell you how easy or difficult it was.
Comment by Michael — Jul 26th 2006 @ 2:51 pm
After years of using cheap paint (big box brand), we finally switched to Sherwin Williams Super Paint, and will not go back. It covers in 2 coats or less, it’s even, it’s low VOC, and a joy to work with. If you go to SW on a holiday weekend, paint will always be at last 15% off. If you work for a major employer in your area, chances are they have a deal with SW for an employee perk discount. That’s taken off over and above your sale price.
Happy painting!
Comment by MD — Jul 26th 2006 @ 4:21 pm
I’ve had friends that are very happy with Behr paint. It’s available at most Home Depots, and Home Depot often runs a good rebate program on it.
Comment by Joe — Jul 26th 2006 @ 4:27 pm
I’ve painted several rooms with SW Super Paint and was also impressed. I was most impressed with the fact that, even though we used brushes and rollers, it left no lines (no splatter either). And like MD said, they always have a special running. I use a discount provided by AAA discount all the time.

What I also liked was the fact you can get a small sample of paint (enough to cover an average wall) very inexpensively.

Good luck with your project!
Comment by Chris Ray — Jul 26th 2006 @ 5:03 pm
Easy answer. Just go to Consumer Reports web site. Lowe’s American Traditions has been a perennial top performer. We’ve used it for years and have been very pleased. Excellent one-coat coverage, even over different colors. Durable. Even. Doesn’t splatter.
Comment by Ted — Jul 27th 2006 @ 12:28 am
Funny you should mention that, Ted… One of the painters that we’re talking to recommended Lowes American Tradition as his top choice, and my wife checked Consumer Reports and found the same rating that you’re talking about. It’s also about $5/gallon cheaper than Benjamin Moore.

Comment by nickel — Jul 27th 2006 @ 9:12 am
When I moved into my current apartment, they offered to paint it any color I liked as long as I provided the paint. However, they were only willing to do one coat; any more, I’d have to do myself. I picked Benjamin Moore and it covered perfectly in one coat, except for one wall where the paint hadn’t been properly mixed. The guys who did it said it was easily the best paint they’d ever used. They have a matte finish which is nearly flat, yet washable. (Having too much gloss, even egshell, can emphasize flaws in your wall, but you generally need some gloss to make the paint washable.)

I’ve also heard very good things about Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint, but I’d totally use Benjamin Moore again.

Pacific Northwesterners should also consider Devine, a local company that has a very good rep. I didn’t go with them because they recommend two coats and I was only getting the labor for one.
Comment by Jerry Kindall — Jul 27th 2006 @ 9:04 pm
The woes of moving to a new house…dealing with that ugly, white, flat paint! I just had my daughter’s room painted 2 weeks ago.

I bought the paint from Sherwin Williams but I didn’t do it myself. 15% off during 4th of July weekend and I love the spill proof containers. I chose semi-gloss for her room, kitchen and baths. I’ll use satin for the rest of the house. Due to the labor involved with semi-gloss, two tone colors, and the imperfections of the wall, it took him almost two days to finish and it looks fabulous. My daughter’s room is a fairly dark color (purple) and it was all done in one coat.
Comment by Single Ma — Jul 28th 2006 @ 2:59 pm
I am painting nearly every room in my house. For the downstairs, I used Sherwin Williams’s Durations paint because I have 3 young kids. Given its $35 to $40 a gallon, I was expecting it to work really well but have been fairly disappointed in it. Its taken at least 3 coats to cover plain white and primered walls. I also had EXTENSIVE peeling (like grapefruit size patches) in the paint when I taped it with blue painters tape FOUR weeks after it was applied to paint some trim and then removed the painters tape approximately 45 minutes later. Lastly, I’ve tried to clean the marks off of some of the paint that was applied nearly 8 weeks prior and noticed quite a bit of paint coming off on the rag when I wiped the wall. The one good thing that I noticed was that there was virtually no splatter when rolling it. Needless to say, I’m also looking for some new paint for my second for and exterior needs.
Comment by Cliff — Aug 1st 2006 @ 10:26 am
Sherwin Williams makes fine paint and paint products - they really do. However they will confuse the living hell out of you with so many different product lines of the same type paints. Take Sherwin Williams automotive paint for example….. there must be at least five different “grades” of the same type product out there to confuse people. It’s a real turn-off for refinishers like myself. It’s an even greater turn-off when the local Sherwin Williams Driver/Rep doesn’t know which product line a particular body shop uses - or that more than one product line even exsists! I’m sickened now to even see the Sherwin Williams delivery trucks buzz around Louisville and Southern Indiana. Even the guys that stumble out of these trucks look like old fossils with hearing aids and colostomy bags. I thought only MAC tools knew how to conduct business like this? Guess I was wrong! Anyway… I went back to using Dupont, PPG and Valspar on most of my paint projects. It’s worth the extra $$$ buying user-friendly products from more knowledgeable folks.
Comment by Paul Hahn — Oct 2nd 2007 @ 3:47 am
Choose Valspar at Lowes
or at your nearest Valspar dealer!
Comment by Justin — Oct 2nd 2007 @ 8:48 am