Paint (sigh) :)

[Sandy in SC]

I bragged on the paint we picked up last week.  Now I'm gonna fuss about the regular paint we bought, well not so much the paint as the paint azz guy we dealt with last night.

We have  used a Valspar color, Belle Grove Buff, at one of the other houses, just last month as a matter a fact and wanted to use it in the mh we were working on. 

Previously we'd gotten it in the Olympic (yeah, I know, switching companies might be a problem) Premium and this time I got it in the 15 yr cheaper stuff.   Got it in satin too, satin hides alot of stuff so it's been our choice for awhile.  Satin before too.

Give the color to the lady and she mixes it right up. We don't really look at the spot on the top though.  I still had part of a gallon from the last time so I start trimming ceilings and walls and windows/doors so Phil can roll on. 

As I'm trimming it I think "uhhh, this is kinda yellow looking" and that's not good since I didn't want yellow, it's supposed to be a tannish kinda color.  Well, you all know that stuff looks different as it's wet and will dry a tad darker.  We go to lunch and then decide that "Yeah, it dried darker" but still flippin' YELLOWISH. 

Long story to get to this point--  We haul it (after we'd rolled the living/dining/master with it) back to Lowe's.  Had my color swatchee thing and it did NOT look like the paint in that bucket.  Guy says take it to customer ser for a refund, no problem.  I take it over to CS and get my refund and when I get back Phil is trying to understand what happened?  Paint guy says "the premium over the cheaper" and other stuff.  Then when we ask him to make the "cheaper stuff that color" that was in the gal can we had gotten in Dec, he says "can't do it, won't work".  Guy just says "I can't explain it, just can't make that color". 
 
Ok, wait.. wait.. what?  your color matching super machine can't make any paint THAT color unless it's PREMIUM?  Sooooo, if I bring in the mistint from last month that was made in this store, you can't match it using your super color matching machine? 

I'm sure I'm not explaining it with the right amount of exasperation but trust me, we were pretty exasperated.  The walls were primed before painting so we know it wasn't the old RED or GREEN bleeding through throwing it off. 

Finally Phil did get him to compare the formula and the guy says yes, there were a couple extra drops of this/that.  Well damn.. DUH.

[gevans]

Paint is one place I will spend extra for the premium.  I want the stuff that stands up on your brush like jelly and covers in one coat.  It drips WAY less and makes an ameteur painter (me) look ALMOST like a pro.

At our local Blowes, the problem is never with the machine, it's with the nut running the thing.  What do you expect from minimum wage, no GED labor?

[Sandy in SC]

I'd agree with you usually on the nut on the machine but the lady that did the mixing has been there awhile and has always been good at it. 

Anywho, at least the couple that is interested in the place love the colors. 

[SEMN]

Here's my experience from spending way to much time in a box store paint department. The tints are based on a certain type of base and paint. You can have a bright white from company x put in the green tint and put grab a bright white from company z and put in the same green tint and have very different colors on the wall....

Once I was painting my own kids baby room. Ran out and went down to get an identical gallon with tint... it was close, but not the same when on the wall...

I'm now an exclusive Sherwin Williams guy. Don't let the retail prices fool you. My contractor price is over 50% off, the paint is awesome, and I get 5 gallon after 5 gallon of identical colors. Really nice to go into an apartment to repaint and have the exact same color and finish so I don't have to do the trim again.

[Julie]

Pay the extra for Sherwin Williams or the equivalent.

Ask for the contractor price.  You may pay more but it's worth it in the time saved from hassling with HD or Lowes and the idiots who mix the paint.

We've been using Sherwin Williams for 5+ years and I can touch up and/or re-paint a unit and the color matches all the time, every time.  Our local building center can't even boast that kind of record. 

We've only had 1 batch that didn't match and that was last winter.  Guys from SW came out, looked at it, picked it all up, returned it to the store and delivered a new batch and stayed until they were sure it matched.  HD and/or Lowes ain't gonna do that.

SW paint can even make a schmuck like me look like a painter.   

[Shawn]

There are certain things I always buy the best of the best of, and paint is one of them.  The price of the labor far outweighs the price of the materials so a superior product that might last a, extra year or a few years more is a great deal. 

[Sandy in SC]

We used to use SW, antique white for everything, for years and years.  BUT, it ages so taht I can't make any touch ups. 

[Terese]

I am a tried and true SW fan.  Just do it