Can you help me choose a quality interior paint?

mg83

Just bought my first house and we're having the interior painted by a friend who's a painter. Can't pick his brain right now, so I'm asking here.

The house is 1500sq ft and everything is getting painted. We figured about 10-12 gallons.

I've done enough research to know not to buy Valspar or Behr. Once the interior is painted, I don't see it getting done for a long time. We don't have kids yet (soon), and we want to future proof it. We'd need something with good washability. We like semi-gloss on the trim, eggshell for the walls.

My dad had to use BM Aura on his kitchen cabinets but he said it was like $65 a gallon. A little too rich for my blood. It seems that a good quality/price compromise is BM Regal or P&L RedSeal? The paint shop that carries P&L also has Muralo and PPG. Haven't read much into the latter 2. There's also a SW dealer down the road. Lots of options here.

I just need something that's practical. Before I started searching online, I would have been the guy just walking into Lowes grabbing $25-$30/gal paint and been satisfied with the results.

Brushjockey

You should understand that the price does reflect a difference in quality of ingredients. So what are you painting, and what do you expect from the coating?
If all you want is color on the wall, a cheap flat will do that. Do you want it to be scuff resistant, have some ability to not absorb dirt or be scrubbable?
These require better ingredients.
I like BM, but there are many good choices. Think about what you need from the paint, not just the price.
And all mfgrs of paints have "lines" , for instance the "Ben " line in BM is price wise equivalent and made to go head to head with Behr Ultimate whatever. ( I forget the name..) For durability I know of no equivilent to BM Aura, but it is pricy.
Do a little research.

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Doorman54

I just painted some rooms with SW paint recently....can't remember which of their lines but they are fantastic overall!!!
I was using Valspar in the past......ugh!!

Nov 9-12 they're having a 40% off sale!!!
This brings them into the 30-40 dollar per gallon range for the wall paint and the ceiling (brilliance?) is about 17 a gallon.

The wife and I have the dates saved on our calendars to get the rest of our paint for our master suite!!!

mg83

Did you find the SW deal online, or from a rep? All I see is 25%.

Doorman54

It's part of their upcoming winter sale. We were there last weekend picking stuff out and they told us about it.

chrisn

BM Regal Select, (or just Regal)
SW, Duration or Emerald

Pittsburg, Manor Hall Timeless (probably the lest expensive)

All fine paint

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Gymschu

You have some great suggestions so far for paint. I absolutely love SW's SuperPaint. It's not the best, it's not the worst..........it's simply a very good paint........a great blue-collar solution to painting walls. It won't break your budget and you will get years of service out of the finish. Just my two cents'.

mterry

+1 for SW, I've never had a bad one, covers and wears very well

laorquidia

We just painted the interior of our new(old) house with sw emerald. We bought it when it was 40% off - this is equivalent to the employee discount - my friend's husband works for sw. Anyways, go to the store and sign up for their email club and you will get an email when the sale is, you can also ask the associates - they will tell you. I bought too much paint - the coverage is great! We are definitely not pros, but really liked the paint. When I first went there I told them I was repainting the whole house and they gave me this huge color wheel with pretty much every color. That helped a lot. I also had some paint re-tinted when I didnt like the color... Overall I had a great experience...
I don't know if bm has sales but it won't hurt to go and ask...

sdsester

Buy the best paint you can afford and all mentioned are fine paint. I used Ben Moore paints most but never squalked if asked to use Sherwin Williams. I did not use P&L or Pittsburgh as often. I had great luck even with the contractor grades of Ben Moore and SW when purposed appropriately. I painted gallery client walls so often, for example, washability and colorfastness were not issues.

Do consider colorfastness in your decision in addition to washability. 100 percent acrylic products and the higher end paints like Aura are going to hold color and be more resistant to fading than some others. Regal is good paint too though.

And don't skip your second finish coat. You need it not only for coverage but to give you the film thickness that will yield the washability you want.

As for deciding how much paint you need? Remember you need to calculate the square footage of all the walls and ceilings---not the square footage of the floor---and then subtract for doors and windows. You mentioned 1500sf but I am guessing that is the floor square footage? Allow extra for touch up. Figure a gallon will cover 350-400sf plus or minus some. Remember you need two coats! There are some good free/cheap smartphone and computer estimating apps if you do not want to do all the math yourself.

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mg83

Went to PPG today, Manor Hall was $56/gal with no upcoming sales. Primer was $40/gal.

I went over to SW and their Emerald was $63/gal and the employee confirmed what doorman said, 40% off starting the 9th. He said get here early that day because it's a frenzy, after that they don't see another 40% sale until after the new year.

He also mentioned they sell a lot of the HGTV line because it's basically SuperPaint without the primer. It's $36/gal and with 40% off it comes to $22/gal.

Doorman54

We didn't get any of the HGTV paint. Seemed to "gimmicky" to me.

We are gonna wait.....40% off is worth a few weeks!!
A 5'er of primer
3 gallons for the walls
I already have 3 gallons of the Brilliance for the ceiling from the last sale.






Wife's color choices for the walls and flooring.

mg83

Do you know what kind you used on the walls?

Emerald would be $38/gal, and Harmony $30/gal.

Doorman54

Cashmere

DannyT

i know a lot of people don't like glidden but i have used it for over 10 years and never had a problem with any of their paint. it's 18.00 a gallon at HD for the flat.