[rommel]

My question is I understand that one of the more important ingredients in paint is Titanium Dioxide, and than when I ask some of the paint store people at Benjamin Moore they state that their paint has a greater percentage or higher grade and this which leads to a longer lasting paint. When you read the spec sheets either on the can or internet other ingredients are listed as "Proprietary" so it seems that the consumer doesn't have formulation standards to make an informed buying decesion other than trust that the $40 paint is better than the $20 paint.

 

[ccarlisle]

You're absolutely right on that, there is no other way of differentiating a quality paint from a lesser quality paint...but it's the same for most things isn't it?

Good quality paints have around 20 ingredients in them and many of those come in a number of quality grades themselves so it's a complex mixture for sure; but the price also reflects research and quality assurance, as well as the equipment they use to produce the paint in the plant. And the successful paint companies are the ones who are visited the most often by resin manufacturers, who present the best they can offer too.

The generic manufacturer buys ingredients on price to satisfy the price parameters of their clients and therefore don't get the advantages of the millions of $ of research the companies like Rohm&Haas put into their resins, all of which is meant to produce a better paint.

The beef a lot of painters have is directed at consumer providers, say a big box store, who specify a generic paint at a given price level, then load that price up with admin costs and pretty head offices so that the buyer thinks he's buying a quality paint. But in fact they're buying an $8/gall product.

I guess there's nothing wrong with that, but what effect is that having on BM, Sherwin-Williams etc? It's all that is wrong with a consumer-driven society that we have.

 

[Matthewt1970]

The beef a lot of painters have is directed at consumer providers, say a big box store, who specify a generic paint at a given price level, then load that price up with admin costs and pretty head offices so that the buyer thinks he's buying a quality paint. But in fact they're buying an $8/gall product.

Exactly.

 

[NAV]

I dont know about what is in the paints i use but I do know how they are in the field.

I have applied acrylic, alkyd, 2 and 3 component epoxies and urethane, elastomeric coatings, zink based coating, liquid plastic, those stupid faux finishes (most of them) stains, and clears on everything from a single interior room to a 70 foot high roller coaster to a 30 story building. I have used ICI / Glidden, Sherwin-Williams, PPG, Benny Moore, Joans Blair, Porter Paints, California Paints, UGL, Thoro products, BASF, Bear, Dutch Boy, and many more.

All I can tell you is that Bear is crap. You get what you pay for and if you are not in the painting trade or dont know someone in the painting trades you are paying way too much.

 

[ccarlisle]

Yup. Now if I were a consumer out there looking for paint, I'd rely on what Nav just said because opinions from guys in the know are the only thing we have left to establish different quality of paints if you take away the $/gallon parameter. What's left?

There are a lot of other pros whose opinions I also value, in this forum and others and have had plently of chances to verify what they say. Not one of them has steered me wrong yet! I appreciate their advice. :yes: