[sathni]

i am seeing over and over agin that the experts on this forum do not like Behr paint from Home Depot...

i have to repaint my shower ceiling, so i was looking for a good "bath paint" ...

sherwin williams carries such a paint, and seems to be recommended on this forum...

but, why NOT an equivalent Bath Paint from Behr at Home Depot?...

thanks in advance for your recommendations ...

 

[Bob Mariani]

Because we said so!

Behr is a low grade paint that is offered as a cheap product. Why?.. that is what Home Depot's market is... Paint is a combination of its components. Better components cost much more. Paint consists of three main components" A pigment, a binder the glues the pigment to a surface as the paint dries and a solvent that makes the moisture loose enough to brush on. Cheaper paints use synthetic colorants and good paints use organic materials which hide better and cost much more. Behr use PVA resins ( polyvinyl acetate) whereas a quality paint uses the twice the cost PMMA resins (polymethyl methacrylate) Resins are the binder in the paint so Behr simply will not stick to the wall as well.

I could go on an on, but you should start to see where I am going with this. Now for the bathroom paint. I would use something like Zinsser's PermaWhite. You see, the way this paint works is that it has a powdered mildewcide dissolved in it. That mildewcide has a very high solubility in water, and it's that affinity for water that actually makes it MOVE toward the surface of the paint when there's water on the surface of the paint, or even when there's very high humidity in the air. As it gets to the surface of the paint, it kills any mildew spores on the paint surface before they have a chance to grow, thereby keeping the paint mildew free. Again a cheap paint contains very litlle of this compound, thus will offer protection a much shorter time.

Behr will yield a okay result 50% of the time at best. Any adverse conditon will cause it to fail. It will not be as easy to apply, will not last as long and is this is why no professionals will use it.

 

[jpsmith]

Bob's points are certainly valid, but as a casual paint DIYer, for the most part I can't complain about the Behr I've used. Each room of my house is a different color of Behr - two coats over top of a coat of primer. The only room I had trouble with was my kitchen where I used red paint (Autumn Maple). The end result is nice, but it took six coats to get good coverage. Red is typically difficult to work with, requiring more coats.

I'm not saying ignore Bob's (and others') adivise, I'm just mentioning that Behr works fine for me as your typical Joe Homeowner.

 

[sathni]

thanks guys....

it appears i can get Zansser's paint at Lowe's....

are there different grades of Zansser's paint... meaning, will the Zansser paint i buy at Lowes be as good as the "quality" zansser paint sold in specialty stores?....

and any special primer you would recommend?

 

[Bob Mariani]

Bob's points are certainly valid, but as a casual paint DIYer, for the most part I can't complain about the Behr I've used. Each room of my house is a different color of Behr - two coats over top of a coat of primer. The only room I had trouble with was my kitchen where I used red paint (Autumn Maple). The end result is nice, but it took six coats to get good coverage. Red is typically difficult to work with, requiring more coats.

I'm not saying ignore Bob's (and others') adivise, I'm just mentioning that Behr works fine for me as your typical Joe Homeowner.

Goes to my point. I have painted maybe 25 rooms with C2 and some with BM and NEVER used more than two coats. C2 covers with one, but I always do two coats.

 

[Bob Mariani]

thanks guys....

it appears i can get Zansser's paint at Lowe's....

are there different grades of Zansser's paint... meaning, will the Zansser paint i buy at Lowes be as good as the "quality" zansser paint sold in specialty stores?....

and any special primer you would recommend?

Zinsser's Perma White is its own primer. And use two top coats. The mildicide in the first coat will move to the top coat after the top coat's mildicide is exhausted.

 

[Matthewt1970]

All kidding aside I would se the $12 Glidden paint before I would use Behr. In the 15 years that I have been a painter I have used many different paints and I have never seen poorly perform like Behr. I have used it twice and that was enough. The interior I used was sagging almost to the point of running all along the bottoms of my wall. Coverage was poor as well. I used a tinted primer, almost the exact wall color, and after 2 coats over the primer I could see streaks. The exterior paint I used didn't cover either. I was using a White oil based primer and did basicly a full coat and the Behr just didn't cover well. If you are looking to save a buck, get Pittsburg or the lower lines of BM or SW. You will be much happier in the long run.

 

[jpsmith]

If you are looking to save a buck, get Pittsburg or the lower lines of BM or SW. You will be much happier in the long run.

...if you can find Pittsburgh Paint. I live in that city and can't even find it anywhere! There are SW stores, though.

 

[sathni]

bob... regarding the Zinsser's Perma White .... you say this is a primer....

so what "paint" do i use?.... or do i just use 2 coats of this primer on the shower ceiling ?....

sorry for seeming a bit confused....

thanks for your advice and help.....

 

[mazzonetv]

I love it! The only post defending Behr than goes on to say that it took six coats for a red to cover!! 6 Coats!! Imagine a Pro taking the time to apply 6 coats when BM or SW or C2 will do it in one or two.

To answer the OP - go to a real paint store and buy either the Perma White or SW's bathroom paint or BM's Kitchen and Bath paint. Remember, the paint is the cheapest part of the project!!

good luck!

 

[jpsmith]

I was defending all colors except red. Painting that room red was a nightmare. My other rooms are shades of brown or green and they took two coats, and in one room it was one coat plus spot patching because the first coat covered pretty well and we didn't want to buy more for the few spots that needed it. Also, I wasn't exactly defending Behr to death, merely stating that it was OK for me. Not fantastic, but OK. At the time I was painting all my walls, money was hard to come by so the difference between buying 11 gallons (for all the rooms) at $22 versus $45 was significant.

 

[Bob Mariani]

I hope you understood what I tried to explain to you. Hiding ability is only one issue. Durability and washability with Behr is also going to be less. Workability is more, but you seem to not deem your time worth anything. But since you will have to re-paint sooner your perceived cost savings will not be there, in fact you costs will be much higher.

 

[Bob Mariani]

Zinsser's Perma White is its own primer. And use two top coats. The mildicide in the first coat will move to the top coat after the top coat's mildicide is exhausted.

this means use it for all three coats and it is self-priming

 

[sirwired]

I was defending all colors except red. Painting that room red was a nightmare. My other rooms are shades of brown or green and they took two coats, and in one room it was one coat plus spot patching because the first coat covered pretty well and we didn't want to buy more for the few spots that needed it. Also, I wasn't exactly defending Behr to death, merely stating that it was OK for me. Not fantastic, but OK. At the time I was painting all my walls, money was hard to come by so the difference between buying 11 gallons (for all the rooms) at $22 versus $45 was significant.

You can get some mighty-fine paints from an actual paint store for a lot less than $45. On sale, you can get SW SuperPaint for $30-ish, and I assume similar deals can be had with BM Regal, another fine paint. If you are really strapped for cash, you can get a top-end contractor paint (such as SW ProMar 200) for little more than you paid for the Behr, and end up with a much more consistent result.

Once you paint with "real" paint, you will notice the difference.

SirWired

 

[ratherbefishin']

Behr makes paint? Coulda fooled me...:huh:

 

[chrisn]

"better to leave the walls bare than put Behr on the walls":laughing:

 

[jamiedolan]

"better to leave the walls bare than put Behr on the walls":laughing:

LOL!
I did the 6 coats of behr thing, I thought it was good paint right up until I started using it. I used to use a regional paint producer that sold out, thats when I tried Bear.
Lately I have been using BM Regal. I am quite happy with it.
I like some of the Truevalue paints also. Zinsser primar rocks.
I might try aura on my house this summer.
jamie

 

[earthad1]

Is Para paint any good? http://www.para.com/ meaning does it measure up to BM or SW?

 

[canuck88]

Another thumbs down for Behr. I just used it to paint our nursery, and compared to my experiences with BM, CIL, and General Paint, it was pure garbage in every way.

 

[yummy mummy]

I tried the textured paint from Behr, that you put on with a special roller,
and it is the worst thing to use.

The product was VERY thick and no matter what you did you could never get it to stick on the wall.

After using many colourful words during my project, I swore I would never use Behr again in any shape or form.

I purchased CIL primer for my drywall which was good. And I just yesterday purchased BM for my walls.