1st Post ever - paint suggestions

17 years ago

I have read many of the paint reviews and I'm still a bit confused. Here's my question:

I live in a rural area, so paint brand options within a 50 mile radius are very limited.

Kilz which is recommended by Consumer Reports (I can get at Wal-Mart)

Ace (I can get at the local hardware store)

Benjamin Moore (I can purchase at a Building supply in the next town over)

Expressions (I can get at two Lumber supply stores in two different nearby towns) They each promise Expressions is the same paint as Home Depot's Behr line.

The closest Home Depot or Lowe's are both around 50 miles away, and we'd rather keep our dollars local if at all possible

Since the only paint I've tried out of all the above choices is Kilz and Ace(and I'm not enamored with either), I'm inclined to choose Benjamin Moore.

What do you think? If I can decide on brand, then I can then start looking for individual paint colors.

BTW, this is for all new home construction--around 3,000 sq. ft.

Thanks in advance for reading.

Teryl

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Comments (5)

trendystamper
Original Author
17 years ago
PS - I forgot to add that the Building Supply I can purchase Benjamin Moore paints is unable to mix/sell the Aura line.

Something about not being being qualified, certified, approved, etc. Not sure on the specific details.

Apparently not all BM dealers offer Aura.

Teryl
Faron79
17 years ago
"Welcome to the Jungle" here TS!

We're not a BM-dealer, but I do know the specific tinter/colorants for it are unique (water-based).
The tinter/computer/scanner setup is $$$(5-digits). That's the main reason small stores don't have it. They'd have to move a lot of AURA to pay off that beast!

ACE-Royal is so popular here in Fargo! We roll through many hundreds of gal's/yr. One of our salesfloor bulkracks pictured below.
We're a C2, ACE-Royal, & Ralph-Lauren dealer.
Getting into C2 though was pretty-$$$ too!

This is just the ACE Int. Eggshell and Satin side of a salesfloor bulk-rack...

BM is a good brand, with lots of choice of quality-levels...and we don't sell it!
The funny thing is...if you ask 10 people/painters about paint, you'll get 10 different answers!!!

We dropped the Kilz primers (avail. thru ACE!) on purpose, and went with C2's line, and Zinsser's.

Behr Expressions/Expressions Gallery-

I used to tint this!! It IS Behr paint...just re-labeled.
However, because HD now owns the "Behr" brand, independant stores that used to have Behr (like us), couldn't have product with BEHR on it.
* HD had Behr Premium-Plus...Independants had Behr Expressions.
* Secret here...there was an 800# we called at Behr to get HD's formulas. Same paint...2 different color-decks.
* Sooo, they came and took the Behr-Expressions product.
* To substitute, they rolled out the same paint with the "EXPRESSIONS GALLERY" label. Nowhere on the label was a Behr reference found!
* The REAL kicker however...the "New" line went from 4 tint-bases to 3. NOW there wasn't any way to duplicate the HD colors!!!!, except in the white-base and the Ultra-deep base.

Personally, I'd use a Zinsser primer, like 123.

No matter what paint you use though, good prep/tools/techniques are 75% of a good result!

Faron
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Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
17 years ago
No matter what paint you use though, good prep/tools/techniques are 75% of a good result!

There is the best answer.

My opinion only, any top of the line products from a REAL paint store( Ben Moore) will do you well. They can match any color you come up with AND answer questions reasonably well. Stay away from Kilz, Behr etc.
trendystamper
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you everyone for your input.
We're planning on doing the painting ourselves, so all the info I can get upfront before starting is a plus.

Faron - I appreciate your thorough explanation, especially on the Primer and Expressions line.

Christophern - part of the problem in my rural is not having a REAL paint store. I'm dealing with Wal-Mart, local Hardware stores, and Lumber/Building suppliers in which paint is not the main commodity.

There is a paint store one town over which I have used in the past (used to sell Ponderosa paint) But they haven't sold that in quite awhile.
Plus they have switched paint suppliers twice in the last 18 months due to quality issues.
I'm hesitant to use their paint, when they are still determining which paint they want to stand behind.

Teryl
decorativewalls
17 years ago
There is nothing wrong with the Kilz casual paint . The area of concern with the paint is the right person designated to work in that department (paint department-not the garden center). The paint itself is a good grade of paint(acrylic based). Kilz doesn't have a big color selection if you are going for lots of color choices.