I've never used BM, there is not a store locally that carries it, but have used Sherwin-Williams. I've also picked up the cheapest of the cheap semi-gloss white paint from Walmart and Menards, and everything in between. Some go on a bit thicker, some cover in two coats that take others 4 or 5, and some are more tolerant of scrubbing. However, the cheapest of the cheap, I think $8/ gallon semi-gloss white from Walmart looks just as good as it did when I painted it on some of the trim in the house 5 years ago, and it gets scrubbed down every couple weeks, touch ups disappear even years later. And honestly, a lifetime warranty sounds great, but how often do you paint your walls? But I can't argue for or against BM, but I can say that sometimes you can get away with paying less and still get a quality, durable paint. Although, I'm sure others would disagree.

Ditto what MrsMM said. Except that I'm very picky about my white paint. Love the white from True Value and Behr's white. Also, a fan of Sherwin Williams paint. It's been years & years since I used WalMart paint; the white was too gray for my taste but that particular paint may be ancient history. Oh, Dutch Boy has a nice white, too. Used it in my bathrooms...their 'kitchen & bath paint'. It has held up very nicely.

I will only use Sherwin Williams 'Super Paint' on exterior doors. That stuff is incredible. I have it on the metal door to my shop...the door that my Lab scratches to be let in. Unbelieveable but that paint has held up to a big dog scratching at it....going on three years now without a single touchup. (I'm in the shop almost every day thru the winter; not so much in summer.)

I've not used much BM paint...had some water based clear finish from BM that I did NOT like so I'm kinda' in the 'once burned, twice shy' camp as far as BM goes. Only other BM product was some Aura oil based enamel. It's OK.

Yes, there is a huge difference between behr and BM. You may need twice as many coats of behr and the colors may not be the same. It pays to buy good paint, unless you don't value your time at all.

Having said that, although I do believe BM truly is superior to most other readily available brands, I refuse to buy their paint because I can't deal with the attitude of the snotty little princesses who run the local BM store.

I've always used Behr paint and it's always performed wonderfully. It has always covered in two coats, except when I used a deep red. I've never had problems with scrubbing it, except when I used a Mr.Clean magic eraser- mistake! I've used both their Premium Plus and the Premium Plus Ultra. I don't think the Ultra is worth the extra cost. I just used Premium Plus to paint our dining room. In two coats we covered a deep smokey plum color with a light greyish blue called Cloudy Day. I'm sure BM is great paint, it's just not worth it for me to pay the extra cost when I've been so satisfied with Behr.

I have been a Behr fan since I read about it in Consumer Reports years ago. Recently I tried Valspar (Lowe's) and like it equally well.

I agree with writersblock about BM. I went in there recently to get advise on paint for furniture and was met with a very surly attitude. Didn't surprise me that the place was empty of customers.

Maybe BM gets a lot of press here because the colors are familiar to many. I think many use BM colors but have them mixed in another paint brand.

"What REALLY is the difference between BM and any other paint?"

The difference between any superior paint (BM, SW, Ball and Farrow, etc.) and value brands carried by Big Blue and Big Orange is mainly two things:

Percentage content of solids and consistency of the product.

I have never had a bad experience using either BM or SW. My experience with Behr, on the other hand, has been spotty (pun intended) - I've had some decent cans of Behr and some have been terrible. The bad cans had the consistency of water mixed with sawdust. Couldn't avoid sags and inconsistent coverage and it never did dry properly.

If you buy good paint, the job is much more likely to be close to professional quality.

You're rolling the dice if you use inexpensive paint and for me, the $100 or so difference in material cost is not worth taking the chance on a poor paint job.

Good luck.

I've used lots and lots of different paints. I've gone from the top of the line (FPE- something like 120.00) all the way down to the cheapo walmart paint. Here is my take.

I've painted my cabinets with Fine paints of europe. You can't beat the feel. It looks and feels very close to factory. I'm actually going to spray all the doors in the house. So, I'll find out how it sprays. :) Also, the paint was really heavy considering how small the cans were.

Sherwin Williams- Very good and reasonably thick. Coats in two. I'd say that BM is a little better in thickness. But, I haven't used aura yet. But, I'd say its pretty comparable.

Cabinet coat. Thin, but has a really great finish. It is very smooth and rock hard. I believe that the ace paint is right along the lines with this. I used it on our laundry cabinets and was happy with it.

Pratt and Lambert- if I had to use a lower, but really high quality paint, I'd stay here. I've been especially happy with their paint. They color in all the bm and sw colors and will try to match farrow and ball. I'd say they were pretty successful in that. The top of the line was wonderful and thick and I'd almost say that it's one coat. And, it was really cheap. I think it was on the lines of Valspar- maybe 38 for the top of the line gallon. The walls still look great after a few years and the touch ups have matched. .

Bought valspar for our home trim and doors, etc. I wasn't happy with it. It seemed watery and didn't cover well. This was the top of the line valspar. I wouldn't buy it again. But, there is a silver lining. There is an off the shelf black I would buy again. I painted a cabinet on a whim and it looks great!

Walmart paint. My mom bought some stuff due to consumer reports. It painted fine, but I thought that it was really watery and it didn't cover all that great. After a lot of coats, it looked good. It was definitely acceptable. Still looks great after a couple of years.

I haven't tried behr, btw.

From all my paint obsession with paint. I think that pratt and lambert was the best buy for me. I haven't heard any bad reviews. faron and the paint guy in the paint forum always say that if you can stay in the best of whatever paint you can afford, you'll be most happy. My favorite was the FPE, but it's a huge cost. But, I was really happy with the PL too.

I remember reading that the shelf life on latex paint is something like two to five years. So, you might take that into consideration as maybe the paint you were using was breaking down so the color was changing.

The paint forum is extraordinarily helpful on paints. Faron and the paint guy are really, really helpful with any questions you have.

Good luck!
Kim

I used BM in the past, but Muralo Ultra Ceramic for the kitchen. It's the one my GC wanted to use, and per Paint forum, it's preferred by some pros. It goes on beautifully. I painted the nearby PR myself with the kitchen paint, and it was wonderful to use. No brush marks, it self-fills or spreads or something. It's washable, and I used flat so I could touch up easily. Most here seem to use BM, but there are other premium paints to consider, it turns out. Who knew?

I've painted a lot of rooms in the past, using all types of paint (Behr, SW, Mythic, other less expensive hardware store brands I can't remember the names of). I love, love, love BM's Aura paint. Everything...any color...covers in 2 coats. I've even gotten away with 1 coat for lighter colors (out of laziness!). It's totally worth the price, for me. It makes painting go so much faster and easier and so far, it cleans up great. And it's low VOC, which is very important to me.
JMHO

We painted the whole house when we bought it 3 years ago. We painted our entire upper level ourselves with Behr. We hired professionals to paint our living room because it had 19' ceilings and they used Sherwin Williams. We did a navy accent wall and light blue on the other walls. Our upstairs bedroom is the same color (navy accent), but Behr paint. The SW paint in the living room was a much nicer color, finish and just more relaxing. When the kitchen was re-done, we used the same SW navy as in the living room. Love it! Used SW navy color for the custom cabinets in the island. I'd love to repaint our bedroom in the SW paint :)

Antoher poster mentioned the Behr red. I painted the lower level powder room red. I used 2 coats of Kilz primer (white) and it took FOUR coats of red. Seriously, I was so tired of seeing those bathroom walls!! Last summer I painted one of the bedrooms red & white. It covered a very bright royal blue (from previous owners). I used SW in this room. First, they gave me a gray primer. OMGosh - what a difference! The SW red covered nicely in 1 coat, but I used 2 coats and it's beautiful.

Also, SW isn't really much more than Behr if you wait for their sales. They do 40% off sales maybe 3 or 4 times a year.

I did not know there is a difference. I thought it was a painter thing. I was asked specifically to get BM ceiling paint and BM wall paint. I told him we have used Behr's and he suggested SW and as a last resort Glidden. We used HD Freshaire in our LR which has since been discontinued but DH really liked it and it has held up to the pets. We also bought a 5 gl pail of gray of unknown make at some discount whse for our basement and garage floor that was actually the best paint. You can get a $5 off coupon online for BM now.

BM doesn't have a lower line like most other paints so they don't get the reputation that comes along with cheap paints that don't cover well. Also BM does an excellent job winning over architects and decorators from the moment they step foot off the college campus. They specialize in the home market, not commercial. And they have a good product. Other lines have a good product too on their upper lines, but they don't push them in the way BM does. End result is that decorators and architects rave about BM.

I always used BM and had to put up with the snotty saleswoman at my local store. She is truly obnoxious. When we redid the kitchen, I went back, found my colors and gave them to my GC to get the paint. Turned out he got Behr instead and they just color matched it. It was a perfect match and it only took 2 coats. I then bought the rest of the paint for all the other rooms and continued to use the Berh. My BIL is a professional painter and said he has used all the brands. This one was his favorite- he said he was shocked when he went to paint our new banquette and realized he forgot to get more primer for it. It only took 3 coats of the Premium Ultra that we had left over from the ceiling to cover it perfectly. He said he is sold and that its his new favorite.

Antoher poster mentioned the Behr red. I painted the lower level powder room red. I used 2 coats of Kilz primer (white) and it took FOUR coats of red.

Deb, you are supposed to use a gray tinted primer underneath red paint. Similarly, it's a good idea to use tinted primers underneath any dark colored paint. So, yeh, it's going to take a lot of red paint to cover over white primer/ white paint. I wouldn't fault the paint in this instance...least ways, not until you try it over a tinted primer.

I like Ben Moore's color palette. And the coverage. And the "feel" of the paint. Never went to design school or architect school...so I've not been brainwashed by them. (Mom always used Ben Moore--may have been brainwashed by her.)

I have painted with SW...it's fine. I'm just more familiar with Ben Moore's paint fans. Would LOVE to try F&B sometime...no one carries it locally. Haven't had a chance to use CB2 for the same reason--though my sister liked it.

Helped a friend paint with Behr. Once. We ended up re-priming the room and then we re-painted with Ben Moore. And THAT is when I lost all respect for CR and cancelled my subscription.

Seriously. Worst paint I have ever run a roller through.

Cilantro - I know now about the gray primer! Would have been nice if the Home Depot guy would've mentioned it to me when he was making red for me :)

Here in the Bay Area, painting contractors are very loyal to Kelly Moore, whose prices are also very reasonable. When I had my entire house painted three years ago, it took me ages to find the right warm white for the walls. Endless samples and splotches. I finally chose SW Antique White. My painter asked if it was okay to have KM color-match. It was a perfect match. In fact, it looked even better than my SW sample. Recently I painted my kitchen and got a new batch mixed by KM. It blended perfectly into the 3-year-old stuff. I never try to remove marks from my walls. I touch-up paint over everything, still matching.

I'm a terrible painter, whining and complaining every step of the way. I had to prime and double coat my ceiling. Because of the knock-down texture I got a 3/4" roller so I could get into all the nooks and crannies. I didn't have a single drip or splatter on my face/head.

I confess I start with BM and their myriad colors. It seems to be a common language we all speak. But I don't know that they're any better than other brands. Even my BM Cloud White cabinets was mixed by Kelly Moore.

I dunno. I've used them all, including BM "Aura" which took more coats than any other paint I've ever used to cover. Aura does come out of my hair easier than other brands I've used. So I guess it's worth it if using a color that doesn't match my hair? BM Aura does dry fast which is nice since I have to do so damn many coats. (It's good if you're squeezing it in when kids are at school.)

OK-since most all rooms will be painted by pros and NOT me, I think I'll ask them their preference.
Funny you mentioned red-I have a deep red in my guest bedroom. At HD, the paint guy there is AWESOME and did warn me about using a tinted primer. I was lazy and opted instead to use the primer and paint in one. It took 3 coats.
And time to put primer and paint on my to do list from our repipe. I've been doing cabinets and now that those are done, I need to help the rest of the house!

I'm awaiting a couple of unfinished saddle stools for my counter. (It would appear the entire internet's supply is on backorder waiting for the single manufacturer to start shipping.) I plan to paint them BM Caliente, a nice fiery gutsy red. The guy at the BM store suggested Advance waterborne alkyd paint for a good, long-wearing finish. He was a blue-collar guy, not snotty at all. :)

In 2010, I painted the entire interior of a house I was flipping in Behr. In December 2011, my daughter and I painted the entire interior of her house in Behr. In 2010-2011, I painted the entire interior of my house in BM. This summer I am painting the entire interior of my new house and I am going back to Behr.

In all those gallons of paint, I only had one go on splotchy and give me trouble and it was a BM green/gray color. It was just a bad gallon of paint.

My daughter's house has held up beautifully in Behr as has my BM house. She painted a lot of deep colors and they look wonderful. My personal preference is I like the way wall color cuts better with BM but I prefer to brush trim with Behr Satin. I think the BM and Behr roll equally well.

So I have 27 gallons of paint to purchase and apply this summer so I am going to save a buck and go with Behr. I tried to become a BM paint snob when I painted my current house but it didn't work for me!!

I use Behr's regular paint, not their Ultra and I apply a primer if I need a primer (and gray if I am painting a deep color). I grab anyone's chip that catches my eye and have it matched in Behr. I use the best brushes and rollers and that makes a big difference in whatever paint you choose.

When I hand paint cabinets, I have a strong preference for BM Satin Impervo, I have had wonderful results with that.

I painted a friends kitchen in deep red BM Aura. It was a very different and amazing paint. But you had to use it a little differently and it was a bit of a pain for someone who has been painting one way for 30 years. It's coverage was incredible as was its cost!

We've had parts of our interior painted twice by professionals (you couldn't pay me enough to paint our vaulted rooms) and both times they used Frazee. I brought up BM/SW/etc once, and the contractor said it was up to me, but I'd save money with Frazee and he preferred the product. I was buying the paint directly, so he wasn't receiving a kickback. The other rooms I've painted myself, and I've tried Behr. It was fine, but with the more saturated colors, of course it took more coats.

The salespeople at my local Frazee store are awesome. Very helpful and knowledgeable - they even gave me an old paint fan deck when I was in for the 3rd time with toddlers. Looking back, though, that was probably more for their sanity than mine. :)

My entire house, inside and out, is painted with either Behr or Kelley Moore. Behr if I did it myself, KM when I hired someone. I've never had any issues with the Behr. At worst, it covers in 2 coats (which I kind of expect anyway, due to my painting technique). Although with Behr Ultra, I've been able to do just one coat (with a bit of touch-up), including when I painted the dining room chocolate brown over the original white.

But I haven't used BM, so I can't do a direct comparison.

I use BM almost exclusively and have been very happy. I tried their aura but didn't like it (too thin, dries to quickly, etc). I'm going to try 2 rooms with FPE (one navy and the other dark red). My BM store is part of a local hardware store 2 miles from my house. I'm in there so much that they give me the contractor discount. If you're painting lots of rooms it doesn't hurt to ask. I have 20 colors and trim for 3 baths, 11 rooms plus halls and one colored ceiling (my daughter wanted purple). I have over 80 pint samples! This is the 2nd time we've painted the house.

We painted my sister's house with Behr and it was horrible. New walls that we primed and then the top coat peeled off in one room. It looks horrible. Maybe it was a bad gallon?

I am looking forward to giving the ben moore water-borne alkyd a try when I finally re-paint my bedroom!

Okay, I’m going to put in my 2 cents here, mostly to educate the DIY’ers out there About paint.

I worked in the paint department of both Home Depot & Lowes for a combined 6 yrs up until 2016. I’ve taken ALL the available paint classes. I’m going to tell you guys a secret... the reason it takes a MINIMIUM of 2 coats, is due to several influencing factors. #1) your wall texture. The more porous, or heavily textured your wall is, the more likely you will get less “coverage” out of your paint, because it is either being sucked up by the texture, (usually unprimed) or it is a bumpy texture which has more surface area to cover per brush/roller stroke.

#2) your roller. The texture of your roller must match the texture of the wall. Smooth walls require a shorter napp. Heavier textures require a longer napp. When these things don’t “match” so to speak, you’ll get what are called “hollidays” in the painting world. It’s those little spots where the “under Color” shows through, as if the new paint took a “Holliday” in that spot. This happens all the time when using rollers, regardless, but it’s worse when your napp is too short for the texture.

#3) the amount of titanium white your paint brand started out with Before tinting. Titanium white is GENERALLY what are Considered “solids” in the paint, although I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting.

#4) the COLOR of the new paint.

each color has a “depth” which requires a particular amount of tint. Whites, off whites, pastels, and generally lighter colors are tinted using a WHITE tinting base. These cans are the purest whites that company offers, and can be used right off the shelf. They are usually 3/4 or more full of Titanium white.

Medium dark colors are tinted into a “medium” tint base. These cans CANNOT be sold directly off the shelf and must be tinted. They have less overall volume inside the can to begin with, (in order to leave room for tint.) & they are around 1/2 titanium white.

Dark or deep colors are mixed into a ”DEEP” tint base. These cans have the least overall volume to begin with, and there’s about 1/4 or less of titanium white in each can.

Here’s the secret.. titanium white is what provides the coverage! Tint, by itself, doesn’t cover, it’s somewhat like a gel, and is VERY sticky on its own. It is essentially pure pigment, mixed with an additive to make it viscous.

when you take a color, let’s say RED, which by itself has a very translucent property, and you dump a whole boatload of it into a can which (in order to achieve that deep rich he’d you’re looking for) has virtually no titanium white in it, you’re going to get a see through paint, no matter the brand.

now, have you ever been offered a tinted (usually grey) primer to put on under that red paint? Did you choose against it, thinking it would be unnecessary? Think again! That neutral grey, gives that red paint a dark neutral base to start from! It richens the color on the first coat! You can sometimes have the primer tinted pink, but grey primer or a grey paint base coat works best. (Don’t believe me? Do a sample board painted 1/2 white, 1/2 medium grey, then paint red across the whole thing.... see? 😉)

also, don’t expect your deeper colors to dry as quickly. they don’t. Tint, by itself, never stud.. or “cures” because there are zero gardeners in it. All that tint needed for that deep color, created a very sticky situation inside that can.

The other secret I’m going to tell you deals with the other additives in your can besides the titanium white. They are the clear liquids. The chemical mixture and amount of each of these, determines the dry time, viscosity, elasticity, yellowing propensity, durability, hardness and water soluabLilith of the paint. They are basically the GLUE holding it all together, and keeping it on your wall.

Each company has a different proprietary blend, making its paint unique.

Ive found, that for the most part, how well it turns out with YOUR can of paint, is based on the project, the knowledge of the painter, and the teaching/advising capabilities of the sales clerk. Other than that, MOST paints are created FAIRLY equally.

Do your research people.

There! Now that’s a thing you know. 😉👍

Titanium white is GENERALLY what are Considered “solids” in the paint, although I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting.

Titanium white is not generally considered the "solid" in the paint and if it were it would be terrible. Although titanium oxide is a solid, it is a pigment which will be at most 10% by volume. The larger part of the solids in paints is going to be the binder, which should be 3 or 4 times the titanium.

These cans are the purest whites that company offers, and can be used right off the shelf. They are usually 3/4 or more full of Titanium white.

An off the shelf paint is going to be 40% solids by volume at most and that includes titanium oxide and the binders. Only a 2 part epoxy is going to approach 75% solid volume and it isn't going to be anywhere near all titanium oxide.

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Paint quality is a combination of the pigment, binder, additives and medium. In the long run the binder is the important part and not the pigment. Any of the components in paint, the tools used to apply them and the skill of the person applying them can all affect the number of coats needed.

Most paints that are actually single coat paints tend to do it with binders and additives rather than pigment. However, each of those are specific to the product and paint.