Ok everyone, I am looking at painting almost the entirety of the interior of my house. We're talking every ceiling on down. I have not done much painting in awhile, so I was just looking for opinions on paint brands. I know some claim spending more on SW or BM is worth it, and I realize SW has their 30% off right now. What's the preference for ceiling, trim, and walls? Or is there anything I should emphatically avoid?

I like sherwin Williams duration over their emerald. My BIL bought emerald for their house and it was so thick it was hard to roll on.

Duration is one below in quality, but imo, infinitely easier to use.

I man of the opinion that you spend the same amount on paint no matter what brand you buy... however, better brands mean you spend less time painting...
you can buy cheap paint and spend longer applying several coats and then have to re paint again in 5 years.... or you can buy quality paint and spend less time applying and it last for 20 years..

I love SW paint as I loathe painting and want to get it done as fast as possible and not have to paint again anytime soon.

I am either a Monarch (Pittsburgh Paints) or a Benjamin Moore guy. Get eggshell, it baffles me why anyone would go with flat paint on their interior walls.

Pendragon12 said:

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I like sherwin Williams duration over their emerald. My BIL bought emerald for their house and it was so thick it was hard to roll on.

Duration is one below in quality, but imo, infinitely easier to use.

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Thanks!

IF you do like flat, which we have in every room of the house, sherwin Williams Cashmere is available in a dead flat that applies like butter and is actually cleanable. The cheap stuff will wipe off with two swipes of a paper towel, the cashmere can take some pretty good scrubbing with no effect. The cashmere is all I have used in the last three houses. For ceilings they make a low cost "ceiling white". It works fine for ceilings but I have actually started putting the same color or a complimentary color on the ceiling. That's all preference though. Trim, doors, moulding, cabinets etc, there Are a couple options that would depend on if you are doing spray or brush and roll. There is a water base that flows together very nice for this. It's a "pro classic" something or other.

We used SW Superpaint. I was prepared to pay all the way up to the Emerald if necessary. I asked the painter which one he would use on his house and the Superpaint was his response. We did eggshell on the walls and have touched it up multiple times with no blending issues whatsoever.

We did a guest bathroom ourselves before the big remodel and used the Emerald in there. It looks great, but the painter told me that anytime he has used it, that it's almost impossible to touch-up and he always has to budget to re-paint an entire wall if Emerald was used. I don't know whether that's true or not, just what he told me.

For the trim, definitely SW pro-classic semi-gloss. It's water-based and is fairly idiot proof. Just paint it on and leave it alone. Brush strokes will almost completely disappear in a couple of minutes.

Just to note - I used their eggshell/satin finish and it's awesome for walls.

I just used their ceiling paint for my ceiling, so flat.

YellAg2004 said:

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We used SW Superpaint. I was prepared to pay all the way up to the Emerald if necessary. I asked the painter which one he would use on his house and the Superpaint was his response. We did eggshell on the walls and have touched it up multiple times with no blending issues whatsoever.

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+1 on their SuperPaint and for the same reason. My neighbor that's a painter told me the same thing.

This is common with thicker and higher quality paints. As you try to touch up, you build the paint film up thicker in those areas and it tends to stand out more.

Big difference between duration home and superpaint is durability. Duration is more durable, so it is better in high traffic areas like hallways, bathroom, and kids rooms.

Contractors like superpaint because it covers well, usually one coat will cover almost any color change.

87IE said:

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YellAg2004 said:

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We used SW Superpaint. I was prepared to pay all the way up to the Emerald if necessary. I asked the painter which one he would use on his house and the Superpaint was his response. We did eggshell on the walls and have touched it up multiple times with no blending issues whatsoever.

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+1 on their SuperPaint and for the same reason. My neighbor that's a painter told me the same thing.

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Plus infinity on SW SuperPaint as I've used it and a couple of professional painters that did our house swears by it.

We're currently doing SW Emerald matte on the walls and Eminence ceiling white on...the ceilings. We're very happy with it.

SW Emerald. Fantastic results.

I understand why some prefer super premium paint but personally, I think it is overkill for most DIYers. If you have a light colored wall in a normal room that you are just covering with a different color, there is no need a paint and primer in one product.

A lot of the SW and BM paint are super thick and dry really fast and if not applied correctly and will flash like crazy especially with the recent VOC formulation changes. They may scrub better or whatever but can also be super difficult to touch up without streaks due to the sheen (even in flat or eggshell).

Perhaps I am a crappy painter but unless I actually need to go over zebra stripes, I've found good results with just a standalone builder grade type of paint like PPG Mopako. It is half the price, frustration free, dummy proof, and if you have to, it touches up perfectly.

If paying a professional, go with the premium stuff because the labor is the bulk of the cost but doing it yourself, test a gallon of it before going all in. Just my two cents as a handy guy who has done a lot of renovation work but doesn't paint frequently.

This thread is relevant to my interests. I'm getting ready to paint the house I just bought. Bought samples of SW Cashmere low lustre. Guess I'll see how I like the samples, but you guys seem to love Superpaint.

BM Ben for walls
Cheap store brand for ceilings
Ben Moore advance to cabinets and trim

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'm thinking of probably trying the SW superpaint for starters and see how I like it. I've got a lot of medium to dark colors to cover, although in some cases I might be going darker. The paint and primer will probably make things a little easier.

Primer is pretty inexpensive, I would do a coat of just primer and then two coats of paint to get a good covering.

DartAg1970 said:

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Primer is pretty inexpensive, I would do a coat of just primer and then two coats of paint to get a good covering.

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I agree with this. Primer is cheap, and 1 coat usually covers and dries within a couple hours. Paint/primer combos have always failed to meet my expectation or those they advertised.

Yeah, I would still prime if you are looking to cover a darker color with a lighter color. I'm having to prime everything because the entire house - walls and ceilings - are beige, and I'm looking to go with a lighter grey color on the walls and white ceilings to brighten the house up a little bit.

Always prime. ALWAYS. SW/BM paint over a primer likely won't need a second coat.

Bumping this thread with a question on SW paint. It looks like SuperPaint comes in Flat, Satin, Velvet, and Semi-Gloss, but it seems like everyone online talks about SW "Eggshell" finish. Is Eggshell (low luster, not totally flat) Satin or Velvet?

GarlandAg2012 said:

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Bumping this thread with a question on SW paint. It looks like SuperPaint comes in Flat, Satin, Velvet, and Semi-Gloss, but it seems like everyone online talks about SW "Eggshell" finish. Is Eggshell (low luster, not totally flat) Satin or Velvet?

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According to the SW website, their semi-gloss has a slightly higher sheen that the satin. They say the semi-gloss is better for areas that are often cleaned (bathrooms, kitchens) and the satin is perfectly fine for high traffic areas (hallways, bedrooms / kids rooms). I am using the Satin myself, which is what I have used in the past.

We got a sample of the Satin and its a bit more reflective than we want for our bedroom so we will probably go flat/matte in there but everywhere else I think we will do satin. Do you think semi-gloss is necessary for bathrooms or would satin be OK?

I would do satin on the walls not a semi gloss. We got some advice years ago to do semi gloss and its so shiny and if you want to repaint to a satin you will have to prime it first. We ended up redoing it to satin after a few years. We also use superpaint for interior paint and only do duration for exterior. Our painter prefers superpaint as well bc of the same issues with touch up on emerald and duration as mentioned above.

jtraggie99 said:

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Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'm thinking of probably trying the SW superpaint for starters and see how I like it. I've got a lot of medium to dark colors to cover, although in some cases I might be going darker. The paint and primer will probably make things a little easier.

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We're currently repainting our entire house, with SW superpaint in a satin texture. We're about half way done, doing 1 room per week as we can only work on it during weekends.

I'm VERY impressed with the superpaint. Goes on better than any paint I've ever used, with less mess/splatter. We have had a couple of areas where we had to apply a second coat, but I think thats due to poor application (user error). One of the first rooms we painted was the kitchen, and I had a huge fermentor accident that got the walls & ceiling covered in homebrew yeast cake (long story...). Well, the satin superpaint made it a breeze to wash up, even though the paint was only ~3 days old. It was much easier to clean, with no rub-off, than the adjacent dining room which was yet to be painted.

I guess if I have to have a complaint, it seems to take longer to clean brushes/rollers than other paints I've used.

One other question - we are repainting walls that have been previously textured and painted...mostly going from lighter to darker. I was planning to prime so as to make it more likely that we only need one coat of expensive paint rather than 2. Is priming necessary with superpaint?

GarlandAg2012 said:

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One other question - we are repainting walls that have been previously textured and painted...mostly going from lighter to darker. I was planning to prime so as to make it more likely that we only need one coat of expensive paint rather than 2. Is priming necessary with superpaint?

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No primer necessary.

GarlandAg2012 said:

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We got a sample of the Satin and its a bit more reflective than we want for our bedroom so we will probably go flat/matte in there but everywhere else I think we will do satin. Do you think semi-gloss is necessary for bathrooms or would satin be OK?

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I think semi gloss is just too shiny in general for everything but wood. I would stick with satin (never heard of velvet so no idea where it falls on the sheen scale) as the highest sheen for interior walls.

SW Cashmere is incredible. Find a coupon or find a painter friend with an account and it's almost half off.

I have had excellent results with Kelly-Moore in the past - both interior and exterior!
Not to knock SW or Behr (consumer reports fav) - and I realize this is a discussion on interior paint - but K-M is a Texas based product and their exterior holds up to the torrid Texas heat and humidity extremely well.

We typically use SW SuperPaint. The marketing message on the Cashmere paint sounds great, but no experience with it.

Paint is one of those thing you should not cheap out on. Premium paint, premium brushes, and proper technique.

I'm a Sherwin Williams person myself, but Benjamin Moore and Monarch are fine paints too. Also, there is no substitute for buy quality paint from a quality store with people who know what paint is.

Don't buy your crap at home depo.

Sherwin Williams ProMar 200, great coverage, and if you find the right friend it comes at a great price.

Really liking how the SuperPaint turned out. Even with priming, it took two coats to get the coverage we wanted but maybe with more practice and patience we could have gotten it done in a single coat.