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What paint brands do you avoid

notmine

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Apr 16, 2023
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I’m still in the process of deciding on paint color for my garage but I find it very frustrating trying to decide what brand of paint to use and for my garage it’s got to be quality first and cost secondary consideration.
So far I’ve narrowed it down to BM an Sherwin Williams and to stay away from Behr paints although I’ve used Behr in other projects and I was happy with the results.
Just hoping to get a few comments on the topic
 
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four.cycle

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I wouldn't put Behr paint on my worst enemy's doghouse.

I've used a lot of brands of paint. Right now I'm using an ACE Hardware house brand "Royal". Pretty nice stuff. For $45 bucks a gallon it should be.

Paint is one of those things where "it's the Indian, not the arrow." Painting is 90% prep and 10% painting - doesn't matter how much money you spend on paint, if you don't do the proper prep work, it's going to fail prematurely.

That said, I've had Behr FALL OFF in less than a year on a couple exterior application jobs.

(And yes, I do have some clue about prep. First thing I ever painted was my desk - in 1965.)

(Just got home - at 11:10 pm - after a few hours trying to finish up a job at the dance studio. Couldn't do the last door because... it has to be closed in order to enable to burglar alarm. Have to go back tomorrow morning and try to get it done before about 12:30.)
 

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JJ Quick

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Kelly-Moore for me, but I am biased, being a San Carlos, Ca. native.
Have never had any issues with Behr.
As always, YMMV.
 

Kuma601

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Behr has done ok here, mostly interior. Have not tried any Lowes Valspar. DE has been my usual go to for exterior, the south side has faded and is beginning to chip, the N, E and W sides look good. This has been on the house about 16 years so completely happy.
 

Snip's

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P0234

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Is Behr the Fram of the paint world? I love their pro line (I series) of interior paint, it's like old school regular paint, just paint. I really dislike the all in ones, drywall mud, fire retardant, acoustic block, primer and paint all in one bucket. Coverage, 10 SQ ft per gallon... And somehow it leaves brush strokes even if you use a roller...lol.

I also love making the people at home Depot color match it to the other lines. They grumble how it will never match the sample, blah blah.
 

hefnerconstructionlc

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Kansas
Ben Moore, Sherwin, Valspar all great. Funny Valspar now owned by Sherwin. If cost no problem, I choose Ben for certain items. Sherwin treats me better on pricing. I like that Sherwin is very good about keeping paint records. Box store paint not as easy in that respect.
 

strutaeng

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I've used several BM, PPG, SW and paint from the big box stores, including Valspar and Behr. Honestly, anything in the $30/gal and up is going to be pretty good. Some paints are easier to work with however, but the typical DIYer is not really going to know the difference.

Actually, I would assume a lower priced paint in higher sheens would outperform the higher priced flat paints and low sheens. I joke that flat paints are nothing more than primers with pigment ☺️... don't tell that to the interior designer ladies though 🙊
 

97tj-neil

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My SIL is a kitchen cabinet refinisher and knows quite a few paint contractors in her area as a result. She claims that every pro painter she knows uses one of 2 brands - Ben Moore or Sherwin Williams. Anecdotal, I know, but interesting at least.

I have used quite a bit of Behr just due to the cost and availability. At SIL's advice I recently tried some SW Emerald for a few rooms I repainted in our house, and I see what the fuss is bout. Seriously nice paint to work with. As a bonus, the sales people that work in their stores seem very knowledgeable; much more so than the typical HD employee.
 

Norcal

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Well, I guess I'm the outcast (again, lol), but I use Behr exclusively. I have never had a problem with it.
If you get 10 years out of a exterior paint job it did well, my shop exterior is Behr part was painted in 2011, & the main part was done a couple of years prior, the 2011 vintage is looking good, the rest is showing it's age, I have no complaints except how expensive paint is today. But there is nothing more expensive then cheap paint, masking tape, learned about both the hard way.
 

CSRPenFab

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Meridian Idaho
I avoid Behr (Home Depot paint) at all costs. Several years ago, I did a bunch of consulting (safety engineer) at their plant in So. CA, and I quickly learned that most of their paint is basically colored water... Funniest story there was a new vacuum lift they installed to assist employees in palletizing 5-gallon buckets of paint. I was heavily involved in the ergonomics improvements. The first day the system went live, a newbie employee placed the vacuum clamp right over the bung-hole in the 5-gallon lid and sucked all the paint up into the half million dollar system creating a major FUBAR situation.

I've had good luck with quality paint from Sherwin Williams.
 

Tynee

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In the Heart of the Bluegrass
As a DIY'er with quite a bit of painting done, I've never had trouble with Behr, but I do prefer SW. The only thing I'll never buy another gallon of is Porter. It's like tinted water...
 
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cgrutt

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Prefer Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore. I'm doing a project now with Valspar and while it covers pretty good it doesn't hold onto brush at all. Really annoying cutting in corners on the ceiling, etc. I was somewhat surprised how good it looked when dry however. I did a couple of projects for a friend who only buys Behr for price. Honestly hate using that stuff poor coverage and makes a mess with drips etc.
 

vavet

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Ashland, VA
We had various rooms in our previous home professionally painted...I hate painting.
Our painting contractor used SW or BM exclusively. They are pricey. When I needed some touch-up paint earlier this year (that house is now a rental), they sold me the contractor grade paint only because I carried in the can that had been used previously. It's about $50/gallon retail, but they normally won't sell it retail. Some of the retails grades are nearly $100/gallon.

We used Behr paint in that house when we first bought it, before I learned how much I hate painting. It needed to be redone, but it was 17 years old, so I call that a win. We repainted that one room with the same color.
 

Davefr

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Behr goes on like Molasses yet covers like water. Paint professionals say, "it's better to have bare walls then Behr on the walls".

I've always had the best result using SW or Benjamin Moore but some regional brands are really quite good like Miller, Dunn Edwards, etc.

Never buy the manufacturers rock bottom value paint but you don't need to buy the top shelf either. If you buy one notch down from their ultra premium brand you get excellent paint at a better price.

If buying multiple gallons from SW, ask to sign up for a professional cash discount. I thinks it's around 30% off list price. You don't need a contractors license but YMMV.

Don't forget that 80% of a good paint shop is prep. I'd rather use Behr on a properly prepared surface then SW Duration on a poorly prepared substrate.
 

four.cycle

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Davefr said:
"... some regional brands are really quite good like Miller, Dunn Edwards, etc...."

My favorite was Parker - made right here. They pulled the plug and are no longer in business.
Miller had a store here but pulled out - I have to drive all the way up to Burien to find a store. Great product, though.

I've had great luck with Kelly-Moore, Sherwin-Williams, and (believe it or not) Dutch Boy.
Glidden - okay.

P0234 said:
Is Behr the Fram of the paint world?

I think so. People either love it or hate it.
I used it on two different exterior jobs. Both properly sanded and prepped and primed with KILZ exterior primer. (Back when they made two different flavors.) BOTH jobs the paint started falling off the surface within 12 months. In flakes. Like... peeling chrome on a wrench.
Go figure, huh?
 

7th Kahuna

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It looks like you found the right stuff.

For others reading along:

I have had fine luck with Behr but for interior walls only, and flat or eggshell only. I don't know if they are still regularly changing their formulation but the last couple times I used their semi-gloss, I found it to be too thick going on and was left chasing runs all through the projects. I haven't used it in eight or ten years. Perhaps they designed it for spraying and I was rolling, but what had been my go-to paint for kitchens and bathrooms wasn't working for me any more. I have never used Behr for exterior except for temporary things. It may be fine but I'm not interested in the experiment.

For Semi-Gloss interior and for all my exterior work I use Dunn Edwards. (Keep in mind, each manufacturer has different grades of paint.)

For Cabinets and the like, I've used Vista and Sherman Williams. Dunn Edwards I'm sure has a product too. I've heard good things about Benjamin Moore for furniture.

I have never sprayed acrylic paint, all my experience is with brush and roller.

Good quality tools are important too. I started out buying rollers and brushes in discount stores. Not the best idea, though I did get some nice brushes at BigLots once. I still buy rollers at Home Depot, but the best quality, and generally clean them when done. I try to get multiple uses out of each roller. Even for single use, I would not buy a cheap roller, too many fibres come loose in the paint. I buy my brushes at Dunn Edwards. 99% of the time you will find me with a Dunn Edwards 'Summertime' angled sash brush. I really like them. I also use a heavy-duty Dunn Edwards roller handle (they don't flex as much, which means your roller cover stays put better). I clean and reuse my brushes until the bristles start to get stiff. They don't really look different, but they start to feel different. It seems you never get them 100% clean. I've never tried brush cleaners. The Home Depot 'Best' brushes aren't bad. I've used them as well. Other brands, I have no idea.

For those of us in SoCal, if you have a AAA membership, I believe you can use it for a discount at Sherman Williams and perhaps others.

As has been mentioned, cheap paint is never cheap and prep is key.

I did some painting for a friend once, bedrooms, bath and hall. They wanted me in and out fast, young kids, insisted that I didn't need to prep the walls. I insisted on TSP and primer in the bathroom. Six months later the bedroom walls were pealing. They have asked me, when I have time, to repaint in the bedrooms again (now that the kids are older). I am never going to have that time. What a mess. With paint you really get one chance to do it right, or infinite to do it wrong. In my first place, I drywalled over the ceiling in my bathroom, just to avoid the 'remodeled' mess the previous owners had left. That was a combination of poor prep work, poor painting, and condensation. I tried scraping and gave up.
 
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7th Kahuna

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using the Behr Bonding Primer and finish coat. Worked fantastic.
Glad to hear the Behr bonding primer has worked in a garage environment. Years ago, I bid a job for Toys R Us. Part of the job was repainting the plastic laminate check out counters. The primer spec'd was XIM UMA Bonder. It was supposed to be extra hard bonding but with new AQMD rules resulting in the withdrawal or reformulation of so many products, I'm not sure if it still works.
 

Wrench97

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I used Behr once never again was warm and dried almost as fast as it went on didn't cover ended up with 4 coats to beige walls with plaster patches using a medium blue paint and primer Behr product.
My go to use to be MAB but have since went with SW and been happy with the product.
 

03ranger

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Wickenburg, AZ
Sereral years ago one of the major paint companies was one of my customers. When I got ready to repaint my house I asked about type of paints. The simple answer was: "Solids by volume indicate how much paint will remain on the surface after the liquids have evaporated".
Another words: Quality paint has the higher solids content.

When shopping for paint this has become one of my first questions. Many places can't/won't answer this question. This is why I choose paint stores over big box stores. Paint store do have the answers.
 

Wrench97

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No love for Valspar? That stuff is my go to paint.
My dad worked for Valspar in the late 40's after the war when he graduated from U Penn, he liked their oil based gloss whites.
About 25 years ago or so they came out with a high gloss latex white I think it was the first one or at least the first one I knew of, I used it on the front door and trim it worked well and held up very well I just painted over it last spring.
 

Norcal

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My dad worked for Valspar in the late 40's after the war when he graduated from U Penn, he liked their oil based gloss whites.
About 25 years ago or so they came out with a high gloss latex white I think it was the first one or at least the first one I knew of, I used it on the front door and trim it worked well and held up very well I just painted over it last spring.
Valspar owned a company called Colony Paints, which used a powdered colorant which was provided by the manufacturer in plastic containers, you picked the desired color, they added it & shook the bucket, it seemed to be a good way to have a consistent color from container to container. I have no clue what happened to them and the local dealers that carried them no longer exist. Their logo looked similar to the NBC peacock.
 

CJM8515

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every single person i have talked to and even a painting contractor told me to stay the F away from behr and do ben moore or sherwin williams.
 

bwringer

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Indianapolis
Honestly, I've been super happy with the Pittsburgh paint at Menard's. I usually get the "Grand Distinction", one step down from the absolute top of the line.

Meanard's also sells and aggressively pushes Dutch Boy, which isn't very... great.

Sounds like I'd probably soil myself if I tried some Sherwin-Williams.
 
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