What is the best bang for your buck when it comes to paint?

nvrmndguard

We are getting ready to close on our house July 11th and we are looking to paint.  We will be working on the house for about 3-4 weeks before we move in the middle of August.  We are wanting to paint basically every room in the house (its a 3 bed/2 bath 1700 sq ft) over the course of the weeks so we do not get tired out. 

 Surprisingly, paint is more expensive than we had thought.  Our walls are a light off-white right now, so we should have no problem getting colors to cover over the color.  I'm just wondering what is the best bang for your buck when it comes to the brands of paint out there?  We have a dog, but no children right now, although durability is a concern.

 Thanks!

GeorgiaRiah

My mom swears by Behr.  It costs more than the cheap stuff but the color is richer and it doesn't fade.  It does really even nice coats.

 

John+OurHomefromScratch

I like Olympic from Lowes.  I believe they are low or non-VOC if that helps.  I believe they run around $20 or so a gallon as opposed to $30+ for Benjamine Moore.  The quality is fine.

spalko

I've been in the process of painting our house since January and I've mostly stuck with Behr paint and primer in one. All of our walls were painted different shades of ugly so we chose the primer to help reduce the amount of painting we needed to do. We did opt to use a Martha Stewart paint for our accent wall since it was on sale for super cheap and it took 3 coats to cover completely (it was an olive green shade) so I wasn't too impressed with that. Otherwise, I stick with Behr which runs about $30 a gallon but includes primer too without the primer it's about $27.

2bjam

We painted our entire house with Valspar from Lowe's. No complaints! 

comeongetdown

Behr from Home Depot or Valspar from Lowe's.  You're going to pay more for either, but paint is the sort of thing that you get what you pay for.  I've done quite a bit of painting in my house over the years and have learned a lot.

Good luck with your painting!  It'll wear you out more than I think you realize.  It's hell on your shoulders.  Also since you'll be painting in the middle of the summer, be sure to check the max temp recommendations on whatever paint you get.  You might do well to paint early in the morning and later in the evening and rest or do other renovation stuff during the hottest part of the afternoon. 

Have fun!  and Congrats on your new place!   

afloggie

2bjam:

We painted our entire house with Valspar from Lowe's. No complaints! 

 

This! We just painted our dining room La Fonda Cactus and it looks great.

StevieJo

I've always been a Valspar girl. I recently switched to Olympic One, it costs less and I like it more!

GildedIcon

I have had the worst luck with Behr.  Our professional painters will not use Behr even if customers provide it.

We also had our whole house painted before we moved it, BEST IDEA EVER, you will not regret your plan.

We used all SW low or no VOC paint.  We were a new build so all walls were white.

We used painters due to time. (and we are not DIY'ers)

Every wall has:

1 coat tinted primer

2 coats paint

 I also had a stroke when I went into to order the paint.  Over 12 different colors. 40-something gallons.  Thank goodness they agreed to deliver (for free).

You can imagine that bill!  Because of the volume they gave me a discount, but even so......   yeah the joys of home ownership!?!?!

Good luck