Sherwin-Williams’ Paint Calculator is a tool that helps calculate the amount of paint needed for an exterior painting project based on various factors such as location, square footage, siding type, and more. The calculator gathers detailed information about the texture of your siding, which impacts the amount of paint needed for adequate coverage. It also allows you to add a color selection tool and store locator.
Sherwin Williams paint is thicker than other paints, making it difficult to spray evenly without thinning it. The paint calculator helps plan interior or exterior home painting projects by automating calculations you can make yourself using basic math skills. The general rule of thumb is one gallon per 400 square feet, but this is just a rough guideline. To get a more precise number, you should input the dimensions of the room to be painted and click the button to calculate the amount of paint and man-hours needed for this job.
To calculate the amount of paint needed for a given surface, first calculate the square feet of space that will be coated. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the significance of adhering to temperature guidelines when painting the exterior of your home. SuperPaint is Sherwin Williams’ “standard” exterior paint, priced about mid-range and performing accordingly. It has technology to allow us to paint in various weather conditions.
In summary, Sherwin-Williams’ Paint Calculator is a useful tool for planning, preparing, painting, and cleaning up exterior surfaces. It helps calculate the necessary paint volume based on various factors, including location, square footage, siding type, and more. By following these guidelines, you can ensure a smooth and efficient exterior painting project.
📹 The Best Exterior Paint For Your Home in 2024
In this video, I go over my picks for the absolute best exterior paint for your home. I’m sharing my top 5 favorite exterior paints, then …
📹 Comparing 3 Types of Sherwin Williams Paint (Don’t Waste $$$)
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Benjamin Moore Test coming soon.. Watch Next 👇🏼 Home Depot Paint Comparison 👉🏼 youtu.be/qJm-wBIbk1Q Learn How To Paint a Room 👉🏼 youtu.be/msoKy5-M2X4 Do you need help with your renovation project? 👆🏼Consider joining the members only Discord 🔨Consult directly with Jeff about your project 🔨Crowdsource information on the best products and materials 🔨Post your incredible before and after’s 🔨Meet other DIYers Hit the JOIN button 👆🏼 Once you’ve hit JOIN, go to the members tab to find the link to join the members only Discord 👇🏼 youtube.com/@HomeRenoVisionDIY/membership
Worked for Sherwin for years. I recommend Cashmere to any DIY painters/homeowners. Two coats with a medium nap sheepskin roller (and wash your damn roller covers before you start.) It’s way harder to screw up if you are a slower painter. Less chance of hat banding because of the self leveling. This is how I paint with no tarps/paper/tape and no drips. Touch-ups can also be feathered out nicely. Emerald is like painting with glue. You can get away with one coat if you aren’t drastically changing colors. But two coats is going to give a consistent sheen and coverage, so you might as well get two gallons of Superpaint or Cashmere for every gallon of Emerald and the same performance. Pros don’t need anything above ProMar 200 (or Superpaint if the client is brand conscious.) They cut and roll quickly or they spray so they need a thinner paint. Resilience was great in Florida because it rains all the damn time. I consider it a special use-case. Primer is to adhere and cover. The “paint and primer in one” is NOT a claim for the adhesion factor. It is merely for the coverage because it has a high amount of solids. The guarantees are only if you properly prep the surface, use two full coats, and hit the proper mil thickness. Using TSP and washing your walls is best practice but nobody does it. The pros in Florida at least would straight up laugh at the suggestion of washing the walls or sanding between coats. So if you hire a painter and you’re not actively perusal them do it, they aren’t doing it.
My wife uses the Emerald line in our house for everything mainly because of how easy it is to apply and the final finish once dry- but please don’t spend $110 per gallon. We only go when they have the sale where you can get the paint for half price. The Sherman Williams sales people in the store actually know what they are doing and advising unlike the Lowe’s and HD.
I think the marker would have come out with a different section of the Magick Eraser. The wax in the crayon that came off the wall will coat the eraser. That would make the eraser less effective on the marker. You should use one side of the eraser on the crayon spots, and the other side on the marker. Plus using a different corner of each side for each testing area. I like the majority of the tests you did. I just feel like using fresh cleaning rags with each area gives them all the same chance at performing as intended. I have been a general contractor for only 10 years. I learned a lot from this. Thank you.
As you pointed out, the higher the sheen, the more imperfections show which is why ‘we’ don’t use gloss paints. Builder grade paints are now not flat, but ‘dead flat’ to hide lots of imperfections. I have not painted Super Paint interior, but I know that exterior it sprays like crazy off a roller. I prefer Sherwin Williams Cashmere (Opulence in Canada) and it has nothing to do with costs. I like it because it rolls like silk and ultimately gives a better finish. I’m a painter and limit most of my work to exterior repaints, using S-W Emerald Rain Refresh. I explain to customers that the cost of labor is the same with cheap paints or more expensive paints and trying to save $40 on a job taking the gamble of using a cheap paint isn’t worth it.
4:43 Washing helps for all kinds of normal messes, but there’s some nasty you can’t just wash out. There’s shellac primer when you need to suppress deep, elemental bio-stank. It was the cat hoarder restoration project for us, you’ll know when you need it. And oil primer on wallpaper works without reactivating the glue when you need a quick fix and will be redoing drywall later. Same house, many problems. Also: I personally found Duration and Emerald to be pretty easy to use, in spite of being told Duration is tricky. Duration had no technique caveats when I used it, just don’t thin. What’s hard is you have to resist the urge to touch Emerald before the coat completely dries. But Emerald Flat is how you get a durable ultra-matte finish that isn’t chalky.
I’ve bought a lot of Sherwin Williams paint. The main thing I recommend, don’t buy unless on sale. They have sales literally every month 30~40%, you can wait a week or two for a sale to come around. I exclusively use Emerald level paint due to the ease of application and the ease of getting a good looking result. (I’ve ran out of paint waited a week or two for a sale and finished the project afterwards, with no visible lines) at least two coats of paint is required no matter which level of Sherwin Williams you use, it’ll give you the best result. Primer is only needed on fresh walls and honestly isn’t that much cheaper these days anyway.
I’ve used SW paint, mainly Super paint, for decades. It has performed beyond my expectations every time. About 18 yrs ago, my neighbor and I painted both of our houses. Today, my house still looks great while the neighbor has already repainted twice. Signing up for a SW pro account is a no brainer. 40% off sales every couple of months. have never paid more than $45/gal.
For those of you in the US, Opulence is the same thing as Cashmere. We had our builder spray the entire interior one coat one color to save some money then painted most of the rooms ourselves after we moved in. We used SuperPaint in the garage which just had sand texture/primer and Emerald matte on the interior (between flat and satin). The first coat of Emerald seemed to cover and level out better, but it it likely is because the interior had a coat of paint. I foolishly used a magic eraser on the Emerald to remove some crayon. When the light hits it just right I can see the shiny spots where I scrubbed. Knockdown wall texture made the crayon much more difficult to remove.
Great article, Jeff! This article is great, especially because I use to buy Sherwin Williams paints every time I have to paint my own home. I’m about to move to a different one in the next few days so I have a question: can you please share the link or at least the name of the article where you explain which is the option to not having to spend the big buck and still have a paint that’s washable? I’ve watched most if not all of your articles, especially those related to painting, and I can’t recall the one you shared your secret. I’m about to paint at least two rooms next Saturday and I’d love to know before I go to the paint shop to get everything I need. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge!
I used Sherwin Williams Emerald for the first time on the interior walls of a new house I built for my niece and her husband two years ago. I was absolutely amazed at how smooth it went on, how well it covered and how flat it dried. It’s my go-to paint now. Up to that point, I had always used the higher end Benjamin Moore paint products. I recently took over an interior paint job from a painter I hired for a remodel. He used SW Super paint. It was the worst paint I’ve ever used.
Way too many variables to give experience reasons. I’ve painted 40 years. Done commercial, residential, low end, high end, new work, old work, track homes, custom homes etc. This was a decent article, but there’s much more ins an outs left out. Really need 30+ days for paint to cure for scrubbing depending on humidity. Cleaning walls after painting always leaves a wipe mark when looking into light on an angle. You can buff it out as you clean with dry soft cloths to help avoid it, but it will still show if you’re anal about things. SW 400 flat for new work was best in the 80’s for builders because it touch up so good. Cheap but did what the builder and contractor wanted. Later they change formula and found 200 was best in 2000’s, but left a slight sheen difference for touch ups. Builders needed a good touch up paint due to contractors destroying walls etc. BM products were bad for touchups. No paint with a sheen, like low lusters or gloss will touch up right. Cashmere like others said goes on like butter. Probably best bang for your buck. Super was ok also for the price. Emerald is very good but way to pricey when I was painting. Liked duration a lot also. Good all around paint and contractors who did a lot of work like myself could get great pricing. I still use on my own home inside and out. Found SW paints for dark colors was tougher to keep and even flow with brush and roll. Definitely had to do a wall at a time to limit differences. Having a guy cut L to R while another followed with roller for dark colors worked best with the right sleeve.
Cool article. I work as an estimator for a pretty large painting contractor. We almost never use any of the paints above the Latitude (formerly Resilience). If i was recommending paint for homeowners I would say ProMar200 for walls and ceilings, ProClassic on all your woods. I would say if the description for your paint sounds like a dessert then you’re paying for advertising not paint. (Looking at you Cashmere) If you want washability: Precatalyzed epoxy or ScuffTuff Waterbased Enamel
🎯 Key points for quick navigation: 00:00:13 🎨 Sherwin Williams offers around eight interior paint lines, catering to both homeowners and commercial needs. 00:01:07 🏠 Homeowners must decide on a paint line based on their expectations for performance, cost, and specific features like washability. 00:01:21 🔍 Ensure your paint choice specifies “acrylic latex” for washability and quality. 00:01:35 🧼 The article tests include ease of application and a splatter test to assess messiness. 00:02:06 ✨ More sheen means more imperfections will show; homeowners may consider lower sheen for easier prep. 00:03:23 💡 “Paint and primer in one” is often unnecessary and can be a marketing gimmick, according to the host. 00:05:20 👩🎨 The key difference between paint lines is the proportion of acrylic content, affecting performance and washability. 00:05:54 🖌️ Professional painters generally do not look for one-coat coverage due to its heavy and unappealing finish. 07:43 👨🔧 High-quality paint should apply smoothly and cleanly even when applied quickly. 08:26 🕒 They allowed the paint to dry for an hour before applying a second coat and checking for quality. 09:54 🪚 Always sand between coats to remove roller lint and ensure a smooth finish. 13:12 🚀 Good paint should allow for fast application without making a mess. 14:32 🧐 Technological differences in paint are often invisible until performance tests are conducted.
I would love to know your recommendations for no odor interior paint. While getting ready to move into a new (for us) house,and had the whole main level painted…I could not go into the house for over two, close to three weeks because of the paint odor! So very interested in knowing which Benjamin Moore is best for no/very low odor or Sherwin-Williams no odor/very low odor paint. The less odor the better. Plus, curious,does the finish of the paint chosen have any significance with the intensity of the odor? Does the color of the paint chosen make any significant difference in the intensity of the odor? I need to find a paint or brand that will allow me to pick a variety of colors with as little odor as possible. I have respiratory issues and also very sensitive to scents,so would greatly appreciate to hear your recommendations. Thank you.
I painted a couple times with Duration from sherwin williams and really liked the experience. A bit too liquidy for my taste, it’s a bit messy but it covers superbly. Recently tried Superpaint from Sherwin as well and felt pretty good to. I feel like the roll itself is probably more important . I’d go Superpaint but with a high quality roll.
The paint sample color I painted with was very blue in color with the sample. When I purchased the paint for my room they told me to get that color I needed the more expensive and I don’t think it was the emerald. I can’t remember which one. Actually the color was way different more grey green than blue which is what I wanted. Does the paint make a difference in colors.
Haven’t watched the article through but I’m 💯 an emerald girlie. Tried and true. If you can wait, as a diyer, you can always catch a sale. And in store their sales are even better (and often not advertised). Make friends with your local SW store employees 😊 I’ve almost always gotten my Emerald 50% off, though once was only 40% off. 😊
Ive used all of these. Emerald is definitely a pleasure to work with. However. Please tell me of any paint that can cover in SW Anchors aweigh. I’ve tried three different levels of paint using a dark primer and that paint just does not cover in the so-called experts at Sherwin-Williams. Can’t figure it out.
Lucky for me I have a daughter who is a Regional Sales rep for Sherwin, so I just ask her what I should use. They all go through regular training so she, as well as those in the stores etc., are very knowledgeable of the products and what tech goes into them and which paints are best for the project I am doing. I never ever pay full price for the paint since I always take advantage of the sales which can be upwards of 40% off, so be patient and wait for the sales so you can save money and use the best paint for your job. I also recommend going to the Sherwin Paint stores and avoid the big box stores for your paint needs. The associates at the Sherwin stores are generally more knowledgeable about the paints and will make sure you get the right paint for the job and can recommend and provide the best tools and accessories to apply them. Sherwin is releasing their paints with less to no VOC Off gassing which is super important for indoor air quality.
I have tried multiple paints. I needed to paint forest green popcorn textured walls and guest which paint covered these dark walls with a cream colored paint?? This will floor you!!! WALMARTS COLORSTAY!! PAINT AND PRIMER IN ONE!! NOT KIDDING! ONE COAT CREAMY WHITE COVERED DARK FOREST GREEN IN 1 COAT! 1 GALLON DID AN ENTIRE ROOM!!! BETTER THAN BEHR, SW, ETC. Pittsburgh Paints makes it for Walmart! 😊😊😊
Hello from Montreal, just painted my new house with Opulence and it’s still on the walls. I managed to get two coats painted in the hot weather…. I found out that they changed the name from Cashmere to Opulence because it could be pronounced better in French. I’m also using the Super Paint on the trim but I find that opulence covers better. Could be the surfaces that I’m painting over. It’s a 1950s 25×25 starter house just south of the Trudeau airport. I don’t want to talk about the pricing of paint. The companies have promotions with deadlines that force you to hurry up and choose your paint in order to get that 40% off deal. Anyways I enjoy your content and humour. Do your kids laugh at your jokes. I have a few projects to do so on this dated house that I just moved into, so I’ll be getting a few ideas from your articles. Take care
I bought emerald for the first time for our bedroom and absolutely loved it. Did one thick coat and it looks beautiful. I used two tiers lower when we did our entire upstairs of house – big difference. Have various other paints in bathrooms and then another in our family room and yet another brand in the guest room. Emerald has performed best for me.
Sherwin admits at least my store says their is no true paint and primer in one. Super paint is very thick and ya know it’s good cause of how hard it is to wash it off your hands. For a cheap paint that covers great interior use Pro Mar 200. Also Sherwin says satin and egg shell are the same. Not sure I agree with that. It is slightly different.
emerald paint is 100000% worth it for projects you care about the results on. Used it to paint kitchen cabinets three years ago and holy cow they look professional. Bonus: the paint can is STILL useable, just used it to do some touch ups and the paint looks exactly the same. Try that with a Behr paint I dare you
I redid my kitchen cabinets with Emerald semi-gloss paint and the results are excellent, and it’s totally holding up 1.5 years later in a busy kitchen. This is the best paint I’ve ever used for cabinets, doors, and trim. For professional results on cabinets, the prep work is crucial (TSP clean, sand, BIN primer, sand, 2-3 coats with a paint sprayer). That said, I love Emerald, but at that price I think it’s best suited as a trim paint and might be overpriced for most walls.
Gimme that 1970s paint with the lead and asbestos in it that’s easy to clean! It even doubles as fireproofing and radiation shielding! 😉 I’ve always just sort of viewed paint as a carrier for color, and the thought of paying over $100 for a gallon of colored wall sauce blows my mind. I feel like if you have to worry about washability, maybe you should put more effort into learning to discipline your kids, rather than spending their college tuition on paint you can repeatedly clean.
Thank you, this info is very helpful. Fresh drywall MUST be primed! Had the sun room gutted & new drywall put up. It took 2.5 gallons of primer to coat the walls – the drywall was sucking that prime up like a sponge. But it took a little under a gallon to paint the room. The SW paint was a lot more expensive than the primer. (and yes – I waited for a sale and had coupons!) I know from experience that putting paint directly over mud patches & seams on drywall without primer leaves dull spots on the painted surface. Gotta prime that fresh drywall – will use far less paint & save money, and result in a much more consistent paint finish.
Magic eraser is a sand paper, very fine but still an abrasive. I used to work in a Hotel and we had to forbid magic erasers since it was damaging everything from walls to furniture. Alcohol removes marker, like hand sanitizer or isopropyl alcohol. I would like to see an update using alcohol for both the permanent marker and on the crayons. I have always wondered what the difference was between the paints, other than price and marketing.
Jeff, thank you for this awesome comparison test. We had our house painted top to bottom by our Painting Professional contractor and he was very up front and honest with us and said Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams are pretty much on par with each other. The only difference is essentially the pigment they use for colouring. We went with Sherwin Williams Duration line and are beyond ecstatic with the smoothness, ease of cleaning (especially in the front entrance). Well worth the extra cost of paint in the long run vs. Big Box options which we’ve used in the past. And we find that magic eraser (wet) works well for any abrasions and stains as long as you tackle it before it really sets in.
I had some exterior paint for decks, from Lowes… Wasn’t impressed with it. The stuff was like cheap whitewash. After painting, two days, paint again, wait a week — you could run your hand along it and it visibly brushed off. The slightest anything and it wiped or scraped enough off that it was obviously showing the wood underneath. Went and got some SW — one coat, it was fine. Two coats for wood I hadn’t painted at all yet. None of it wiping off as dust. And it took at least minor abuse — kind of expected for a deck, right? — and no problems.
Jeff, thanks for the test! We had our townhouse painted four years ago with “duration” from Sherwin Williams. Been pretty happy with it, other than they painted over the outlets and switches. I’ve been doing some repair work and drywall work and have repainted areas with the same paint (new cans). You can’t tell where the new patches are! Quite impressed. I owe at least part of that to learning technique from you! Once all the work is done, I’ll go back and repaint the whole thing, but I have a 13 foot ceiling in the living room that continues to the back of the kitchen. That will be a project all on it’s own. But should be pretty easy since all the repairs will be done! Really appreciate the info! And inspiration! I do believe Duration is the same paint as Opulence up north.
Interesting test about SW paints, i didn’t know they had so much categories. For the «washability» of different liquids and markers I would have waited 4 weeks instead of 2. They say paint take a month to fully cure, it feel dry after 2 weeks but it’s not completely dry. So this what may cause de paint to get to your fingers. Next week I have to do a hallway full of dirty fingerprints from kids, i’m going to wash with a degreaser first than paint. This situation, similar to the one on your article, implies that washing is not enough, you have to repaint the surface. First, any soap you will use will leave a residue of some sort, you’ll have to rinse and rinse and hope everything will look fine once all is dry (good luck with that). Second, you’re going to spend more time on that cleaning step than if you would simply repaint, it’s a lot faster and you get the original «spotless» look. Thanks for the article!
The best thing to do is go to a quality paint store (Like Sherwin Williams) and tell the sales consultant person what you are doing and what you want to do and they can give advice and set you up. They are not greedy B.S. sales people; they know paint and want you to succeed with their products. Good article.
Cost of paint(material) is generally 20% and labor is 80% when homeowner hires painter to do the paint job. There is a big difference in quality of workmanship. Eggshell or satin finish requires more thorough surface prep for a beautiful finish. Flat paint is recommended if the walls are not in perfect conditions. Since paint is not cheap anymore, customer must ask for receipts from the store showing clearly which paint was purchased by your contractor. I worked as a manager for SW over 30+ years prior to retiring.
All their paint is poor quality wilth cheap fillers. They are only concerned about thier stock holders. Buy Ben Moore or Pittsburg paint. I’ve been a painting contractor for over 40 years and have witness the quality of the products decline and their prices and profits skyrocket. Deep tones burnish when touched, their precat epoxy in SEMIGLOSS feels like sandpaper. Try Ben Moore Scuffx the finish is smooth as glass compared to SW’s chalk like finish. I could go on with numerous other products.
Hey Jeff, great article, as always! It would also be beneficial to talk about the differences between HD Behr paint and Sherwin Williams/Benjamin Moore. I found that even the best paint that HD offers, the cheapest SW “super paint,” has much better coverage and is easier to apply. However, the main difference was in trying to match previous paint (I brought a sample to both stores), and the HD paint match sucked. On the other hand, SW was indistinguishable from the old paint on the wall. You can’t tell it’s been repainted, even with side lighting.
Which article is it for the cheaper paint option that’s equally as good? Lol🤷🏻♂️ I do like Emerald latex, and as tricky as it can be to use I really like the Emerald trim urethane a lot also. Both are excellent quality but…….a wee bit expensive if you can’t get better pricing from SW. I definitely wouldn’t spend $110 a gallon for any paint though!
Please do a article on SW Scuff-tough vs BM Scuff-X. Ps. We went to SW today to get Scuff-tuff in White Snow, and it turns out they don’t have the “ultra white” base for scuff-tuff to support a white as light as white snow. Tomorrow I’m going to BM to see if they have a white base white enough in their Scuff-X line.
Looking forward to your Benjamin Moore comparison. This article was great. Sherwin-Williams is 40% off this weekend and Benjamin Moore says no color matching can exactly get their colors due to proprietary science so do I shell out the big bucks and is it worth it? I have painted countless times with BM. My only experience with SW was their Cashmere (?) line which left tons of roller marks on my loft ceiling. Too thick.
I agree Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore paints are inferior paints any way you look at them. Primarily delivering very poor quality results no matter which version you use, but overpriced on top of it, which is really meaningless to me as the cost of the paint has almost nothing to do with the cost of the paint job as the customer will pay any amount of money for the paint material. No what really matters is how good a job it does, how it looks, and how it stands up to the passage of time. I have used Home Depot Behrs paint for over 20 years because it is simply superior any way you look at it. Paints easier, leaves a perfect, flawless finish, heavy, so completely washable, even with soap and water if you want, and lasts 20 years. Yes, 20 years. In fact, I painted my own house in 2005 with Behrs paint, washed the walls of dust every year or two, and it looks as good as the day I did the paint job. So case closed on Sherwin Williams and BM, both often producing mediocre results and needing repainting every 4 years. F that.
Superpaint and Opulence/Cashmere are both vinyl acrylic resin paints. Nice finish, especially with the Cashmere, but not a good choice for cleanability, especially when solvents/chemicals are involved. If you wanna save a little money for something cleanable try the duration line, same resin type as Emerald for a little less.
I bought Sherwin Williams recently and the paint sucked. 3 coats of white didn’t cover a medium brown. I now have to do 4 coats. I have spent so much money. It’s ridiculous. I will never use them again after this! I used to use Home Depot but their paint is so watered down nowadays. I can’t find a good paint company.
One thing to consider is touching up paint w/ sheen. If it has sheen and light reflecting off of a window you wont be able to touch up. I like using flat in hallways, stairwell’s, and big walls with lots of light. Im a painting contractor and id prefer to pull out a hot dog roller and touch up. Sheen also shows the joints in drywall, and any imperfections 100x’s more than flat. I only use satin/eggshell in bathrooms, laundry rooms. Also, hi end flat paint has sheen and dark colors will have sheen unless you spend a fortune on Ben Moore Ultra Flat. We use that on real dark flat colors and it’s not cheap.
We painted our house years ago using the SW Super Paint. Our painter really liked it. He said it went on smoothly, and it has held up well. I thought it was expensive back then, but it was nothing like the current price – yikes! Fortunately, my wife found a coupon and it saved us a ton of money back then. We used different sheens in different rooms. The flat does not look quite as good – a little faded – after several years, but the Satin still looks very good. I would question your “cleanability test.” You used the same section of the magic eraser on the second and third samples. I wonder if they’d have cleaned better and left less residue if you’d have used a clean section of the magic eraser on each sample.
I had a difficult deck to paint a few years back, previous owner let it go and the wood went grey… typically once this happens forget having paint hold. I went to Sherwin Williams, talked to their experts and they sold me on the most expensive paint they had and guaranteed me it was specially made for that sort of thing, paid a fortune, put it on, whalla in three months that crap all peeled off. Went to Home Depot and paid $35 a gallon (at the time) for their Behr exterior paint, scrapped the entire deck and started over… its been 5 years now, the paint still looks new, nothing has chipped or flaked off and it sees 4 seasons and a regular pressure washer in the Spring and Fall. From my experience Sherwin Williams paint is absolute trash, it’s crap in a can.
Most of our house is SW Emerald paint, but the washability I think is a bit suspect. Even the most gentle of washing removes the sheen of the paint (we use satin/eggshell everywhere other than bathrooms). Maybe we did something wrong when painting, or maybe just cleaning the surface is all that counts with no care for the finish being somewhat obvious in different angles/lighting. I’d be very curious to see the comparison of Benjamin Moore (which you mentioned you will work on), not sure if PPG (Pittsburgh Paints) are also available north of the border, but would be curious as well.
Paint and primer in one is just a marketing scam. Im pretty sure it just means primer as in it’ll hide the previous colour better. If youre painting unpainted surfaces like wood or metal or drywall you will always need to use a primer and not a paint and primer in one. Same goes with if you have a very dark colour and youre painting it a very light colour, some yellows for example are a pain to cover. You will need a primer to hide that previous colour or youll be on 6 ccoats and youll still be seeing the colour underneath. Its just a little trick for people that dont know how to paint that believe you need to always prime before painting, this well get them going “oh my god i can save so mcuh time and money”
While the paint prices are high the painter also cost three times as much. So if you are going to paint an exterior on a two story where you have to spend over 6K on labor, then you would rather to spend a bit more on the paint material as well, also the licensed painters can get the same paint for around $80/gallon. For Exterior I have used the emerald rain refresh which is supposed to have the highest quality exterior paint by SW which looks great and comes with a good warranty by SW.
I buy from Sherwin Williams… what I dont like is that there are no clearly marked prices for paint… tools and accessories all have prices labeled. Prices seem to fluctuate worse than gas, seems like prices are set by how desperate they are to make a sale… you never know the price for a gallon of paint until the salesman goes thru his commission attempt… “That particular paint is $80 a gallon…” … nope… “But we have a sale that ends tomorrow… let me see what I can do… sir right now that particular paint is reduced to $60 a gallon”
Funny I use a magic eraser on my walls as well, its a very fine sand that leaves the paint on pretty well while removing the residue. I just use a mid grade Benjamin moore paint as well. I find the magic eraser works best though with just a tad bit of water on it, not too much but just enough to minimize the abrasiveness of it. It takes off the stain easier and leaves the paint on better. You dont want to use a dry magic eraser on your walls.
I’ve used emerald paint in my new house, and it is extremely nice. Satin finish. It went on very smooth. There are No paint lines. I used the back roll method, sanded in between coats, and I absolutely positively love it. I bought mine on discount because I’m a member. And the sherwin Williams worked with me and told me when the discount was going to start. But the paint is great paint. Way way better as well than the cheap flat white paint the builder used. I’ve tried valspar paint from Lowe’s before and had some issues with paint lines. I know valspar is a subsidiary of SW so I was a little skeptical but the experience with emerald has been amazing. Another thing with sherwin Williams that people might not be aware is that they can match paint colors. If you take a sample of the color you want say 2 inch by 2 inch piece of a painted wall for example, they can custom match the color for you. They can also match colors from valspar from years ago that aren’t sold anymore. The one I like is called careless whisper. A beautiful color.
@HomeRenoVisionDIY I love perusal your articles. Have for a bit-o-time. I have been renovating my downstairs and kitchen for the past year 😢 and have finally moved back in but I’m still not finished. My house has shifted and the walls I painted 5 yrs ago now are cracking where the drywall tape was and are the old gray. I want to re-paint in a less-depressing color, but I don’t know what to do with the settling of the house and the cracks from the corners of the door jams and then the tape beneath the edges of where the wall touches the ceiling. Should I scrape it all back? I’m scared that all the tape will come off and I’ll have to mid again. The smell I swear is still in the duct work! Advice?
my local sherwin williams store sold me a ton of opulence (good sale) and i have to say it was the worst paint ive ever used. coverage was crap (with multiple coats) and the slightest anything touching scratched it right off. A different sales guy recommended staying away as it was more of a “showroom paint” not great for a realistic use case scenario. Their duration line was a little more expensive at the time and it performs sooo much better in my personal experience
Been a SW fan for decades. I am a huge fan of Emerald. Hands down best performing paint I have ever used. The durability is phenomenal for aftercare. I do like the Emerald paint on millwork also as the self leveling feature has performed exceptionally well compared to other brands I tried in past. My niece is an interior designer for a custom high end builder and she swears by BM paints. Both are better than any other brands on the market.
I’ll leave my walls bare before I spend $100 on a gallon of paint. Maybe things are different in Canada but the “list price” at paint stores in the US is pretty much fake and they’ll sell to you for 40-50% off of that list price without any questions. They just want your business when they’re competing against Home Depot and Lowe’s.
Which of these paints would endure best on a wall above a bathroom shower, where the open top shower steam rises and caused the paint to begin to peel within 7 years? Should I use an exterior grade paint? I’m not even totally sure how to prep this area beforehand. If I only scrape the loose paint I’ll have a very cratered surface. It looks like the paint peeled off of a stained oak woodwork “soffit” in some places, and others look like it peeled the top layer of drywall coating down to the first layer of brown paper.
I grabbed a gallon of sherwin Williams paint from the habitat store for a basement stairway. I hadn’t bought any paint for a while but I remembered them being a quality paint. Unfortunately it must have been the cheapest line of paint because I ended up needing three coats to actually cover. Will def do more research before purchasing paint again.
Hi Jeff, I’m close to closing on my first home and will be looking at repainting a few areas even though the house was painted within the last couple years. I was wondering what your advice would be on finding a quality paint with low VOCs. Should I be particularly looking for low VOCs or should I just buck up and grab a respirator? I’m not particularly sensitive to smells but as someone who deals with chronic (near daily) headaches and migraines I’m hoping to avoid any additional issues that might slow me down significantly while painting. Any advice or recommendations on brands or lines of paint would be very appreciated! Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you are well!💙
I painted some of my walls with Flat Cashmere (Opulence?) about 7 years ago. It went on beautifully and looked great, but it did not stand up well over time. I would not use it again. The rooms I did with Duration held up much better. I recently chose to repaint all the walls done in Cashmere, but left those done with Duration. I only ever use Emerald on Cabinets or trim (Trim version in Satin or Semi) or Emerald Exterior on siding and trim. I wait until it goes on sale. I recently bought two gallons to do my cabinets at 40% off. I’ve had great results on exterior doors with Latitude Exterior. The finish with a mini microfiber roller was incredible.
For anyone wanting a better understanding of the eggshell / satin question, here is some info: Spec sheets for paint products provide sheen information. Eggshell is a sheen that is between flat and semi-gloss, and it has a relatively wide range. Satin is typically within the eggshell range but on the upper end, towards semi-gloss. Basically, satin is typically within the eggshell range, which is why some products do not have eggshell in their line. Satin indicates a more consistent sheen for the product with a tighter sheen range. This is true for Sherwin Williams (or at least it was true the last time I needed to look at spec sheets). Is this true for every product line with every manufacturer? Maybe not, but you need to look at the spec sheets to see where a product truly falls on the sheen spectrum.