Benjamin Moore vs Sherwin Williams Interior Paint

[JSlovic]

We're building a home on the SC coast and I need to make a decision on the interior paint.
The house is ~4000 ft2, w/ 10-12' ceilings. 

The builder's painter quoted the job in SW Promar200.  I've been partial to BM Regal and asked them to get me an estimate on changing over- $4900.  This seems to be double what I'd expected and I'm wondering is it worth it.  I'm also getting costs for super paint and duration.

I'd love to hear any and all opinions on which way to go, is this cost difference reasonable etc.

BTW- so far this is will be my choice, however an override from my wife (or her decorator) is always possible.

 

[jaguar36]

Seems kinda outrageous to me.  I'm no expert in painting, but I've used about 30 gallons of interior paint for my house, which is 2000sqft with 8' ceilings.  That'd work out to roughly 100 gallons for your house, so he's charging roughly $50 a gallon premium for the Regal over the Promar200.  Since regal is like $50 a gallon (at most, probably significant cheaper for a painter)  either he was getting a helluva deal from Sherman Williams, or he's ripping you off.

Course he may just be throwing an extra fee on because you don't want to use the paint that he likes and so he has to worry that it won't perform as well and therefore has increased risk in how long it will take him to paint or how much he'll need.

 

[chrisrosenb]

It is more than likely the painter has had very good results using SW paint & has a good relationship with their SW dealer.

The painters I know, have their favorite paint & paint store. There can be a learning curve & problems if they change to an unknown brand or they may have used the brand before & had issues with it.

The high price is for any possible problems that may arise or it just may be their way of saying, if you really want that brand of paint, then you are going to pay a premium for it. 

 

[tiralie]

I'd love to hear any and all opinions on which way to go, is this cost difference reasonable etc.

Either find a painter who uses the paint you want to use (call or visit you local BM retailer and ask them to recommend a good painter) or go with the painter you trust and let him recommend or advise the paint that will do the job. If the current painter is someone you trust and like their work, let them paint with the paint they prefer. Your painter should give you some good rational reasons why they prefer one paint or brand over another, ask him.

BTW- so far this is will be my choice, however an override from my wife (or her decorator) is always possible.

I would sort this out first, and then find a good painter. You will waste less time, the painter will be happier and you will get a better price if you know exactly what you want when you are contracting them.
My bet is your wife and decorator could care less what kind of paint is being used and will be more focused on color and sheen.

Tim

 

[builderbob]

From what I know and prior experiences, ProMar 200 is a lower product on the Sherwin Williams scale. It's definitely less costly than Super Paint, Duration Interior, Cashmere and Emerald. It's also very low on the cleanability scale. It will burnish quite easily. I would say that BM Regal is very akin to Duration Interior. I've used Duration for many years in my home and on a few projects (I'm not a painter by trade but have done A LOT of it)!  I don't know how far a long you are on the build of the home but if you can, grab a few quarts and mess around. Obviously none of these paints will be fully cured immediately to really be able to perform real world tests.

Also, are you adding in a lot of color changes?  That typically results in added cost as well (at least in the Connecticut region).

Hope that helps a bit! 

Best of luck!

 

[Thebesciak]

benjamin more ultra spec is my favorite
around $20-30 per gallon
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/paint-products/ultra-spec-500-interior-paint
and
coronado primer 10-15$ per gallonhttp://www.coronadopaint.com/product-detail/coronado-products/super-kote-5000-primer

 

[Pnw painter]

I've used both products on a wide range of properties. ProMar 200 is a contractor grade product and is somewhere around $25-$30/gal. In contrast, Regal is a premium product and is around $50/gal. At the end of the day either paint will look great when applied properly by a pro.

As a homeowner it's important to select a paint based on the needs of your home. Here's a few to consider: Burnish resistance, sheen availability, scrub resistance, color retention, mildew resistance.

Depending on the sheen Regal should outperform ProMar 200 in just about all of these categories.

 

[JSlovic]

All,
Thanks for all the input- I appreciate everyone taking the time to share their experience and opinion. 

I ended up going with SW Super Paint best mix of features and cost

Again my thanks