Home Depot's Behr Marquee

[Packard]

A number of years ago Consumer's Reports rated Behr Marquee (Home Depot's best grade of Behr) as a top pick and a bargain at the same time. 

I used it regularly after that report and found it to be a very good paint.

Consumer's Reports should probably revisit their ratings on this paint. 

I recently bought two gallons of Behr Ultra Pure White Marquee; one gallon of eggshell and one gallon of semi-gloss.  This was to go over an off-white, very tired finish.

These two gallons were very watery.  Drips and runs were an issue.  Also, one-coat coverage which I expected was not the case.  Cutting in with the watery paint proved problematic.

I went to Benjamin Moore and bought a gallon of the semi-gloss in Regal Select.  It cut in nicely, good coverage, nice body to the paint (thick), dried quickly--in other words, it did the job well.

The Behr paint cost $49.50 per gallon before tax.  The B-M paint cost $54.90 per gallon before tax.  The color matching was excellent. 

I chose the B-M paint because that is where I buy my Advance paint.  I am not touting this product, though I thought it did an admirable job.  I am warning against the formerly well-thought-of Behr paint, which now seems to be sub-standard in quality.

I should probably give the walls a second coat.  And I might do that at some point.  Right now I am tired and can't think about it. 

 

[jeh]

The big box stores will never compete with the dedicated paint stores (PPG, BM, SW etc). I've used HD paint on some unimportant projects and found it to be lackluster. Their drywall primer is good though. If you have an important project where finish is critical then stick to paint stores and not bet your finish on big box stores. In the scheme of things even $20/gallon or more is irrelevant especially given the labor being the most expensive part of painting.

 

[Packard]

My point was that it used to be a good paint.  It is not now.

In all probability Home Depot insisted on a lower price point and Behr responded by offering the best they could within the price point.

Conversation (imagined).

Home Depot buyer:  We won't pay a penny over 19.00 per gallon for Marquee.
Salesman: We can't offer that same quality for $19.00 per gallon.
Home Depot buyer:  I don't care how you do it, but I'm paying $19.00 per gallon, maximum.
Salesman: OK.  We'll figure something out.

Salesman to production manager: Home Depot wants a $19.00 paint with the Marquee label on it.
Production manager:  No problem.  We can stick the Marquee label on anything we produce.  It's just not going to be Marquee-quality paint.

 

[Peter_C]

I am finishing up a flip and Home Depot is convenient with their long hours. So I ripped the walls using a ETS EC 150 with 36 grit to give grip and remove previous runs etc, washed everything using TSP, and painted with Behr Marquee. Should have been a decent prep. It took two coats no matter what. Stiction is kinda no so great. Call me not impressed.

 

[leakyroof]

This matches what I experienced with Behr in the ‘90s and then later on, with seeing quality differences.
I stopped using almost any paint from Home Depot and started using Sherwin-Williams paints instead. I do still use one of their floor paints for concrete floors, it seems to have stayed very consistent over the years.

 

[jeh]

My point was that it used to be a good paint.  It is not now.

In all probability Home Depot insisted on a lower price point and Behr responded by offering the best they could within the price point.

Conversation (imagined).

Home Depot buyer:  We won't pay a penny over 19.00 per gallon for Marquee.
Salesman: We can't offer that same quality for $19.00 per gallon.
Home Depot buyer:  I don't care how you do it, but I'm paying $19.00 per gallon, maximum.
Salesman: OK.  We'll figure something out.

Salesman to production manager: Home Depot wants a $19.00 paint with the Marquee label on it.
Production manager:  No problem.  We can stick the Marquee label on anything we produce.  It's just not going to be Marquee-quality paint.

That's spot on and it only works because small companies let themselves become dependent on a big company. It starts off as a favorable deal for the smaller company, but as their business grows their original customer base becomes smaller percentage wise and then the large company puts the screws to them. There was a 60 Minutes story on a garden hose companies dealings with Walmart that follows this exact script. They had no choice but to shorten the hose and cheapen the construction in order to stay in Walmart and stay in business.

For something like paint stick to paint companies only as they need you as a customer and their products are generally top shelf. Painting is the one thing where redoing it is a total loss because you'll need to redo the work with quality paint.

 

[Packard]

Behr is what I refer to as a "captive vendor".  They appear to have just Home Depot for a customer.  I looked online and I could find no other sources for Behr paint. 

The problem with being a captive vendor is that your customer runs your business.  The worst case is illustrated by my former employer's father's business.  He was in the business of buying steel rod and drawing it down to fine wire.  He had basically just one customer:  Swingline Staplers.  He made the wire that was used to produce the staples.

One day Swingline wrote to him informing that they would buy his business from him for a certain fixed price.  If he declined to sell the business (and all the equipment) at that price they would simply setup a new company internally to produce the wire. 

Since Swingline represented over 90% of his business, he sold out to them.

Behr is in the same situation.  Home Depot is able to dictate exactly how they do business.

I would note that I wrote to Behr customer service about the issue.  My error was in saying that I got 2 gallons of  Benjamin Moore Regal Select to finish the job and what should I do with the two gallons I have that are not satisfactory.  They have not responded beyond the automated response that they received the complaint. 

My guess is that they assume I am already lost as a customer and that they have no comparable product to offer.  At any rate, it is bye, bye, Behr for me.