Sherwin Williams vs Ben Moore

[dbworkshop]

Just to the painting stage on a second floor addition. My wife has picked out all the colors she wants from the Benjamin Moore line.  Just wondering, is there a big difference on quality between the two. My painting contractor says sherwin Williams offers larger discounts to contractors than Ben Moore.  Is there a difference in quality?  Should I take the cost savings? Or, should I just pay the extra money for the perceived better paint?  Thanks in advance for your input.

Dan

 

[Chris Hughes]

Many of the paints today are made by a couple of companies.  Sherwin owns many of the names and makes the paint.  I use Sherwin Williams mostly anyhow.  My favorite paint is Probably Classic oil.  I shoot with a hvlp and that is by far the easiest product I have used.

Another reason to use SW is that they can get me lacquer, precat, and conversion varnish and all of those tinted to match. 

 

[Scott B.]

Dan

As manufacturers, they are both good, and high on the list of the best. The problem is that they both have so many lines. In the past, picking colors was the hard part, but now picking which lines to go with is harder.

Both are good as long you stay in their better lines.

BM makes several good wall paints (Aura, Natura, Regal Select, Ben) and I like their waterborne satin impervo. Super spec for drywall primer and their waterborne dead flat ceiling paint.

SW pretty much has matching lines to all of the above, and they are for the most part within 90% of the quality and usually at 15-20% less for contractor pricing. I especially like their Cashmere medium lustre for trim, and Brilliance is a great ceiling paint. Their Wall and Wood primer is a great trim primer, and promar 200 works well on drywall.

However, if I were you, I would get the BM colors made in BM product and let your wife pay for the paint. I have seen these scenarios go horribly wrong for the guy in your shoes.

 

[BMH]

However, if I were you, I would get the BM colors made in BM product and let your wife pay for the paint. I have seen these scenarios go horribly wrong for the guy in your shoes.

BM is a great paint and I discovered a long time ago that when your wife has a eye for color, and mine does, taking the sample from one brand and matching it using another brand, never comes out right. Something to do with the bases they use.

Forget the discount, you are going to be living with your wife not your painter.

 

[Brice Burrell]

....However, if I were you, I would get the BM colors made in BM product and let your wife pay for the paint. I have seen these scenarios go horribly wrong for the guy in your shoes.

BM is a great paint and I discovered a long time ago that when your wife has a eye for color, and mine does, taking the sample from one brand and matching it using another brand, never comes out right. Something to do with the bases they use.

Forget the discount, you are going to be living with your wife not your painter.

I think you're getting some really good advice here.  On the other hand, your wife could start looking at SW colors to see if there is anything that will work.  If you're just painting a few rooms there isn't going to be a huge discount going with the SW.

 

[JHC]

Aren't talking but a very small difference in price. Go with benjamin moore and make your wife happy. Your top of the line paints aren't gonna be that much different in price really. My Aura price is within a few dollars of Emerald.

 

[Kevin D.]

I used to go to SW when I lived at a different location, but when I moved to where I live now, the local BM had the best expertise with advice and matching over the SW's store in my new locale, so I now have been using BM for the past 12 years. 

I'm not a pro, but I do believe in getting good advice when it comes to paints and such.  Not all places hav good qualified people, especially the HD/Lowes type places in my experience, never mind the quality level being not as good at the big box stores.  So to me, paint quality and expert advice are my criteria far ahead of price considerations.

A couple of months ago, my wife came home with some paint for an overdue small paint job for a bathroom, and she got it at HD.  The BEHR paint was one of the worst paints I've ever used.  So thin, it was horrid for coverage purposes.  I've done my fair bit of painting over the years, and consider myself pretty darn good at it, but that paint was just crap imo.

 

[Scott B.]

The BEHR paint was one of the worst paints I've ever used.  So thin, it was horrid for coverage purposes.  I've done my fair bit of painting over the years, and consider myself pretty darn good at it, but that paint was just crap imo.

Agreed.

 

[illumicon1]

If you want an excellent trim primer and topcoat, go with BM's Advance line (waterbourne alkyd). A little costly but the primer is a good sanding primer with great coverage and leveling. Primer sands to a powder alot like a pigmented undercoater but able to be brushed. Topcoat levels excellent as well and does not yellow like lacquer or oil enamel. Very durable. I am finding that I am getting better quality and service out of my local BM dealer that I get out of our multiple SW stores. I also get more requests from my customers to use BM over SW. Any paint from Lowes or HD is substandard.