Value for money paint?

clearingout

Am looking to paint a bedroom white/slightly off white with a matt emulsion or eggshell type finish. I am on a very tight budget. Would I be right in thinking that the value paints at B & Q are not worth it in terms of coverage (the walls are currently a pale yellow so shouldn't be too difficult to cover with white!)? Bearing in mind I don't want to have to paint it again within, say, 5 years (is this reasonable?) what are my cheapest but quality options? Is going for an off-white better in terms of bright white yellowing over time or is this an issue with all variations of white? In an ideal world I'd be ordering from Farrow & Ball - is there a decent alternative at prices similar to the big makes such as Crown and Dulux?

Many thanks!

BargainGalore

The value paints arent that good okay for new plaster as its very thin paint. I am sure you can get good deals sometimes on paint. I saw in B&Q other week large tins (10 litres) of Crown for £12 I think, could do a few rooms with it.

s_b

wickes trade emulsion is good and covers
tried other brands and its just watered down rubbish

jacko91

Wilkinson's had their big tubs (I think five litres) on offer for £4 the other week.
I bought the Wicks colour trend one and it covers so well, one coat was plenty, I needed alot less than I bought.

annie-c

I just shop around and buy decent paint when it is on offer. As said above, the value paints are ideal for new plaster as they are so thin but the coverage isn't great otherwise.

Trade paints are best for coverage and durability but they are rather spendy. I tend to use trade paint for woodwork, but ordinary brands for walls and ceilings.

If you have your heart set on a particular F & B colour then Johnstones trade centres do a pretty good colour matching service and alreay have the f & b shades on their database so no need to take samples.

Otherwise, my fave quality/colour paints so far are F & B (if seriously reduced on sale!) Hombase own brand emulsion and Laura Ashley. Look around at sale time and if you are lucky they often put extra discounts on dented tins.

annie-c

PS Emulsion is usually used for walls and eggshell for woodwork.

Kaz2904

I have a massive tub of D*l*x white matt emulsion which I bought for about £15. It's terrible. It smells like a mixture of gone off milk and vomit. It has really poor coverage too so it needs about 400 coats. Thankfully, I'm clumsy so may end up kicking it over or stepping in it before I get round to using it up on all the rooms I need to repaint the ceilings of. (I don't really mean that because then I'd have to buy some more but I really do hate the smell ).
Some of the B&Q ones I find very good whereas others are terrible. I have 2 different colours of kitchen and bathroom paint which I am using at the moment. Guava green is giving very good coverage whereas Lauren is needing 3 coats at a minimum.
Gawd, I can't wait to be finished decorating, I'm sick of it! It's Fathers day tomorrow (well today now) and the first thing DH is going to have to do after he opens his cards is put the TD away for me as it's stacked on top of the washing machine and I can't lift it. Then, before I go to bed, I have to sugar soap the kitchen .

GSDog

BargainGalore wrote: »

The value paints arent that good okay for new plaster as its very thin paint. I am sure you can get good deals sometimes on paint. I saw in B&Q other week large tins (10 litres) of Crown for £12 I think, could do a few rooms with it.

I think it's 20L of Crown Matt Emulsion for £25. I bought it and I'm not very impressed with it at all. I had already painted one wall in Dulux matt which covered the horrible yellow/green colour in just one coat. I did the other three walls in Crown matt and it took 3 coats on each wall before the colour underneath was no longer visible - the first coat didn't even look like the walls had been painted it was that thin! I'll never be buying it again that's for sure.

DVardysShadow

annie-c wrote: »

I just shop around and buy decent paint when it is on offer. As said above, the value paints are ideal for new plaster as they are so thin but the coverage isn't great otherwise.

Trade paints are best for coverage and durability but they are rather spendy. I tend to use trade paint for woodwork, but ordinary brands for walls and ceilings.

If you have your heart set on a particular F & B colour then Johnstones trade centres do a pretty good colour matching service and alreay have the f & b shades on their database so no need to take samples.

Otherwise, my fave quality/colour paints so far are F & B (if seriously reduced on sale!) Hombase own brand emulsion and Laura Ashley. Look around at sale time and if you are lucky they often put extra discounts on dented tins.

F&B give you the fashionable colours, and Leyland/Johnstone give you the durable paint. L/J have, I believe, been hauled up before the [so called] law for knowing the colour coordinates for dulux, so be prepared to take a sample to be scanned ...

I would use L/J if they have an acceptable colour - but they only have about 36 colours plus variants of darkness and intensity. If the colour is acceptable, you probably break even on cost at 4 years and you can expect it to go to 15 years if you don't smoke.

loracan1

Kaz2904 wrote: »

I have a massive tub of D*l*x white matt emulsion which I bought for about £15. It's terrible. It smells like a mixture of gone off milk and vomit. It has really poor coverage too so it needs about 400 coats.

I once had some cheap emulsion I bought from a supermarket, it was only for ceilings but after a few months it 'went off' horrible smell, ended up having to bin it, no way I could live with it. It's the only time I've ever had that happen - even tubs I've had years that've dried up haven't smelt like that - does paint go off?

Kaz2904

loracan1 wrote: »

I once had some cheap emulsion I bought from a supermarket, it was only for ceilings but after a few months it 'went off' horrible smell, ended up having to bin it, no way I could live with it. It's the only time I've ever had that happen - even tubs I've had years that've dried up haven't smelt like that - does paint go off?

How odd. I didn't think paint could go off. I know it can separate and whatnot but not go off. I'm still going to use it though because in the end, the smell goes and after a million coats or so, it does cover. I've about 1/2 the massive tub left (25L?) so I want to get shot of it as it's getting in the way now. Well, it's only getting in the way because I left it out so that it did get in my way so that I actually do apply it to the sodding walls and ceilings. I hate decorating but it looks so much better when it's done