Paint Brands and all that jazz...

Roaming

So moving on from bathroom woes, I have a question about paint brands.

As timing would have it, we are now in a situation where having bought a house just over 1.5 months ago and part renovated it, we now have to move to Europe for my husbands new job by August/September and will be gone for god knowns how long.

In the meantime, we have yet to paint the walls (they don't look very nice as we just removed all the old wallpaper) and I'm wondering if we should choose a Dulux paint or go with Homebase branded 'Home of Colour' one.

I don't know the difference in quality of the paints, how well they wear etc. We have been testing some Dulux colours so far and today will try some Homebase ones. Money wise, Homebase is about half the price of Dulux.

What would you advise based on the fact that we may be away for 3-4 years and the house would be rented out. We want the walls to look smart and contemporary (to go with the rest of work on tiles, wood flooring and bathroom etc) but not sure if the investment in a pricier paint is worth it?

So, two questions then;

1. What is the wear and performance quality of Homebase/B&Q branded paints.
2. Is it worth paying for Dulux/Crown/Other famous brand paints in this situation?

Many thanks!

nickj_2

if you have just removed the wallpaper , you will need to remove the old paste before painting .
i normally do rental homes in magnolia , it's inoffensive , goes with everything and you can get a 10LTR tub of supermattt for around £35-00
it is not worth paying for decent paint for rental . in 3/4 years time it will probably need doing again anyway

Roaming

True. I agree. I felt a bit let down when we found out that the house had been repainted before we bought it. It was all in Magnolia and looked very boring. We've invested enough in the bathroom suite and bedroom furniture to want to give the rest of the house a nice, smart look but trying to shave off the few extra pounds we can if possible.

Roaming

Nickj,

I think my husband has removed both wallpaper and paste and is now left with a bare wall - brownish coloured which doesn't seem to peeling off anymore. This is a concrete house so .. would you say we have hit plaster now?

We don't want to have to pay to have walls skimmed so hoping we can just fill up any dents with a filler and smooth it over with a sander. Would you say we need any base coat or should the wall be ready to be painted?

Tucker

I think B&Q are selling 10 litres of Crown magnolia for less than £20.

Ruski

Tucker wrote: »

I think B&Q are selling 10 litres of Crown magnolia for less than £20.

IMHO avoid Crown.

nickj_2

Roaming wrote: »

Nickj,

I think my husband has removed both wallpaper and paste and is now left with a bare wall - brownish coloured which doesn't seem to peeling off anymore. This is a concrete house so .. would you say we have hit plaster now?

We don't want to have to pay to have walls skimmed so hoping we can just fill up any dents with a filler and smooth it over with a sander. Would you say we need any base coat or should the wall be ready to be painted?

sounds like plaster , how old is your house , if you wet your finger and rub it on the "plaster" does it come off , if it does come off the walls may need sealing to stabilize them before painting

DVardysShadow

Roaming wrote: »

Money wise, Homebase is about half the price of Dulux.

And if the Homebase requires 1 extra coat to get the depth of colour, by the time you add on your extra time at NMW, you will be well down.

Leif

A lot of professional decorators seem to prefer brands other than Dulux such as Leyland and Johnstones. I guess they are cheaper, less advertising overhead. But NickJ does talk sense when he says not to spend much on the paint if you intend to rent the house out.

By the way, if you wet the wall, and it feels sticky, then there is still paste on it. Use sugar soap to get it off.

You can fill small holes in the walls using Easi-fill then sand. You can do larger holes too, 6" across say, but it shrinks so you will need several coats. Be warned that it is hard work. I found that preparation of the walls took far far more time than the actual painting. Microfibre rollers were recommended to me and they are worth using, no shed hairs and easy to get a good finish.

DVardysShadow

Leif wrote: »

A lot of professional decorators seem to prefer brands other than Dulux such as Leyland and Johnstones. I guess they are cheaper, less advertising overhead. But NickJ does talk sense when he says not to spend much on the paint if you intend to rent the house out.

I would agree that many pros use Leyland-Johnstone.

Dulux comes in 2 flavours, professional and DIY, which are marketed separately AFAICS [different websites] and will bear different advertising and marketing overheads

Orkatec

Go to Screwfix I believe the are the same group as B&Q but much cheaper.I always see trade painters in there.