Farrow and Ball paint

I have seen a shade of paint that I want which is a Farrow and Ball eggshell.
I am assuming Farrow and Ball paint is expensive, so is it worth the extra?
I was thinking about asking B&Q to mix exactly the same Farrow and Ball eggshell for me?
Anyone have a view on whether this is feasible or is the Farrow and Ball paint much better?

Comments

  • nickj_2
    nickj_2 Posts: 7,052 Forumite
    it is expensive , some people love it , painters including me normally hate it , it you like paying more for an overpriced product then that is fine , if you want an exact match johnstones paints have the F&B colours in their machines , or if you have a F*B colour card that has the raised paint samples rather than just the printed one then you can get that scanned and mixed in dulux or crown
  • Why do you hate it? Can you tell the difference once it is up?
    I think you have confirmed what I thought to be honest.
    How is it different from, for example, Dulux etc
  • Leif
    Leif Posts: 3,727 Forumite
    I've heard the pros hate it, but people I know love it. I don't like the trendy marketing, too much like the bull they use to sell Innocent Smoothies.
    Warning: This forum may contain nuts.
  • devildog
    devildog Posts: 1,222 Forumite
    I asked B & Q to match a Crown colour in the Dulux paint (wanted it in the endurance range) the colour was nothing like the crown colour!!
  • I_have_spoken
    I_have_spoken Posts: 5,051 Forumite
    I've used F&B on a lot of my rooms, love the finish the paint gives, both modern and estate emulsion. Expensive yes, and you need two coats to get the depth. I do find it's too thick out the can and add 10% water.
  • nickj_2
    nickj_2 Posts: 7,052 Forumite
    Why do you hate it? Can you tell the difference once it is up?
    I think you have confirmed what I thought to be honest.
    How is it different from, for example, Dulux etc

    apart from costing 1/3 more than dulux etc it is just a pain to get hold of, a couple of years ago i did a job for a customer , living room kitchen and toilet , wanted F&B paint , to get it i went to the nearest stockist which is a 40min round trip instead of the 10 min to my local builders merchant , they had everything apart from the wall colour for the living room , so i asked the guy to get some in , went back again a few days later only to find he only got a 2 1/2 ltr tin , so i then had to go round cambridge , none of the stockists there had the colur in store , so went to another town , they didn't have it either , they actually rang another 2 stores to find some without success , so i just got it scanned in dulux , so in all i probably wasted a day and £40 in diesel , that was the last time i used f&b ,
  • Leif
    Leif Posts: 3,727 Forumite
    I've used F&B on a lot of my rooms, love the finish the paint gives, both modern and estate emulsion. Expensive yes, and you need two coats to get the depth. I do find it's too thick out the can and add 10% water.

    Can you explain what you like about the finish?
    Warning: This forum may contain nuts.
  • Edwardia
    Edwardia Posts: 9,170 Forumite
    I use Farrow & Ball Estate Emulsion, have done for years and love it.
    Not seen any trendy ads, thankfully.

    I use Estate Emulsion because we have horsehair plaster walls (and if your home is Edwardian or Victorian or earlier and hasn't been replastered probability is you do too). Horsehair plaster needs to breathe. Estate Emulsion has a low vinyl content, which means that's possible. Your emulsion is therefore less likely to 'blow' (bubble) off a damp wall.

    It's not washable or even wipeable on walls, but I've used leftover Estate Emulsion on trellis and it has lasted years. It will even stay put for a summer on terracotta pots filled with soil and plants. Vinyl emulsion would never do that, effectively you are painting a vinyl skin on your walls.

    If you want the colours but a washable paint, F&B does Modern Emulsion, and at least one of the colours IIRC Picture Gallery Red was licensed to Dulux.

    After stripping walls back to bare plaster we used a breatheable paint for new plaster as an undercoat. Doing that meant we didn't waste F&B paint because it didn't sink into the walls. Makes it easier to paint too.

    I love the clarity of the colours. All too often with cheap paints, you open the tin to find white on the top and once it's stirred in, the colour looks sludgy. I love that F&B uses natural pigments too so I'm using the same colours that were used back in the day.

    If you think oh I'll get colours mixed up and say it's F&B, you'll never fool someone who uses F&B a lot..
  • lostinrates
    lostinrates Posts: 55,283 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    nickj wrote: »
    apart from costing 1/3 more than dulux etc it is just a pain to get hold of, a couple of years ago i did a job for a customer , living room kitchen and toilet , wanted F&B paint , to get it i went to the nearest stockist which is a 40min round trip instead of the 10 min to my local builders merchant , they had everything apart from the wall colour for the living room , so i asked the guy to get some in , went back again a few days later only to find he only got a 2 1/2 ltr tin , so i then had to go round cambridge , none of the stockists there had the colur in store , so went to another town , they didn't have it either , they actually rang another 2 stores to find some without success , so i just got it scanned in dulux , so in all i probably wasted a day and £40 in diesel , that was the last time i used f&b ,

    They deliver. ( we've done that in the past as its quicker than ordering a tin of an unpopular colour). For the popular colours Brewers stock it as do some homebase stores.


    Fwiw if its the COLOUR you like I'd save money and colour match. For me its not the colour( infact I often feel let down by the colour range) but the texture/ depth and soft, soft finish. We've just started our first room in little Greene paint and than looks promising too. A cleaner colour than f and b could provide, a much larger range, lacking I the nice 'dirty' neutrals though , which f and b cannot be beaten at I think.
  • nickj_2
    nickj_2 Posts: 7,052 Forumite
    [QUOTE=lostinrates;61765233]They deliver. ( we've done that in the past as its quicker than ordering a tin of an unpopular colour). For the popular colours Brewers stock it as do some homebase stores.


    Fwiw if its the COLOUR you like I'd save money and colour match. For me its not the colour( infact I often feel let down by the colour range) but the texture/ depth and soft, soft finish. We've just started our first room in little Greene paint and than looks promising too. A cleaner colour than f and b could provide, a much larger range, lacking I the nice 'dirty' neutrals though , which f and b cannot be beaten at I think.[/QUOTE]

    not much use if you want it there and then :(
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