I've been called a paint snob in the past.
I used to think the name-callers had basis for their action, but then I looked up the definition of snob:
"A snob is someone who believes that some people are inherently inferior to him or her for any one of a variety of reasons, including real or supposed intellect,wealth, education, ancestry, taste, beauty, nationality, et cetera. Often, the form of snobbery reflects the snob's personal attributes. For example, a common snobbery of the affluent is the belief that wealth is either the cause or result of superiority, or both."
When it comes to paint, my preferences aren't due to snobbery, they are due to experience.
When we paint, we have to balance our objectives, with these as our chief concerns:
- The total cost of the job
- The time required
- The resulting quality, look and/or durability of the painted surfaces
Most people erroneously think that the cost of the paint is the primary cost of the job of painting.
In reality, the cost of the paint is often SMALL compared to the over-all cost of the job.
Let's go over an actual example:
I've been painting my current home, and the one I just moved in to, over the last month. I bid out some of the work, and did some of it myself:
For Contractor A, a typical bid for painting a single room (10x10 to 14x16) was $125 to $150 for labor, plus the cost of the paint unless I agreed that he could use his favorite contractor-grade (read: cheap) paint.
Contractor B wanted $150 per coat of paint, but the cost of the paint was included (but again, the paint brand was his choice at that price).
Contractor C bid $150 for labor, regardless of the number of coats required, with the cost of the paint as extra.
As would be expected, the more rooms I added to the bid, the lower the cost per space.
One even offered me "his guys" at an hourly rate because he didn't have another job lined up for them and he needed to keep them busy on someone else's nickel.
So, what does it cost to paint a room, with a painting contractor doing the work?
We might conclude that painting a room costs about $150, plus the cost of the paint. It might, however, cost $300 or more, and that additional cost being labor, not paint.
So how much does the actual paint cost? Depends on the paint, of course. And when determining the "cost of paint", the cost per gallon is a poor measure of cost. One gallon of one brand of paint is not necessarily equal to a gallon of another brand of paint.
Personally, I only use Benjamin Moore. This decision is based on years and years of painting houses (my own homes and the homes of friends and clients).
For both the home I am selling and the one I just moved in to, I used only Benjamin Moore's Aura Matte on the walls.
Although this paint retails for about $62 per gallon, I think it is Worth. Every. Penny.
Here is why: when properly applied, it covers in a single coat. We covered a dark purple with a light blue-grey in a single coat. We covered a darker purple in a pale tan with a single coat. Same for a dark orange and a whole bunch of brightly colored stenciled flowers. This means a single gallon can paint a large bedroom - with leftover paint for later touch-ups. We even painted a wall in my daughter's new room black in a single coat (and yes, the contractor lost the bet on that one).
We used the recommended rollers made specifically for use with the Benajmin Moore Aura paint, and we used high-quality angled brushes for cutting in. And, of course, we followed the manufacturer's instructions since painting with Aura is NOT like painting with other paint.
Benjamin Moore recommends applying two coats to achieve maximum durability and color saturation. In spaces where I know the walls are going to get a lot of action (up the stairs, in the entry and kitchen), I apply a second coat. In space where the wall is really just going to be admired (one wall in a formal dining room in a home without pets, one coat will still get you fabulous color). When you want a second coat, it goes on fast and easy-peasy.
The Contractors' Bids
So, let's go back to the contractors' bids for painting a room. If you can paint a large bedroom with a single gallon of Aura at $62 per gallon, paint costs $62. If the labor cost of having the work done for you is $150, then the cost of painting that bedroom is $212 ($150 + $62).
If you use paint that requires two or more coats, unless you're paying less than $30 a gallon, you're not saving much money. You might actually end up spending MORE because you need to buy more paint to cover the same area. We've probably all had the experience of painting a wall over and over to try to get the color to cover and look good and never being completely satisfied. That happens with the cheap paint - it just doesn't apply well, and you need to use A LOT of it.
If you hire Contractor B, and Contractor B uses a cheaper paint since he bid that into the overall cost of the job (and most of them will), you will end up paying for two coats at $150 a pop, or $300. Personally, I think this is NUTS.
That is a heck of a difference in the cost for getting a room painted.
Let's talk a few more numbers for the cost of painting a house.
Let's say you are going to paint it yourself. And you're going to use cheap paint to make it cheaper. You figure you'll use $20 a gallon paint, so you go buy a gallon . . . for $20 . . . plus a cheap paint brush and a cheap roller cover and roller trays and some thin plastic sheeting and some painter's tape and and and. You get out the door having spent maybe $50 and only $20 of that was the actual paint.
You go home, and paint. And run out because the paint doesn't cover well. You go buy another gallon . . . and another roller tray and another roller cover because the first one got dried and icky. If you're lucky, parts of it came off in little strands and are stuck to your walls. Oh, and that cheap brush didn't cut in well, so you've got paint on your trim. And the thin plastic sheeting ripped so you got a little paint on the carpet. Or, maybe a lot on the carpet.
Now you're out TWICE the labor, an extra roller cover and an extra trip to the store. Now you're out the original $50 plus another $25 to $30, for $75 to $80. If you are really lucky, you may end up rolling on three coats and still have an uneven finish.
You probably didn't get it done in a day, either.
If you did, I'll bet it doesn't actually look that nice. Oh, and you've got a lot of touch-ups on the trim to take care of.
Painting Your House Yourself with Aura
Here is another option: you can save on the cost of painting your house yourself - IF you recognize up front that the cost of the paint is only one part of the overall cost of the job. The other costs are the supporting materials, and YOUR TIME. Your time is worth something!
Let's go back to talking about Benjamin Moore Aura Matte finish paint. I LOVE THIS PAINT. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.
My actual cost of painting a large bedroom in it is under $75.
When I paint a room, I buy ONE gallon of paint, ONE Aura-paint specialty roller and ONE paint tray for $0.75. If you think $75 is "expensive" for paint, you're probably not factoring in the cost of all of the other things needed for the job.
And when that one room has been painted the effect of the paint is GLORIOUS. People walk in and walk right up the the walls and marvel at the paint - both the color and the finish. The depth of color, the complexity of the color and the quality of the finish is mesmerizing.
Years ago I bought a few high-quality drop cloths for $13 to $20 each, and have used them over and over and over. The cost of the drop cloths is less than the cost of plastic sheeting over time and more importantly - do YOU want to trust your carpet to easily-ripped plastic?
I bought a high-quality angled brush for under $20 and keep it very clean.
I don't use painter's tape - I learned how to control the brush for cutting in.
I don't need packages of "cheap" rollers because I only need one for the job. Cheap rollers aren't so cheap if you need to use more than one or they break off little bits onto your walls.
In other words - just because individual products are cheap doesn't mean the cost you less in the long run. Sometimes the investment in good products can save you a bundle in both time and money.
Most of us know that the prep work is 90% of the job of painting. With Aura paint, this is even more true. Because this paint is different than other paints, the technique for applying it successfully is different:
- First, you cut in everywhere and let it dry
- Then you roll
Since it dries lightening-fast, by the time you're done cutting in, you're ready to roll. I can roll a big bedroom in 45 minutes, tops. If I inadvertently missed a few spots, I can hit them with the roller any which way and you won't see the roller marks, brush strokes, nada.
The paint is thick and glorious, goes on super smooth with minimal re-rolling, minimal strokes, and minimal dripping.
Even better, this paint does NOT like to be brushed and re-brushed or rolled and re-rolled - it should be touched as few times as possible then left alone. Fewer required touches means less labor, so even a single coat takes less time and energy than other paints. I never see roller marks or brush marks when it has dried. (Although that can happen with cheap rollers or spreading it too thin when cutting in).
And again, if you want a second coat for maximum performance, it'll go on in a flash.
Aura's Impact on Paint Contractors
I hired painters to paint some rooms, painted some on my own, and had them work with me on other spaces. Once they learned how to cut in and roll with Aura, they started pushing their boss to use it on other jobs. The boss, however, goes NUTS about the price whenever I bring it up.
We've gone round after round on the Aura debate. He loves his cheap paint! He loves it because 5-gallon drums are cheap! But . . . he needs a LOT of it to cover the same amount of wall space! We realized this big disconnet when determining how much paint to order for different parts of the job - he wanted 10 gallons of ceiling paint for the new place and I knew we needed 5 gallons MAX if we used the good stuff. He prevailed because it was ceilings and not walls. I tried to use the leftovers on a closet and was ready to drown myself in the 5-gallon bucket before I was done - it needed FOUR coats and still looked like crap!
We also figured this out when painting the crown in the new space. He wanted to use his cheap paint, but I bought two gallons of Aura Satin (since my favorite trim paint, Benjamin Moore Satin Impervo in oil was out of stock). We painted the crown in 1340 square feet of space with about a half-gallon!! That was a LOT of trim since it was in the closets, bathrooms and hallways as well as in the main rooms. ONE coat covered and the finish is sublime. Why put on a second coat on trim that will never be caressed by tiny, dirty hands?
Now the contractor is complaining that his guys are hammering him to buy Aura for other jobs. I pointed out that he can paint the same spaces in less than half the time - a huge labor savings, AND the resulting finish is gorgeous. I don't think he'll convert, but we'll see.
So bottom line:
- Cheap paint is not necessarily cheaper - it is only ONE part of the cost of a paint job
- Good paint is easier to work with, looks better and lasts longer
- Do your research before you paint - get multiple bids and ASK QUESTIONS before you hire your painting contractor or you might end up paying DOUBLE
- Invest in good materials and save yourself a lot of time, money and hassle.
- Whether you paint it yourself or hire it out, the more you know (from research of experience) the better your chances of having the job done right - the first time.
And if someone calls you a snob - just smile and move on because you know the difference.
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