Farrow & Ball Paint

Author
Discussion

KenJ

Original Poster:

122 posts

148 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
quotequote all
I'm after some advice from the Pistonheads collective.

We're going to be decorating our lounge and dining room soon and we're wondering whether to pay a premium and use Farrow & Ball paint. Does anyone have any experience of using it?

Is it worth the premium over Dulux or Crown?
Does it last longer? Is it easier to apply etc…

Any advice appreciated

eldar

21,614 posts

195 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
quotequote all
My son is a decorator, and he loves F&B, bigger marginssmile Good paint, for sure, with a good range of colours and textures. But other cheaper brands are as good.

Customers like the name and cachet.

Terminator X

14,921 posts

203 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
quotequote all
Takes multiple coats to give a good coverage eg expensive to buy + you need more of it! Also a nightmare if you need to patch in areas as it never looks right once patched. All imho of course.

TX.

LivingTheDream

1,753 posts

178 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
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I suspect you'll get a straight split of opinion on here, somewhere between its overpriced poncy paint and it's the best ever.

I find it brilliant to use but pricey.

Pros (for me)
It's lovely to use, covers well
It gives a nice finish - looks like a nice country home finish
It blends really well - I can paint a small patch of a wall and you can't notice it at all, useful for covering odd marks
Dries quickly
No smell - I can paint the kids bedrooms during the day and they can sleep in there the same night without lingering paint smells
Cleans easily - brushes are cleaned with warm water. No white spirit (I use estate emulsion and estate eggshell so not sure about higher gloss finishes)

Cons
Expensive
Colour choice is limited compared to mainstream paint

Evolved

3,553 posts

186 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
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Paying for a name really, look at Little Greene if you fancy a branded paint.

LivingTheDream

1,753 posts

178 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
quotequote all
Terminator X said:
Takes multiple coats to give a good coverage eg expensive to buy + you need more of it! Also a nightmare if you need to patch in areas as it never looks right once patched. All imho of course.

TX.
I find the opposite - I patch in areas all the time and find it blends really well

roofer

5,136 posts

210 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
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We just took their colour chart to the local trade decorating place and they mixed it up. Same finish, 3rd of the cost.

yellowtang

1,772 posts

137 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
quotequote all
roofer said:
We just took their colour chart to the local trade decorating place and they mixed it up. Same finish, 3rd of the cost.
The finish isn't usually the same though - Dulux Flat Matt colour mixing paint has a 5% sheen whereas F&B Estate emulsion is only 2% sheen which makes quite a difference.

If there's a colour mix paint available at 2% sheen, then I'd love to know about it?! Although to be fair, I don't buy that much emulsion I guess.

I use F&B paint on every project because the colours are lovely, the range is good because they will make any of their back catalogue colours to order, most of the colours are available in every finish and most importantly to me - they also do lime wash and distemper in most colours.

It is very expensive though!

JJ55

649 posts

114 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
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Did some of our floors with it. Very good quality paint, easy to use & excellent finish. Also as its water based there's no toxic smell & it's really simple to clean brushes & rollers. It is ridiculously expensive though.

stuart313

740 posts

112 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
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How about buying one tin of farrow and ball paint and then you can buy a 10L tub of Leland or Crown or something. You can then keep topping up the farrow and ball tin with cheap paint, this way you can be pretentious on a budget.

Wings

5,810 posts

214 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
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JJ55 said:
Did some of our floors with it. Very good quality paint, easy to use & excellent finish. Also as its water based there's no toxic smell & it's really simple to clean brushes & rollers. It is ridiculously expensive though.
^^^^agree, bought two 750ml tins, one undercoat the other topcoat £38.00, painting kitchen cabinets, not sure if i would repeat purchase though.

Psammead

50 posts

124 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
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For the same sort of palette, as matt (if not more) and far better coverage / obliteration try Mylands (Marble Matt), it's superb paint. It stands up well to being cleaned and wiped, whereas with F&B you seem to get a shiny patch almost immediately if you bring a wet cloth anywhere near it.

I've also heard good things about Little Greene as someone else mentioned but never used it myself. You can also get a chalk paint mixer made by Polyvine to bring down the sheen level of 'normal' vinyl paints such as Dulux - again, never used it though. If it does work you'd get a very similar finish at a massively lower cost though, think it's about £10 a tin in decorators merchants.

Stephanie Plum

2,776 posts

210 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
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I like F&B but only for rooms with little traffic - if it gets marked then you are always touching up - I'm talking about the emulsions here - it's impossible to wipe clean even the smallest marks.

Harry Flashman

19,283 posts

241 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
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Mylands and Little Greene are better in terms of coverage. And many paint merchants will mix you an F&B shade in standard emulsion anyway.

darreni

3,759 posts

269 months

Friday 22nd May 2015
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I've just done my study with the estate emulsion & found it a superb paint to use with a great finish.

Definitely two coats though, so don't expect to get away with one.

Expensive? Yep. But worth it imho.

Also used johnstones covaplus brilliant white on the ceilings, this stuff is fantastic.

Troubleatmill

10,210 posts

158 months

Saturday 23rd May 2015
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Right.... Having done the whole house.

Farrow and Ball Estate - is the dogs bks. But if you have children - forget it.

Farrow and Ball Emulsion - Is good - But nowhere near as nice looking as the Estate. Too reflective. Great if you have kids.


Dulux Diamond Trade Yada Yada ( Same cost as Farrow and Ball ) - Brilliant if you have kids - washable and almost indestructable. Can colour match to F&B - but way too much sheen.



I have all of the above on Chez Troubleatmill.

Kitchen - Dulux colour matched to F&B
Bathrooms - F&B Emulsion
Every other room- F&B Estate.

The nicest of the the lot is the genuine F&B Estate. But it is the most fragile.

I would chose the same again - When we have dinner parties - the rooms that are commented on are the F&B Estate finished ones.


But... You pay your money - you take your choice. The Dulux colour matched ones are not a patch on the original.

Edited by Troubleatmill on Saturday 23 May 00:46

Crumpet

3,876 posts

179 months

Saturday 23rd May 2015
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Our house is pretty much all F and B as I find it really easy to paint with and the finish is excellent. As mentioned by others it does have a tendency to mark easily and in high traffic areas I'm having to redecorate every couple of years (not an issue as I enjoy changing colours).

It's not so bad if you buy it when Homebase have a sale on, this weekend they have 15% off everything but I bought all mine when it was 20%.

Don't bother with the Modern Emulsion, it's practical but too shiny. Crown do a scrubable matt mixed to any colour and is much better than the Modern Emulsion with the added bonus of being impossible to damage. It's really very good.

Paul Drawmer

4,864 posts

266 months

Saturday 23rd May 2015
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The extreme matt finish of F&B is why it marks easily.

If you want a more resistant finish, you will need to give up on the extreme matt. Then you might as well get Dulux.

andy_s

19,397 posts

258 months

Saturday 23rd May 2015
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Why spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar?

Zippee

13,442 posts

233 months

Saturday 23rd May 2015
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Lovely colours and matt finish, we have cooking apple green as a feature wall in the lounge. Though as many have said it's a b1tch to apply and needs several coats for a good finish. Looks great once done though and I couldn't get an equivalent finish with any Dulux products smile