Expensive paint or stick to Dulux

[RS93]

So like many recently we have decided to Decorate the lounge and dining room,

Sorry for my ignorance I don’t know much about internal / external paints and the differences. I don’t see any issues with good old dulux, I never go cheap basic paint but over the years paints seem to get more expensive and more advanced but how exactly ? but ofcourse the Mrs sees the expensive paint and wants that...
She wants to go for farrow & ball - is the product generally any better or are you paying for the name?

What do you think / use yourselves?

[cologne2792]

I used Farrow & Ball on a customer's house and although it was very nice and possibly had a marginally finer finish than the equivalent from Dulux, I couldn't really recommend it due to the vast difference in price.

The Dulux Diamond range of emulsions and eggshells have a very decent finish and excellent durability.

Have a look online and you can find it at a much reduced, delivered price than B&Q and their like.

[Little Lofty]

Most of what you buy in the likes of B&Q is crap, even Dulux, trade paint is much better, it’s more expensive but coverage is usually better. I’m using emulsion and satin from Johnstone’s that was mixed to match a F&B colour, it’s less than half the price.

[guindilias]

I only use Dulux trade diamond matt now - probably overpriced but the stuff covers brilliantly, is pretty bulletproof when it come to getting off oily hand prints etc, and is generally a "nice" paint to use.
Their normal stuff though, is utter shite and I wouldn't ever use it again.
There are probably cheaper paints out there which are just as good but for the reasons I stated, it's fantastic stuff for the way I tend to get hand prints round sockets, switches, etc.
I'll be happy to be told of a better emulsion at a lower price - but I can actually go at the stuff with one of those little sponges with the green scourer on and it doesn't take paint off or leave it looking like someone as been at it with a piece of P40 sandpaper.
So it's bang on for me - but again, their standard trade stuff is hopeless - go for the diamond stuff if you are buying Dulux.

[guitarcarfanatic]

I always use Johnstones trade covaplus matt - colour matched where needed. Nothing else touches it.

[CornishRob]

As above, I’ve always found Johnstone’s best.

[jinkster]

F&B is never the same when you mix it. The saying 'you get what you pay for' is definitely worthy.

[Jezza30]

I'm a recent and complete convert to F&B... While fundamentally it looks the same as Dulux, what you can't convey is how it changes colour given the time of day, is so matt and is more 'rich' if that makes sense. Sure, its more expensive, but I recon its well worth it... It frames a room and the furniture in it....

[Pheo]

I’m quite impressed by Little Green Intelligent Matt... very Matt (keeps up with F&B estate eggshell), but is scrubbable!

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Little greene pee's all over f&b

[blueg33]

Duluth trade every time. Very good paint, way better than F&B, but not especially cheap. A dulux trade centre will match colours with anything.

[singlecoil]

I used to use Farrow and Ball Estate Eggshell for the units I make, but I've since switched to Dulux Trade Diamond Eggshell. It's expensive stuff, I don't think the switch has saved me money, but I prefer the Dulux. My local Brewers will mix it to F&B colours if required.

[guindilias]

blueg33 said:

Duluth trade every time. Very good paint, way better than F&B, but not especially cheap. A dulux trade centre will match colours with anything.

I found their colour matching to be miles off - I brought in a bit of plasterboard with the colour I wanted on it - fella calibrated his little tool, scanned it, and made me up a sample - it was miles out. I mean really far. The fella actually said to me "I could do that 50 times and get 50 different results"".
If you have already had some mixed to order, bring in the can or just the label - they can match that bang on by putting in the mix numbers.
Otherwise, hopeless IMO - I wanted a mid grey, he tried and showed me 3 samples from the machine on the little screen - one wasn't a million miles off, one was a very light grey, one was like slate.

So if you do get a sample matched and it's OK, make sure you bring in the sample tin for them to type the mix in, or you might get an unpleasant surprise...

[Crumpet]

CornishRob said:

As above, I’ve always found Johnstone’s best.

And I always liked Johnstone’s too. But the last two rooms I’ve done with their top stuff have taken four coats to cover, and even then there are patches where you can see the old colour. Never again for me I’m afraid.

The best wearing paint in our house has been the F&B Modern Emulsion and I’ll probably start going back to it.

[guindilias]

Been there and done that - with boggo Dulux emulsion, and the "trade" emulsion. Both are better off down the drain. I find I can do a big colour change in one coat - the stuff is so thick that it just lies on the wall.
I normally do a second, very light coat and then go over the whole wall with an almost dry roller because the diamond matt stuff needs a bit of working to get a nice even finish, but that's just because I am really picky about painting.

[Chilly for June]

Jezza30 said:

I'm a recent and complete convert to F&B... While fundamentally it looks the same as Dulux, what you can't convey is how it changes colour given the time of day, is so matt and is more 'rich' if that makes sense. Sure, its more expensive, but I recon its well worth it... It frames a room and the furniture in it....

I agree that this is the big difference when you pay extra for farrow and ball. It really does change colour through the day and has a flat finish the cheaper stuff can't touch. If you can afford it I would go for it. Also never had to put more than two coats on for a great finish.

[darreni]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

Little greene pee's all over f&b

Good to hear, I have a load in the garage ready to redo the hall, kitchen & main bedroom. Used F&B last time but never again.

[EarlofDrift]

jinkster said:

F&B is never the same when you mix it. The saying 'you get what you pay for' is definitely worthy.

It's never the same when they mix it because they are using acrylic pigment and F&B use chalk pigment and in. a lot more volume than Dulux or Johnstones.

It's bks to say you can match F&B exactly, you'll get the closest colour but the finish will be miles off and you won't get the same depth you get with F&B.

When I worked in paint a lot of people want F&B for shed paint money, one guy kept old F&B tins and said he would pour the mixed match into old tin because the wife wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

IF you want F&B you have to pay the F&B prices.

[Sebastian Tombs]

We have F&B Hague Blue Estate Emulsion in one room and it looks fantastic, and it went on really well. Then we bought some Blue Green Modern Emulsion from them for our kitchen and it just wouldn’t go on the walls. When doing the edges the brush would drag as much paint off the walls as it laid down. Same with the roller. We gave up in the end and bought Dulux which went on perfectly.

[2 GKC]

F&B estate looks great but if you even touch it you will get a mark. You cannot touch it up either because you will see it in the sheen, necessitating a repaint of the whole wall.