Expert Paint Recommendations: Choosing the Right Products for Your Next Project
What paints do we recommend?
So many paint manufacturers are out there, all with varying product lines and price points. While you can ask the person behind the counter which paint to use for your project, odds are they will make a recommendation based on what they've been told is good for that application without any actual hands-on experience. Even worse, they may steer you towards a product line they're trying to get rid of or boost sales in.
While we certainly haven't tried them all, here are the ones we regularly use on our jobs and ones we definitely avoid. We are not endorsed by any of these manufacturers, so these reviews are our honest opinion based on our practical experience.
OUR FAVORITE Primers
Interior Latex
We use Sherwin Williams Premium Wall & Wood Primer for just about all our interior priming needs. This latex-based primer has really good coverage and does an amazing job of preventing flashing. Flashing occurs when the texture of new drywall is different from the texture of the sanded joint compound, causing your finish coat to look shinier and more reflective where the joint compound is. It is pricier than most general-purpose primers, but to us, it's worth the added expense.
Interior/Exterior Oil Based
We primarily use oil-based primers to seal water-damaged plaster/drywall and priming knots in wood trim boards. Both are notorious for bleeding through the topcoat. For exteriors, we use it on all bare wood surfaces, whether new, freshly scraped, exposing bare wood, or the old topcoat burned off. This seals and protects the wood from the elements and gives the topcoat a good surface to adhere to. Our go-to for these applications is Sherwin Williams Fast Dry Oil Based Primer. In a well-ventilated space, you can usually topcoat in about 20 minutes, allowing you to get to the actual painting faster.
A few notes on the application: This stuff is highly runny, almost like painting with milk. If using a brush or roller, ensure they're not loaded up with product like you would with latex paint. Make sure as much of the excess is squeezed out before you apply it and get a feel for how it behaves. Wear gloves and safety glasses (it will splatter) and have plenty of site protection where you work. It has a strong odor, so opening the windows and putting a fan in is almost required.
When painting exteriors in the sun on a warm/hot day, this stuff will dry extremely fast—within seconds—and may start to pill up. That's when you brush over a section you already applied the product to, and the brush pulls at the drying paint and creates these tiny paintballs. Do not be concerned; just let it dry. When you go to finish the coat, give it a light scuff with some sandpaper, brush away the sanding dust, and apply your topcoat.
We have found that cleaning our applicators after using an oil primer is not worth it, so we always use old roller sleeves and cheap disposable brushes.
Shellac Primers
Shellac primers are specialty alcohol-based primers good for hard-to-stick surfaces like glass and are really the only way to prime smoke damage, whether from a fire or just soot from candles. Once again, our go-to is Sherwin Williams Shellac Primer. Like the oil primer above, it dries extremely fast—about 20 minutes. It is also runny, requires ventilation, and you should use old junk applicators or cheap disposables.
Ceiling Paint
Our old tried and true Sherwin Williams Eminence ceiling paint has been discontinued. We miss that stuff. Sherwin Williams only had their ProMar 200 line as an alternative for a while. While it was ok, it wasn't that nice bright white I had grown to expect. However, they recently released their Premium Ceiling Paint, which behaves exactly how I remember Eminence behaving. I don't know if it's a rebrand or a new formula, but this is our new go-to paint for ceilings.
OUR FAVORITE Wall PaintS
Top Pick
Our absolute favorite is Benjamin Moore Regal Select. I don't know what it is about this paint, but the walls just tend to pop more and have a bit of a glow factor. However, it's pricey, at $70 a gallon. If you're doing a large area or several rooms, it can be quite an expense. We always recommend this paint, but it's not in everyone's budget.
Our Workhorse
Sherwin Williams Super Paint is our workhorse. It's a paint and primer in one. It has excellent coverage and just gets the job done. Most of our projects use Super Paint for wall covering.
OUR SUGGESTED Budget Option
Last is Sherwin Williams ProMar 200. I would technically classify this as a budget paint, but it has zero VOC, applies well, and has decent coverage. We use this a lot on houses that will soon be put on the market, as it gives good results with a minimal investment.
Specialty Paint
We use Benjamin Moore Kitchen and Bath Paint for—you guessed it—our kitchens and bathrooms. It's very washable, has mold and mildew inhibitors, and is a great all-around product. The only downside is that it's only available in satin or semi-gloss, so if you're looking for a flatter sheen, you'll have to use a different product.
Trim Paint
For most of our trim paint, we'll use Sherwin Williams Super Paint in semi-gloss. For high gloss, we use Sherwin Williams All-Purpose Enamel. They get the job done.
If we are going over a surface that was previously painted with an oil-based paint (like a lot of the old homes in our area), we use Benjamin Moore Advance trim paint. This is a washable alkyd paint that, I believe, uses vegetable oil as its base. It has no problem adhering to an old oil topcoat and self-levels amazingly. But just like oil paint, you need to be mindful of drips and runs as you're painting. Don't load up your bush too much.
HOUSE Paints to be wary of
Wall pAINTS WE DOn’T RECOMMEND
The two main wall paint we've had problems with include Sherwin Williams Property Solutions and their Duration line.
Property solutions may be the cheapest Sherwin Williams paint available. It's like painting with water. We were given 5 gallons of the stuff to paint an apartment once. The color was the same as what was already on the walls, but it took three coats for the walls to finally look fresh. What was saved in materials was easily lost in labor.
We've only encountered the following problem with Sherwin Williams Duration paint: We painted a wall, and when the sun came through the window and hit the wall, the paint blistered as it dried. Four or five air pouches needed to be cut out, skimmed, sanded, and reapplied. It's only happened twice, both times with dark colors, but those experiences have left a lasting impression.
Trim pAINTS WE DOn’T RECOMMEND
I have a love-hate relationship with Sherwin Williams's Pro-Classic trim paint. When done well, it is a fantastic paint but extremely prone to brush burn. This is where you go back over a spot you painted moments before, and the brush bristles leave a noticeable streak you can't get rid of. This is not a problem for most trim applications, but for 6-panel doors, it is a significant issue, especially if you're trying to "brush with the grain" of all the different door sections. If you don't paint daily for a living, choose a more forgiving option.
Final Thoughts
This list is comprised of Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams paints because that's what we know, and that's what we use. It doesn't even start to scratch the surface of what is available. The big box stores have their own lines of paint, and I've seen decent reviews. There are also other suppliers that have their own loyal contractors and devotees. For us, it's more important to stick with what we know works and not experiment on our clients' homes. We trust these selections because we know they get the job done.