Paint
I recently had a terrible experience with Farrow and Ball paint and need suggestions for better interior paint. The Farrow and Ball paint had a nice selection of colors but chips if you look at it wrong. What good quality interior paint works well in brownstone interiors? Thanks
I recently had a terrible experience with Farrow and Ball paint and need suggestions for better interior paint. The Farrow and Ball paint had a nice selection of colors but chips if you look at it wrong. What good quality interior paint works well in brownstone interiors? Thanks
I am a painter and only use Benjamin Moore. I alsu use exclusively Benjamin Moore Aura. Don’t let the more expensive price scare you away from Aura as you do not need to prime when using it. This not only saves yo the added cost of primer (a can of regular BM and primer would add to about the same) but also save the time of priming and an added coat. It also has lower VOC’s than other paints. There is also benjamin Moore Natura which has pretty much no VOC’s to speak of. Besides the many Benjamin Moore colors to choose from they can also match any other companies color.
The Farrow and Ball paint has not held up on any of our walls as it chips very easily. I put up a painting and removed it and where the frame hit the wall the paint chipped off. In addition, the customer service is miserable. They refused to exchange a gallon of paint for another color because I did not have the receipt for the paint. The salesman recognized me and remembered I bought the paint but since I did not save the receipt, they would not exchange an unopened can for another color.
This is an interesting post, as I have very recently been considering F&B for one of our rooms. Can anyone provide more details on the downsides to this paint? Is it less durable than BM Aura Matte? (if so, this would be a deal-breaker for me) Do painters not like working with it? Would love any input. We have used BM Aura in the rest of our home, and I have no major complaints. I just like some of the F&B colors more than BM.
I have never had a problem with f and b and i am talking about many projects. With that said we use Benjamin Moore Aura all the time and love it.
Grand Army, ask at the Farrow & Ball store and also at Janovic about fading and see what they say. FB’s colors are their strength, so they may not fade as much as other paints, but on the other hand, they are quite natural, so they may fade. Maybe BM has some anti-fade additive they can use.
Also, F&B mixes its own colors in the factory in Canada. They are 100 percent consistent. It takes a week to ship.
HS, you cannot go to any Benjamin Moore dealer for the custom color. You can only go to Janovic. They will indeed mix a custom color based on a swatch you bring them using their digital light scanners or whatever they are and their computers. It will not be an exact match, different batches will vary, etc. But I have used it with good enough results many times for baths and kitchens where I wanted a pale F&B color but needed eggshell or semi-gloss. I don’t think I would try it with an intense color. Too risky.
F&B is a very high-quality paint, better than Benjamin Moore, which is also excellent. They both have their advantages.
For example, BM comes in a wider variety of finishes, some of which are necessary in baths and kitchens. It also keeps well in the can. An opened and partially used container can be used a year or two later with no problem. F&B is meant to be used immediately. It does not keep and will mold even if it has not been opened.
On the other hand, F&B paints are mixed to an exact color specification. So you can use the same color over and over again, and it will be exactly the same. There is no variation between lots. Another great advantage of F&B is that the colors are extremely natural looking — even if the color is a strong one. They recede into the background and do not shout at you or look like extra-terrestials created them. The flat paint also has a very beautiful chalky finish that is wonderful on old plaster walls.
I’ve used both F&B and BM Aura. It is difficult to match the F&B paint colors in another paint brand exactly. What they do when they read it with the scanner is tell you the BM color formulations that would be closest. They don’t actually custom mix a color specifically to match though BM calls their colors custom blended. All this means is that BM dealers don’t keep inventory of most of the colors–they mix them for you per order. So anyway, they can get close but not a perfect match and because it is so close you can’t tell until it’s on a large section of wall. Actually I think I recall that there was a custom blend option but the guys behind the counter said it wasn’t a good option and you’re stuck with the paint even if it isn’t a good match so you’re better off using the closest BM color.
I have not had any problem with F&B paint. Any latex paint is delicate compared to oil paint. Chipping on woodwork is really annoying but it is the nature of latex paint and not a F&B-specific issue. Use oil paint on trim in heavy traffic areas like entry vestibules, doors, kitchens, etc. if you can. Unfortunately F&B oil formulations are not longer available so you have to use BM etc.
Really surprised to hear this about F&B paint. I’m planning to repaint my 3rd floor front room which gets a LOT of sun because the BM paint has completely faded — from a mid-tone blue to a nasty pale grey/blue. Thought F&B would be a good higher quality option but maybe not. Does it depend on where you buy paint, ie. who mixes it? I’ve also heard Sherwin Williams is good. Any thoughts?