Farrow & Ball worth the price?

Wizard!

We are planning to re-paint all of our house (internally)

We were looking available options for paints and colours and saw the differences in prices over F&B, that are pretty much 200%.

The painter we picked for the job, does not like to work with them (didn't explain why).

What is your opinion on this?

Do they worth the price and if yes why?

What difference will it make to the eye, or cleaning (small kids playing around)

10-10-20

I've painted with F&B and others.

F&B offer good "hiding" capabilities - that being the ability to cover defects, marks or lines in a single coat (ie, they are dense) and they apply well (good adherence, work-ability and coverage). But being honest, I'm not sure where the mark-up goes as I have worked with other paints with as good qualities, but at a fraction of the cost.

My local paint-shop offers competitor brands with the same colour-profiles. But it's your cash, your decision.

Wizard!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118142139#Comment_118142139

Can you refer some of these brands, cause the only alternative I was told is Dulux, which is not equal.

ongarite

Colourtrend are excellent, far better quality than Dulux.

Priced between Dulux and F&B.

GingerLily

We got F&B shades mixed in colour trend and we're very happy, we live in a new build.

My inlaws live in a period house and insist on using F&B paint, apparently on older walls you will notice the difference.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118143938#Comment_118143938

Colourtrend is what my local shop mix up for me. In fact I have three tins of it looking at me right now which are in my wife's list for me to apply. 😕

queriesandtheories

Painters don't like painting with F&B as they are more watery and therefore take more coats. Sometimes a deeper colour can take up to four coats. This makes it unnecessarily labour intensive for a painter and therefore makes it more costly for you; plus more coats means more supply, so it's so expensive. Painters want to paint, and get on to the next client' they've promised to get to.

I've been told by the pros that the reason the F&B paint is so expensive is because they are rich in pigments. The powdered pigment is the expensive part of any paint composition. This, plus they have pitched themselves at the upper end of the market, so they can price higher. They're marketed themselves as a top end paint, so certain people are willing to pay the price tag.

I've matched F&B paints to all brands that do it. IMO Colourtrend match the closest. Colourtrend still isn't the cheapest paint brand available in ireland, but it is one of the best IMO, and you get what you pay for with them.

o1s1n

After years of colour matching F&B I thought I'd buy the real deal to paint an old chimney breast in my new place as it was a small enough area and I've been interested in giving it a go.

Was actually really lovely to work with and not watery as I've been hearing a lot. Actually covered in one coat. It was the Estate version, so is incredibly matt with a really strong pigment, looks great!

em_cat

I’d go F&B all the way, it’s the only paint that survives me & our dogs plus my asthma is so badly affected by most other paint brands even if they say low VOC. Plus the colour fast is pretty incredible, we’ve a south facing 3 rd floor apartment with floor to ceiling glazing and have yet to need to paint due to fading.

Mackleton

So I'm based in the UK, and recently re-skimmed the entirety of my 1930's semi, and have painted all rooms myself.Given that the entire house was re-skimmed (surface plaster refresh) the surfaces were very smooth to begin with, so we didn't have any imperfections to hide.

I did quite a lot of research into F&B and many other 'designer' paints, such as Mylands, Little Greene, Fired Earth, etc. also considering Dulux, and Valspar. I settled on F&B for our living room in in Estate Emulsion (Inchyra blue), and was able to cover the white walls with 2 coats.

Note: I can only speak to the quality of the Estate Emulsion (ultra matte finish), others may have different experiences with Modern Emulsion (higher sheen).

So for the pros of F&B:

-Nice to work with, good consistency

-Water based, so easily washed off clothes/brushes etc.

-Barely any odour

-Quick drying time (maybe 3 hours for the first coat to dry)

-Natural pigments mean that the colour shifts throughout the day/year depending on the light, as it refracts light differently than synthetic pigments, giving it a more 'living' feel.

-Better for the environment as it's lower in VOC's

Now for the cons, and this may be specific to the Estate Emulsion:

-It stains...

pretty much while you're looking at, literally breathing too heavily near the wall leaves a visible grease mark. It's been murder keeping my other half from brushing/touching the walls accidentally. If you have children or are in a confined space which might mean contact with the walls regularly, I'd advise against Estate Emulsion at least. Wiping also does no good, besides make the stain worse, the only fix is to repaint, which can become costly, not to mention frustrating.

-It has a strangely film-like quality when dry, although I now know this to be true of all matte paints, so for example, if you paint over a socket edge or something accidentally, don't attempt to remove the overrun paint after it has dried as it will peel away in a sheet, ruining your wall. It doesn't dry 'brittle' like higher sheen paints.

-Chips very easily (although this is a peculiarity of matte paint as well, I notice, presumably because the lack of oil means it doesn't form that protective shell)

Personally, if I was back again I wouldn't have gone for F&B, if I'd known how easily it stains.

I can HIGHLY recommend Valspar V700 range that you can have custom mixed at B&Q (in the UK anyway, not sure about Ireland). They will match anyway colour that you can provide a coin size sample of, and the intensity of the pigmentation is great. Coverage is excellent, low odour, quick drying, and a good 60% cheaper than F&B (in the UK at least). Anyone in trades I've spoken to since can't speak highly enough of it.

Much harder wearing, and they will mix a decent sized sample for you for under a tenner, so great for small touch ups or up-cycling projects as well.

Plus I think if you're not happy they will refund the paint.

Hope that helps!

Wizard!

"If you have children or are in a confined space which might mean contact with the walls regularly,"

We do, and half of the room we are painting is their "playzone"...

Thank you for taking time to give a detailed answer. We will go with Colourtrend Ceramic Matt for this room and then we will see what is next for the rest of the house. Because of the kids (8 & 3), the "washable" property is our top pick.

awec

We have Colourtrend Ceramic Matt in our kitchen and I swear by it. You can properly scrub it to clean it and no paint will come off.