Help me paint less

July 29, 2007 8:04 AM

The covering power of French wall paint rivals the covering power of egg whites. The British paint we bought for €_BIGNUMBER has the covering power of clotted cream but goes on as thickly. What do Europeans do about getting decent interior paint?

What a mess. The stuff you get at the Bricomarché covers in six coats and the Dulux Valentine that comes from the UK is as thick as Béchamel sauce. I am hopeful that Kelly-Moore or another reputable American paint vendor has an outlet somewhere in France. The British expats swear by Dulux but I swear at it, the way it goes on. I would love to have suggestions for what to do short of shipping five gallons of Kelly-Moore over here, but I will do just that if there isn't some more elegant solution.

posted by jet_silver to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

Best answer: As a sometime painter-and-decorator's monkey in the UK in my youth, I recall that we watered down the emulsion to the required consistency and did a goodly number of coats (two or three over an undercoat).
Anyway, apparently the Dulux Valentine range is made in France for the French market and won't be as I recall anyhow. Bit of discussion of it on an ex-pat forum here and a couple of recommendations.
posted by Abiezer at 8:52 AM on July 29, 2007

IANAP, but maybe you could mix the French paint with the British paint?
posted by box at 9:43 AM on July 29, 2007

Second dilluting. Add water and mix until you achieve a convenient thickness.
posted by stereo at 10:16 AM on July 29, 2007

Water works if it's latex. You need to make sure it is not oil-based.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 7:52 PM on July 29, 2007