What is/are the best paint brand for one coat coverage?

January 1, 2005 2:34 PM

What is/are the best paint brand for one-coat coverage? I'm painting my living (13' x 20') & dining (11' x 15') rooms and a small hallway. These rooms are currently covered with biege semi-gloss paint. (+)

A guy at a paint store told me that I had to sand the walls because they're currently semi-gloss. I've tried some sample patches without sanding and it seems to stick okay, but I don't want to prepare to paint only to find that I have to sand. Anyone painted eggshell over semi?

I'm also not sure how much paint I need as some brands seem to need several coats. I tested with some samples of Devine brand paints, but it's $35 per gallon and doesn't come in many shades. I guess I'm happy to spend more money for the paint if I know it will cover in one coat. I plan on painting a green-taupy color (yet to be picked).

I have a brown leather couch, black wrought iron dining table, wood buffet and chest of drawers, faux marble finished fireplace, and lots of artwork with a variety of colors. So, I'm trying to stick with wall colors that will not clash too much. I'm told that any grays are passe.

posted by Juicylicious to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

You definitely don't have to sand. Brush on some liquid deglosser if it makes you feel better, but over semigloss, anything should adhere.

You won't get away with only using one coat, regardless of brand. If you're going from beige to green, even a muted green, you may want to pick up an extra gallon to allow for a third coat, since your colors (old --> new) are pretty different.

Good luck!
posted by luser at 3:00 PM on January 1, 2005

Eggshell over semi should be no problem. I highly recommend Benjamin Moore Regal for one-coat coverage of reasonable color differences. That was the choice I made last summer when I moved into my new apartment and they offered to paint the place according to my specs if I bought the paint. It turned out well and they have a huge selection of colors, too. Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint also reportedly covers well.

I'd link to my previous AskMeFi question on the topic, except I'm on my PocketPC, which would make that a pain.
posted by kindall at 3:01 PM on January 1, 2005

My Ben-Moore owner recommended the basic contractor's base coat, claiming it was as good as anything else and cheaper to boot. It's called Moore Spec and she claims that it'll have no problem single-coating our bright blue walls for repainting.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:04 PM on January 1, 2005

Er, that is, we're priming the walls with this (to cover the old paint and prepare for new) and then will be painting again using an ultraflat paint, hopefully with a single coat as well.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:05 PM on January 1, 2005

Here ya go, K.
posted by luser at 3:05 PM on January 1, 2005

Benjamin Moore paints. Hands down. Don't even need a base coat most times, no problems covering a wall in one coat. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't used the stuff.
posted by SpecialK at 3:31 PM on January 1, 2005

Well, I was going to suggest Devine Color, but you say you already tried them. Yes, it is expensive. Yes, it is absolutely worth it. They don't have every shade but they do have almost any shade you would want, and the stuff goes on nicely without splatter or stink.

We painted our living room and entry with that stuff -- deep bright colors over white -- and I am now sold on Devine. Nice paint. With the deep red over white primer on bare plaster in our entry room, we almost got one coat coverage -- which is pretty amazing. It covers very well. But I was perfectionist about it so I added a second coat. If the two colors aren't as far apart, Devine should definitely work for one coat. But I do understand that it could be expensive.

One thing I noticed, though, is that their paint seems to go far. We thought we would need two gallon cans for our small living room, because it took two gallons of primer. (Of course, the primer being over bare plaster -- we had just stripped off the original 1911 wallpaper -- probably had something to do with this.) We figured it would at least be slightly more than one gallon. But we used less than 3/4 gallon of Devine for two coats (one of which was almost not needed), and ended up giving the second gallon to a friend. So it's a good value.

Anyway, you shouldn't have to sand -- I just painted flat paint over semi-gloss in another room, and it is fine. I didn't sand, I just cleaned the walls (and my god, did they ever need it...!). In that room I didn't use Devine because I had a $2 gallon of mismixed paint instead... I can tell you, the Devine was more fun to work with. ;)
posted by litlnemo at 4:49 PM on January 1, 2005

Considering the past two Christmas vacations have been spent painting various rooms in my mother's house, here's what I have found: Using TSP (trisodium phospate) to wash/degloss walls works well. Have yet to find a paint that does the job in one coat only, but am pleased to see those who have had luck with Benjamin Moore. Will have to try it next year.
posted by sillygit at 4:55 PM on January 1, 2005

I recently painted my place with a combination of Ralph Lauren and Behr paints and I have to say that both were very nice. I'm not sure how they compare with other brands but both went on very evenly (despite the fact that I was the one painting) and thick enough that I can safely say that one coat is going to be sufficient for a lot of situations.
posted by glyphlet at 8:21 PM on January 1, 2005

Some more on my experience with Benjamin Moore: Out of my whole apartment, there was one wall that needed a second coat. One. The maintenance guys who did the work told me later "Man, that's nice paint, I wish we could use that in all the apartments."

Spread some BM on your walls.
posted by kindall at 9:17 PM on January 1, 2005

I recommend priming. The primer can be tinted to a color near the final color, which generally guarantees 1 coat of the final color. The paint stores should be able to tint your paint to any color; if the store can't do that, move on. And if you like gray, use it.
posted by theora55 at 5:09 AM on January 2, 2005

We've had absolutely excellent luck with Behr paints, and we've repainted everything in our house in the last year, save the living room and two of the two-and-a-half bathrooms. Priming will definetly save you some of the "good" paint, as walls that have not been painted in a long while or have had wallpaper removed will be very thirsty.
posted by Medieval Maven at 7:27 AM on January 2, 2005

Pratt & Lambert. Used it as a contractor for ten years. Trust this formerly paint covered wretch, this is the weapon of choice for serious painting.
posted by dglynn at 8:11 AM on January 2, 2005

Pratt & Lambert Accolade is the same as Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint, from what I understand. (P&L was bought out by S-W several years back.) Dutch Boy is also a S-W brand.
posted by kindall at 11:06 PM on January 2, 2005