DIY advice from professional forums

[doitmyself]

What opinion do you guys have regarding DIY advice given on forums moderated by professional trades people? I have visited electrical, plumbing, and tonight, a house painting forum. While excellent pointers are shared, it often seems they have a "grudge" against DIYselfers and are biased in their opinions.

Ouch. Tonight I ventured onto the web to "bone up" on interior paints, new/best products, etc. Consumer Reports rated Home Depot Behr "best" overall and Sherwin William (SW) and Benny Moore (BM)were "lesser"

Many of us question CR's information and techniques.

At doityourself.com, the professional paint moderators ALL held the same opinions:

1. CR ratings suck: not professional paint testers, lab vs. real world doesn't correlate, etc..

2. ONLY real paint store brands are best - they recommend SW and BM almost exclusively. ALL big box brands are mediocre quality and generally suck. $24 at HD vs. $38+ at the "real stores".

How do you guys "read" the info presented on these forums, especially the discrepancy between CR and the "pro's"? Are they too bias against anything other than "professional quality"?

I'm perplexed - again. Is CR always that far off base?

 

[tom slick]

in a recent conversation with a high end painting pro he "only" paints with SW's second from the top of the line. he claims that with the higher coverage rates of the top of the line paints you tend to get more "high" and "low" areas of uneven sheen and texture.
I read an online article from a paint pro that claimed he has "fixed" alot of messed up amature jobs because the person used behr premium paint. he makes a similar claim that the highest quality paints can come out poorly due to the high pigment and coverage.

as far as CR goes, I take their info into consideration but do not take it as the final word.

 

[Slick 55]

The thing to remember with painting is labor is the biggest part of the job. Using quality paint makes for a nicer finish and it is easier to apply. I painted my whole house with SW Super Paint (their second from the top of the line) and I couldn't be happier with the way it looks.

 

[brianl703]

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While excellent pointers are shared, it often seems they have a "grudge" against DIYselfers and are biased in their opinions.

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I've seen this before.

There's someone who posts or posted on alt.hvac who routinely calls homeowners "home moaners", for example. I am unsure if this is how he feels about DIYers or his paying customer or both, but either way, it goes to show the attitude that some have.

 

[michaelc80]

Take what you see on most forums with a healthy dose of skepticism. I see a lot of "advice" on many forums that is way off base, and some that hits the mark. You never know who you're really dealing with on the other end.

Overall I think CR does a decent job and often factor their ratings into my decisions. I would never take what they say as the final word though.

There are a lot of differences in paint, and paint is one of the few products where the more you pay the better the product really is. There are different amounts of Titanium Dioxide in different qualities. Cheaper brands of budget grade paint are known to use a mixture of titanium dioxide with Barytes or other inert pigments. Use of these types of whites is really a false economy because they lack both the brilliance,tinting strength and durability of professional grade color.

Coincidentally I used to work for Pittsburgh Paints in Lansing Michigan in the early 1980's.

 

[benjamming]

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Coincidentally I used to work for Pittsburgh Paints in Lansing Michigan in the early 1980's.

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Getting back on topic, how would you rate their paint today?

 

[Slick 55]

I've heard many good things about Pittsburg paint.

 

[2Fast4U]

I painted my entire house interior from Walmart paint that I had color matched to 'brand' paint color swab I took into the store.

I live in Tampa where we get serious sunlight most of the year. The sun also sets on the back side of my house and we get major sun all evening long. I've been in my current house 3 years. The one main thing I was worried about was paint fade from the UV. We've had absolutely no problems with the paint so far. It still looks as good as new. No discoloration, fading, cracking or peeling.

Just buy whatever you want. Other very important factors to think about before you paint are basecoat (mine was the #@$%! builder spray on white), number of coats you do, temperature you apply the paint in.