# Why do paint stores sell "contractor grade" paint?



## ClumsyGuy (Nov 9, 2016)

We are having our house painted by a contractor - way too much for me to do. Went to Sherwin Williams store to peruse paints. Sales person told me that contractors often use Promar 200 which is a "contractor grade" paint. What is meant by "contractor grade"? Why do these exist? Is the quality just as good as the paint I can purchase as a home owner?


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

As far as I know ProMar can be bought by a homeowner. I've used a lot of ProMar 200 on new construction paint jobs. It's a decent budget friendly paint line. SWP has better paints but it also has worse paints. I wouldn't not use anything cheaper than the 200.
Price is usually indicative of the quality of the coating.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

"Contractor grade", to me anyway, describes cheap paint designed to cover well but without all the ingredients that make for a nice sheen and a long-lasting paint job. In new construction, the General Contractor is looking for the cheapest, best-covering paint to pad his take home profit. Most new homeowners want the walls done quickly so they can move in. Contractor grade paint allows the painter to usually apply just one coat over the drywall primer thus speeding things along. And, most new HO's repaint after several years anyway so applying one color throughout the house is common and also speeds things along. 

I just hate being the first painter in to paint over top of contractor grade paint. If it's the cheapest of the cheap, it sometimes isn't much good for painting over top of it. It can be kind of rough and I've seen the cheap paint actually pull off the wall when wiped.

As MarkSr said, ProMar isn't the worst in the SW paint line. Just be aware if you see cans that say "Property Maintenance Paint."


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

200 is ok. FWIW, Homeowner grade paint tends to be better,


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

> ProMar isn't the worst in the SW paint line. Just be aware if you see cans that say "Property Maintenance Paint."


Let me qualify that a little, ProMar 200 isn't bad and there is a distinct difference between it and the 400 and 700 [both cheaper grades] Around here most builders use the 400. IMO it just colors the walls, you need 200 or better for a paint job. The property maintenance paints that SWP sells is barely fit for use on a ceiling.

I suspect the rough or not adhered paint jobs on new construction had more to do with improper prep than the coating used. Although I did work for a big outfit years ago that used a cheap wall paint that was not washable.


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

To add to Mark's comments, I am ok using 200 sometimes but I won't ever use 400 or 700.


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## ltd (Jan 16, 2011)

Promar 200 is ok paint nothing wrong with it l have seen it in million dollar homes. With that said if it were me I would up grade to casemere or Super paint


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

ltd said:


> Promar 200 is ok paint nothing wrong with it l have seen it in million dollar homes. With that said if it were me I would up grade to casemere or Super paint


I have to disagree; anything with promar in front of it is (IMO) no good for any residential re paint job. You may have seen it in million dollar homes but that surely does not make it right. It is contractor grade paint, therefore the quality that will make it last is lacking. As gym said it is often used in new construction but should never be used after that( and not even then)IMO. If you must use SW, then super paint should be the lowest grade to go with.


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## VAProPainter (Jan 29, 2014)

Clumsy, remember this is YOUR house. You can specify whatever product you want them to use.


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## BIG Johnson (Apr 9, 2017)

I just did a whole house with 200. I think it's gone down in quality. I always do two coats even though I lay it on thick, to where it's almost running, and there's NO way I would have gotten away with one coat. It looked HORRIBLE after one coat. It looked good after two but there's something going on. It used to look ok with one coat. Super paint is only $5 or $6 more per gallon. Ask for that.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

I never considered 200 to be a contractor grade like property maintenance. The contractor grades are for new construction and is about like whitewash. They figure the new owners will want their own colors so just use something to get the place sold.


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## getrex (Sep 14, 2016)

We've done a lot of 200 in the last year because people want a lower price. Ultimately, it's up to them. But a lot of our jobs have been prep to sell so it doesn't matter that much.


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## woodco (Jun 11, 2017)

People who try to do single coat work are straight up hacks, no matter what paint they're using. Unless you're spraying, anyway.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

> People who try to do single coat work are straight up hacks


I disagree. Not all customers are willing/able to pay the extra cost for a 2nd coat of finish. Most painters should be able to tell when bidding a job if 1 coat will work or not. I normally guaranteed full coverage and if we agreed on 1 coat and I didn't achieve full coverage - I repainted the affected walls for no extra charge..... assuming coverage issues weren't discussed earlier.


While I normally used ProMar 200 on new work and most rental repaints, it isn't my go to coating for most repaints.


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## woodco (Jun 11, 2017)

mark sr said:


> I disagree. Not all customers are willing/able to pay the extra cost for a 2nd coat of finish. Most painters should be able to tell when bidding a job if 1 coat will work or not. I normally guaranteed full coverage and if we agreed on 1 coat and I didn't achieve full coverage - I repainted the affected walls for no extra charge..... assuming coverage issues weren't discussed earlier.


Yeah, I gotcha there. I will single coat certain make readies, where the client wants it done as cheap as humanly possible. But when you're doing a quality job, it should be double coated even if the first coat does cover, especially when changing sheens. It just gives a better job.

I know a guy who does the one coat method. He gets really good or thick paint, rolls it on with a 1 1/4" roller nap, then goes around and touches up any little holidays and dry brushes the cut ins. I just dont like that. It seems like doing a second coat wouldnt take much longer, and you could use a thinner paint or thin your paint a touch and get more coverage to keep paint cost down. I use PPG Pure Performance, and I get a lot of wall coverage from it, cuz its not super thick. It still covers really good too. I had to use Valspar last week, and it was so damn thick it took 30% more paint than I figured, and it STILL didnt cover.


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## klaatu (Mar 9, 2015)

chrisn said:


> I have to disagree; anything with promar in front of it is (IMO) no good for any residential re paint job. You may have seen it in million dollar homes but that surely does not make it right. It is contractor grade paint, therefore the quality that will make it last is lacking. As gym said it is often used in new construction but should never be used after that( and not even then)IMO. If you must use SW, then super paint should be the lowest grade to go with.


This x 1000. Unless your house is an outhouse. But the MAIN reason contractors use Promar 200 is that they can mark it up and make a tidy profit on it! Sell a "premium Sherwin Williams" paint and use the cheap stuff. Most painting contractors do this on residential repaints, so don't believe for a minute that the reason is anything else. It works"ok", homeowners don't have any idea what it is priced, and painters can buy it for about 1/3 the price that a "regular guy" can buy it for and mark it up considerably. SW enables this by not advertising a retail price for it. This scam has been going on for so damn long it is almost standard practice in the business.

Simple test? Ask the painter why he uses it instead of a higher "retail" grade. Usually they will say things like "i get a good price on it and i can pass that on to you" (while they are actually marking it up.), it "covers" fine, "i use it all the time and i can get done faster, easier, whatever". Now ask yourself, how do any of those things benefit ME? THEY DON'T! YOU ARE PAYING THE PAINTER TO APPLY THE PRODUCT QUALITY YOU WANT THEM TO APPLY! Insist any painter you hire uses a product that you desire. If they refuse, there are plenty of painters out there that are more than happy to apply whatever paint YOU want. Unless of course you want Behr!


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Excluding the unscrupulous painting contractors, I believe most will set their pricing using the coatings they use most often. If the customer wants a better grade of paint the price increases accordingly. I've never tried to pass of a lower priced paint as a top line coating. While ProMar 200 has always been my go to coating line for new or rental work, I've always chosen a better line for private repaints ..... subject to customer's approval.

I know there a lot of worthless paint contractors out there but the way I look at it, their incompetency or unethical dealings just makes me look better.


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## ClumsyGuy (Nov 9, 2016)

Thank you everyone for your comments. Very much appreciated. We chose a contractor who will use the paint we specify. Stayed away from the contractor who said he would only use SW ProMar 200 & 400. 

Thanks again - your comments will result in us having a better outcome to our project.


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