By Tammy Adamson-McMullen
“You get what you pay for.” We all know that this adage is true. So how do you get the biggest bang for your buck, without compromising the quality you need? We’ve got some tips to help you extend the life of your paint, save money in the long run, and still get the best results.
If there’s ever a time when you should buy the best product that fits within your budget, it’s at paint-buying time. Nothing can replace a good-quality paint and all the benefits it affords over time. It’s one of the very best investments you can make for your home.
Here are some reasons why you should treat your home—and yourself—to the best paint you can afford.
Beautiful Colours
When it comes to colour, a quality paint is unparalleled! Better paints have better pigments—purer and finely ground—and in higher quantities. This means that the colour looks deeper, richer and more consistent from the moment you open the can.
But these benefits aren’t just aesthetic. Because deeper, richer colours are less opaque, they have greater hiding power. In other words, they do a better job of concealing the surface you’re painting. And because they have superior formulas and colourants, the colours in quality paint resist fading. Years down the road, they remain as vibrant as the day you applied them.
Smooth Application
The benefits of a quality paint become even more obvious when you begin to apply it. You’ll see immediately how well the paint clings to the applicator, how smoothly it rolls onto the surface and how quickly it flows and levels. If you’ve ever painted with a lesser-quality paint, you’ll notice that better paint products also produce fewer bubbles and splatters. (This is especially true if you use a good applicator, too.)
Additionally, because you don’t have to manipulate the paint to achieve good results, you save time and labor and experience less hand fatigue with a quality paint. At this point, you should be sufficiently happy that you made the investment! But there’s more …
Better Coverage
Better-quality paints typically have more titanium—a key component in producing better hiding and coverage. This means that the paint will go further than a lesser-quality paint and that you’ll likely need less of it. Of course, you might still need to prime the surface before applying the paint. (And here, too, don’t skimp on quality.) But chances are good that won’t have to apply as many topcoats, so you won’t have to buy as many gallons. Consequently, the bigger your paint project, the greater your savings with a better-quality paint—an algebraic principle that consumers miss in trying to save a few bucks per gallon. A rule of thumb to remember: If you skimp on paint quality, you’ll skimp on paint coverage.
Professional Finish
Once the paint has cured, you’ll experience one of the best reasons to purchase a quality paint: Better end results! This is due largely to the resins—or binders—in the paint. All interior and exterior house paints have resins, which hold the colourants and pigments in place and help to adhere the paint to the surface. But as with pigments, higher-quality paints have better resins and more of them, which attributes largely to the paint’s cost since resins are expensive.
Resins truly are the coup de grace of a quality paint finish. Paints that have an abundance of fine resins produce a professional finish with a gorgeous “hand.” There simply is no comparison! And this professional finish holds up year after year since the resins guard against chalking, peeling, cracking, blistering, fading and wear-in-tear.
Durability
Which brings us to one of the greatest overall advantages of a quality paint: durability. In addition to all of the qualities mentioned above, a quality paint cures to a tough finish that withstands the elements. It’s more stain-resistant, more scuff-resistant, more scrubbable and more resistant to mold and mildew than a lesser-quality product.
If you live in a harsh environment—whether caused by extreme temperatures or fluctuating weather conditions—or have an active household of kids and pets, a quality paint pays for itself in peace of mind alone. But you’ll save real, hard cash as time goes by because you won’t have to recoat as often. Ka-ching! You’ll be glad you made the investment at the onset.