Painting - Rental Home - The Best brand for a short period of time

I'm moving into my first rental home. I've been given the permission to paint the interior (neutral colors, mind you). I've found the colors I want to use, but I'm unsure about the brand of paint to purchase. I don't know if I will be in that house 2 or 3 years from now, so I'm weary about buying the best paint on the market, when I may not even reap the benefits from it (i.e. if I move in 1 1/2 years, the landlady gets a freshly painted home to rent without spending a dime). What do you suggest?

Welcome to the forums!

Go to a real paint store [not dept] and buy either their very best contractor grade or their middle line paint. With SWP, I'd recomend using the promar 200. I don't use enough of the other brands to be real familiar with them.

The price of the paint isn't strictly related to how long it will wear [or even cost] Some of the real cheap paints won't cover well [need 2 coats or more] and probably won't look as well on the wall. They are often harder to apply :wall: You will also want a decent roller cover and brush - they can advise you further at the store. Painting isn't near as hard when you have the proper tools and coatings to work with :cool:

Any chance you can get the landlord to spring for the paint?

Thanks for the info. I'll do that.

As for having her chip in, I will have to ask. The whole painting idea was mine. The interior needs a few touchs of paint, but nothing major. It has an existing eggshell white color in there now. I, on the other hand, would like a bit more color, even if it is still neutral, but with a hint of blue, red, or anything.

So with me doing this on my own initiative do you think she'll bite as far as paying for some of it? I still have time to negotiate.

You're lucky she's even considering it. We use the same paint in all of our units and the lease states that not only does any painting have to be approved by us and paid for by the tenant, they have to repaint with the stuff we use (again at their expense) before they move out.

So with me doing this on my own initiative do you think she'll bite as far as paying for some of it? I still have time to negotiate.

Probably not :( when I was younger [and a renter] I often tried to negotiate with the landlord to do painting for rent or inplace of deposit.

might want to look at "oops" paint , custom mixed but customer rejected .

good deal on quality paint .

we did our parlor in a "oops" paint 10 years ago and now its time to repaint we will probably try to get it matched

You're lucky she's even considering it. We use the same paint in all of our units and the lease states that not only does any painting have to be approved by us and paid for by the tenant, they have to repaint with the stuff we use (again at their expense) before they move out.

Yeah, I do have to have her approval on the colors that I pick, but nothing in the lease that states I would have to repaint after moving. I guess I was blessed on that note.

Hey mango man, would you find that "oops" paint at a paint store or home depot or something.

Most any store that mixes paint may have an 'oops' or mistint selection. Paint stores will generally have mistints in the back so you would have to ask for them. Big box stores usually have a rack or section where they stack the mistints.

Mistints used to be dirt cheap but now they are usually priced about 50% of original retail price - still a good deal if you can use it. Some mistints are in quality coatings but they might also be in the cheaper grades. Be sure you have enough paint to do the job as these paints often can't be easily duplicated.

I used to own a midsized painting company, and I only used sherwin williams high grade paint. As a pro, I could "feel" the difference between a good paint, and a cheap one, not to mention the durability.

That being said, I am going to shock you.

Walmart's has a line of paint, I think it's called colorplace. It is the one that has a solid pinkish or blue color, horizontal line across the label. (this paint may even be made by sherwin williams for walmart)

This line of paint "feels" like an expensive paint. It also covers like an expensive paint. I wouldn't expect to get 10-15 years out of it, but for around 9-10 dollars a gallon, it is just what you described.

The only problem is if you get paint mixed at different times, they may not be exact. So get enough paint for the job, and "box it". That is, get a five gallon bucket and mix all the paint together, to ensure it is all the same. If you are not sure if you have enough for the job, leave one wall unpainted, and two coat the rest (if you need to). That way, if you run out of paint, you can paint just that one wall with the new gallon, and if it doesn't exactly match, you won't be able to tell.

I also agree on purchasing a good quality roller nap. It is well worth the few extra dollars to get better coverage, and not splatter.

I'm glad you said that. I always wondered if that paint would be good enough or even Dutch Boy, if I couldn't find what I wanted at the paint store. Thanks for everyones help. Once I make my decision and paint the inside, I'll be sure to let you know how it turned out.