The Good: Good paint, Excellent color range, Goes on easy, Difficult to clean up, Warranty, No odor
The Bad: Did not hold up against my painter's tape
The Basics: A great product, this premium interior latex satin paint has consistent color quality, ease of use and durability, gallon to gallon.
If you ever want to freak out the salespeople at Lowe's, ask them how you would go about honoring the warranty on the paints they sell. Seriously, the look on the salesperson's face was precious when she went through her litany of why I should shell out $7.00 more per gallon for the Olympic Premium Interior Latex Satin paint and I called her on the main difference between this and the non-premium stuff was a 25 year warranty vs. a 15 year warranty. So, feeling somewhat smart (and serious) I asked how one would go about executing that warranty. This caused the poor woman's jaw to drop and she called over a manager. I smiled.
Here's the thing, it was worth it.
At the end of the day, I got my answer; to exercise the warranty, simply bring in the receipt and the label and Lowe's would provide new paint. Now, Olympic has been making paints since 1938, so between a brand that is recognizable and a retailer that I have a pretty strong impression will still be in business in 50 years, I felt confident buying a couple of gallons of this paint for the new room I'm working on.
First off, when it came to color selection, this Olympic brand is a wealth of choices. While I'm sure there are color matching machines that will allow this to be tinted in virtually any color, there were (literally) over five hundred color choices available for the interior latex satin paint that are already in the system. That amount of choices makes it very easy to find a color for virtually any room or surface.
Second, when I was being sold this paint, I was told the two differences were: the 25 year warranty and the thickness of the paint. Having used lesser paints before (and, sadly, since), I can attest that this paint is thicker. In terms anyone can understand, this is more of a sludge than a liquid; more like syrup than water. This is a great selling point as it means that the paint goes on thicker, coating any surface in one pass. The added cost means that while the product might not go quite so far, it virtually eliminates the need to go back and paint a second coat. Versus the 15 year warranty standard (not premium) interior latex satin paint from Olympic, I would say this went roughly 7/8 as far. Meaning, I got maybe 1/8 a gallon more out of the cheaper stuff in terms of coverage, but I had to do a second coat. This makes the premium paint a better value as I only had to use 1 gallon (and one coat!), as opposed to 2 gallons (or, more honestly 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 gallons) of the cheaper stuff.
Honestly, as someone who is not a professional painter (though I have been doing it quite a bit the last few years!), this product was a great choice for repainting rooms and ceilings. Like many people, I was starting with white walls. My colors ranged from dark green to a light minty green. Painting at night, without the benefit of natural light, it was obvious where the paint was covering, even with light colors. The dark colors provide a great contrast, making it obvious and clear where has been painted. When painting the ceiling with light colors (on a stucco ceiling), it was clear where I had painted and that cannot always be said. I'm attributing that to the thickness of the paint. The coverage was clear, thick and it stuck.
As well, painting on the stucco ceiling offered me a great opportunity to observe and comment on the coverage. Rough surfaces like stucco usually require multiple passes in order to fully cover an area. I've never had a painting experience on a stucco ceiling where I did not go back the next morning and in the harsh light of daylight find places where I missed. That is, until now. The premium interior latex satin paint covered in two strokes of my roller. One forward, one back and the row was painted. Period.
As well, there was almost no drippage while I was painting the ceiling. Because the paint is thicker, it acts more like glue, sticking to the surface, including a ceiling. I tend to coat my roller liberally and as a result, I would have expected drippage, but there was none with the premium interior latex satin paint. As well, it was very easy when I was painting the walls, to even out spots where I had been too liberal at the top with covering my roller, so even when wet, the places where too much paint may have initially been applied are obvious. So, if you're a sloppy painter, mistakes may be evened out very easily.
This is a great product for anyone who is doing repainting as it basically requires mixing, pouring, applying to a brush or roller and coating your surface. It worked fine on both primed and unprimed surfaces and coated fully. The can recommends the surface be primed, but I had no difficulties on some unprimed wood. The coverage was as good as on the primed wall. I've used this paint on stucco, sheetrock, plasterwall and wood, with equal results.
As well, there was virtually no odor with this paint. I tend to paint in the evening and by noon the next day, the newly painted walls were dry and there was no smell. Truth be told, the rooms I've been painting have poor ventilation and air circulation and I've had to have them closed off so my cats did not "repaint" after I painted the walls. In less than a day, even under those conditions, the paint dried and the minimal smell dissipated.
This leads to one of my own oddities; in the pros, I put "difficult to clean up." I have this as a pro for a reason. First, let me qualify that; this paint comes off rollers and brushes real easy with running water. Like all latex paints, it cleans up with soap and water until it dries, so as long as you don't leave your brush or roller laying around to dry before cleaning it up, it will be very easy to clean your tools up.
But, I found that it was not easy to clean up when droplets got on surfaces I did not want them on. So, for example, when I was painting the walls about three weeks after I painted the ceiling, I got a few very dark drops on the ceiling. Most of the paint came off, but it was impossible for me to get the rest off without stripping off the paint I had painted on a few weeks before. On the plus side, the ceiling paint held up under my angry, frantic scrubbing to try to get the new, wet paint off. Ultimately, I wanted a paint that was durable and my inability to get the paint fully off the ceiling when I splattered it reassured me that this paint is the real deal. It's going to coat, it's going to coat well and it's not going to come off, even when I scrub! That means it might actually last the 25 years it's warrantied for.
What it won't hold up through is my painter's tape. When I went to do the walls, I put the blue painter's tape along the edges of the ceiling and I pressed down hard because I wanted to be sure that no paint could get beneath it. Even though the paint was well-dried and most of my mistakes happened nowhere near the tape, there were some problems when I removed the tape. It's entirely possible I let the painter's tape stay on the ceiling too long (it was up for at least two weeks - I'm blushing with embarrassment!). When I pulled off the tape, there were four or five places that it took the paint with it.
Which leads me back to the warranty. The paint is warrantied for 25 years, guaranteed not to chip, wear off or wash off. Well, the tape took some off and my vigorous scrubbing - wherein I learned I could not get any wet paint off the ceiling without scrubbing through my new paint job - took a little off before I realized that this was not the way to go. So, I went back to Lowe's and I told them what happened. I showed them my receipt, they checked the database to make sure the product had the warranty and I was provided another gallon. It was that simple. So, as long as you know that you'll need your receipt and label to exercise the warranty and save it (I recommend keeping the color code sticker from the top when you have it mixed as well, as that has all of the exact information needed to make more) in a folder somewhere, shelling out $26.98 per gallon for this becomes a potential incredible value over the lifetime of your house or walls.
Outside the one problem I encountered, this was a flawless paint and I know I will go back for more when I do future projects. Would it have been nice if the painter's tape had not been able to strip it off the ceiling? Yes. But, this, too allows me to share more insights with prospective buyers; the premium interior latex satin blends perfectly with itself.
What I mean by this is that when I got my new can of paint and went back to the ceiling, I simply stirred it up and did touch up work on the few stripped areas. I did not need to do a full coat in order to "hide" the touchups. The shading was exactly mixed, the paint goes on so smoothly that there was no seam between what was stripped away and reapplied and where the paint had no flaws.
That's quality. This is a great paint for those who are investing in a house and plan to be in it for some time. Between being a great product that is remarkably easy to work with, this paint is sold regularly from a retailer that will be around and is from a company that is well-established and does not appear to be going anywhere.
Buy with confidence! Paint with perfection; it will only take one coat!
For paints, stains and other painting products, please check out my reviews of:
Olympic Premium Ceiling Paint
Z Pro Plastic Paint Tray
Shur-Line Teflon Paint Roller Cover
9/10
For other home and garden product reviews, please be sure to visit my index page!
© 2011, 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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