We were featured in Family Handyman. In an article on whether premium paint is worth the extra money, Family Handyman quoted us on when the upgrade pays off and when it does not. If you have ever stood at the paint counter wondering whether paint quality is worth the jump, that is exactly what this post covers, straight from the quote Family Handyman used.
Key Takeaways
Why Family Handyman Asked Us About Paint Quality
A national outlet writing about paint tiers could have called a manufacturer. Instead they called a working painting company in Lynnwood and asked what we actually recommend to homeowners.
Our answer in the piece was that budget paint is “generally good for low traffic or low visibility rooms.” That is not the answer a company makes more money giving. It is the same answer we give homeowners in King and Snohomish counties every week.
Telling someone they do not need the expensive can is how you earn the next call. We have been painting Western Washington homes since 1987, and jobs almost never go wrong because someone bought the middle tier.
What Actually Changes Between Paint Quality Tiers
The label tells you very little. The technical data sheet tells you almost everything, and the number that matters most is solids by volume.
Solids are the pigment and resin left on your wall after the water evaporates. Premium interior latex typically runs 35 to 45 percent solids by volume. Economy lines often sit 30 percent below, which means a thinner dry film from the same size can.
That thinner film is where the extra coats come from. Three things follow from it:
- Hide. Less solids means the old color shows through longer, so a color change can take three coats instead of two.
- Washability. Paints are scrub tested under ASTM D2486. Green Seal sets 400 cycles as a floor for a washable wall paint, and budget lines are the ones that struggle to clear it.
- Air quality. The EPA reports that indoor VOC levels can run up to ten times higher than outdoor levels, and lower VOC formulas are usually found in the upper tiers.
None of that makes premium paint the right call everywhere. It makes it the right call in specific places.
The Paint Quality Math Most Homeowners Miss
Here is the part that changes the decision. On a professional job, labor accounts for roughly 75 to 95 percent of the total bill, according to HomeAdvisor cost data. The paint itself is the smaller line.
That means upgrading a tier barely moves your total, while repainting two years early costs you the labor all over again. Spending more on the can is cheap. Spending it twice is not.
So we put the money where the surface takes abuse. Kitchens, hallways, bathrooms, stairwells, and anything exterior. We hold the line on ceilings, closets, guest rooms, and storage spaces. The same logic drives our cabinet painting process, where doors cure off-site because the finish has to survive daily handling.
What This Means If You Are Planning a Repaint
If you are pricing out a project right now, the tier on the can is the smallest decision in front of you. Prep is the bigger one, and it decides whether the finish holds.
A premium gallon rolled over a dirty, unprimed, or still-damp wall fails on the same schedule as a budget gallon. That is true for interior house painting services, and it is doubly true for anything facing a Pacific Northwest winter.
We have painted Seattle homes and buildings since 1987, back projects with a 1-year workmanship warranty and a 5-year product warranty, and tell you which rooms deserve the upgrade and which do not.
Call Interland Painting at 425-671-2462 for a FREE estimate today. You will get the same answer we gave Family Handyman, applied to your actual house.
