how good is color matching by different brands?

10 years ago

picking color is hard!

We set out and tried different colors and finally picked the ones we like. We thought we are done with the hardest part

But then we just realized one issue. The colors are from different brands: Ben Moore, Sherwin Williams, restoration hardware, Kelly Moore...

I know it's possible for any of them to match other's color but the question is how good would the match be?

We stared hard and long and at different time of the day at very similar shades of painted board and picked out the one we liked. If the color matches are off, it kind of defeats the purpose.

Each brand claimed that they can do exact match and have most of the colors in their systems. How did they obtain the formula? is it by matching to the paint chips, or some actual paint board, or by some published info like RGB value? is the matched formula shared across all or only specific for that local machine?

Should we just get the paint at each brand? that seems like a lot of trouble too

thanks for your suggestions

Featured Answer

Faron79

8 years ago

CM makes some good points here, but aren't the whole story....

(yeah....I know, this started in 2014)

* No way is any store doing 3 "separate" draw-downs, unless CM meant 3 draw-downs from a single tinted can?

* Yes I will...IF the customer is buying 3 Qts for me to play with....!

* I've never been asked that in 15 years!!!

* Depending on draw-down size, you start to affect the formula/color if you're brushing-out more than a tblsp total....ESPECIALLY for "whites".

* We do a side-by-side, and tweak if necessary, until both parties are satisfied.

* Then, we save the final "Matched" formula under a last name into the appropriate computer.

* In all my years, we've maybe had 3 "paint batch issues"...& that's over ~~~ 8 different brands in 15 yrs. It's just too rare....

* It CAN take a half-hour to nail a color. And we've got damn-good scanners & tinters!

>>> One over-arcing point here....

THERE IS NO such thing as a "perfect match". OPTICALLY, it's impossible. EVERY companies colorants & paints are different. It's like finding the "perfect spouse"!!! There's always SOMETHING that's a little "off".

I strive for..."Close enough to be irrelevant". If I can't find my dried-off sample-match next to (or within a larger one) the original, it's done!!

But...is it "PERFECT" ?!?!?!? You KNOW the correct answer now....;-)

Faron

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (13)

kitchendetective
10 years ago
I have had terrible results in my attempts to match paint colors across brands. Some people get lucky and find a paint vendor with an artistic eye who can adjust the compute generated "matches." This has never been my experience. I have tried Ben Moore and Sherwin Williams, both ways. Now, I just choose a color in the brand I want to use (usually Farrow and Ball).
graywings123
10 years ago
I have had pretty good luck matching colors across brands. Possibly someone with a better eye for color would be able to tell the difference, but I couldn't.
Related Discussions
matching different brand stainless steel appliances
Q
Comments (3)
I didn't think about the stainless being a different color. I did think about the handles though and all the appliances we got had similar handles - Samsung french door fridge Bosh dishwasher Sharp drawer microwave Kitchenaid double oven All this handles are somewhat similar or atleast enought that I don't think any one will stand out as awkward...of course we are just finishing our demolition phase so will see once the appliances get put in.
...See More
Are all brands different... 'junk' vs good brand
Q
Comments (4)
Everyone giving you quotes is a salesperson - does the Ford dealer near you opine about how great Buicks are? I disagree strongly about getting a 2 stage unit, unless your somewhere that the weather is amazingly consistent you'll save money with multiple stages. As far as brands go, you'll find tremendous "inbreeding" amongst brands - Amana=Goodman=Janitrol. You'll see lots of complaints about the Amana "family" because they are often sold as a "value" brand with much less high-dollar marketing than the other brands. The distribution chain is "loose", allowing almost anyone who can carry one out-the-door-to buy one - needless to say, many are hacked in by unqualified installers. They are ALSO one of the most popular units out there, if not #1, a fairly close #2 in units sold, and they work well for years if properly installed.
...See More
Use kilz, then one brand of primer, different brand for paint??
Q
Comments (6)
It's ok to mix primers, but if you are using the latex version of Kilz, that's not going to block odors really or stains. But, in my experience, washing the nicotine/tar stains is usually good enough unless the smoker really smoked a ton in the house. Also, you really need to rinse that TSP well before painting or that may cause some adhesion issues. If you are buying the BIN, what you want is the shellac based stuff, not the synthetic.
...See More
matching different brands
Q
Comments (13)
The person who is handling the sale at Lowes, which I believe is the commercial cantact or manager-not sure what his title is, is handling the install and therefore dealing with the permit, it was incuded with the bid. The replacements for the correct egress is at no cost to me. The installers are 'who they use'. I felt this was a good combo even though there has been a lot of complaints with big box stores usually HD. Being a small community I think their reputation is very crucial and would stand behind any issues-after all this is North Dakota eh. I am going through the warrenties when there's only a couple of contenders, didn't want to waste time on ones that wouldn't work anyway. I did alot of searching to find measurements of the different ones and realized even if the measurements were close they may not look right, hens the request if anybody could give some direction. if I stay with the Pella window I still have the option of different doors. The messed up handles/locking mechanizum has me worried. They were displays which get abused and the lack of repair could be the fault of our local Lowes. The last price: 350 windows about $27,500 and the doors about $18,500.
...See More
Faron79
10 years ago
I'm getting DAMN good at it after my dozen years!

I wish you guys were close to my neck-O'-the-woods!!
I'd get you set up!

Faron
CEFreeman
10 years ago
So, faron. Where are you?
I'm willing to travel to a wood's neck for the right products. :)
Faron79
10 years ago
I don't think many here are even REMOTELY close to Fargo, ND!!!!
This IS the "Icebox" up here don'cha know!

;-)

Faron
raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
10 years ago
I have found my local Sherwin Williams store to be excellent at color matching, every time, no matter what brand the color is in.
Lowe's can be hit or miss. My one experience at HD didn't quite work.
The paint for my kitchen I bought at Ace (Clark & Kensington) but they had to match Valspar and Martha Stewart colors. The MS and 2 of the Valspar matches were perfect, but the 3rd Valspar (same color in a different finish) was way off.
Apparently, also, there are newer machines that analyze the color and dispense the colorant differently than some older machines. I had a can that I needed more of, and took it to a closer branch that had a newer machine. They couldn't just follow the formula on the label, their machine wasn't programmed that way they said.
Michael
10 years ago
I don't know one paint store, and that includes HD, Lowes, Do it Best, Ace, etc., that doesn't have every competitor's paint formula on file.
Faron79
10 years ago
It depends on how "big" a software-library the store wants to buy! Some versions include more competitor-fandeck scans than others....
In one C2 package we had, FPE SCANS were in the library I noticed, but not in recent versions.

Raee-
Yes...there's many different tinters out there. Also, a huge difference is how their formula-database is set up. Some are based on 48ths, 64ths, & so on....

Faron
PRO
Lori A. Sawaya
10 years ago
Also, a huge difference is how their formula-database is set up. Some are based on 48ths, 64ths, & so on...

Also the constant churn of reformulations by manufacturers for various reasons. Plus, various combinations of colorants can produce the same colors. Many stores have control and make their own decisions about what colorants they use. So, there's no guarantee of consistency brand store to brand store, or independent to independent.

This is why you should scroll on by blogs and/or courses that structure their content around paint brands, their colorants and their color collections.

Paying to go to a class where you sit down and mix colors using colorants provided by a paint vendor is ridiculous. Yet people do it. And then when they go home and try to apply what they learned in the "class" and the information falls apart into disparate and disconnected pieces while they're standing at the paint counter wearing their newly minted color expert tiara, they wonder why.
Faron79
10 years ago
Hi Fun-C!

"The constant churn of reformulations...." Yes my dear Lady, too many consumers think "Paint" stays the same over the years!

In the last 5 years, changes in various phases of the paint-world have only accelerated! Even C2 (last Oct.) finally rolled-out their new 0-VOC colorants, along with a new color-collection from Barry Dixon! The new C2 "LUXE" 0-VOC paint came out earlier last year.

Damn...some of these colorants are expensive! A couple of the new C2 ones are over a $100/qt...

Be careful what you wish for "Green" fans/regulators...$$$$$...you're getting it! Dark C2 Luxe colors/bases are now mid-$50's/gal. @ Retail....

Faron
James
10 years ago
I have had good luck with SW getting BM and FB sample colors matched up pretty well. But I have them print out several color match "tickets (with the colorants listed) and then I make the final decision on which to use.

I have tried having HD make up the samples ($2 vs $7 at SW) and this last time I took in 4 very similar, but different colors. HD sent me home with 4 identical pots of sample paint. I won't use them again.
PRO
Colour Magic
8 years ago
Matching paint is not trial and error, the person doing the matching must know what they doing and understand paint and the customers needs. I all ways ask for 3 drawdowns with the paint details stuck to the back of the drawdown. Some paint Muf , seem to have an issue when the same paint is from a different batch. Benjamin Moore Genex paints seem to be the most consistent when it comes to color tinting & color matching I have found.

hope this helps.

how good is color matching by different brands?

Faron79

Comments (13)

kitchendetective

graywings123

Related Discussions

Faron79

CEFreeman

Faron79

raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio

Michael

Faron79

Lori A. Sawaya

Faron79

James

Colour Magic

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US