That cheap paint job cost me $600 in rework, debating if it was really a waste

I painted my living room last summer with some $18 per gallon house brand paint from the local hardware store. Let me tell you, it looked great for about two months. Then I started seeing these weird spots where the paint just peeled off, especially near the windows where the sun hits. I tried touching it up but the new paint wouldn't stick right either. After a few coats that still looked blotchy, I finally broke down and hired a guy who used Sherwin-Williams Duration. That redo cost me $600 between the labor and the real paint. So here's the debate: was I stupid for trying to save $40 on the cheap stuff, or is it normal to learn this lesson the hard way? Has anyone else burned money on budget paint and regretted it, or do some cheap brands actually hold up in your experience?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivanjones9d ago

@amy_sanchez nailed it, that's literally what happened lmao. "Tinted water" is the perfect way to describe that cheap stuff. I did the exact same thing with a bedroom last year, thought I was being smart saving like $30. Two months later the paint was peeling near the baseboards like bad sunburn. The worst part was trying to paint over it, that stuff repelled the good paint like it had its own force field or something lol. Yeah, you paid $600 for a science lesson, but hey, at least now you know why the pros charge what they do for real paint. I still get mad thinking about how many hours I wasted on that first coat, but I laugh about it now.

amy_sanchez9d agoProlific Poster

Cheap paint is just tinted water, the binder is what makes it hold up. You paid for a lesson in chemistry that most of us learn the hard way.