Buying Paint

[Big Boy]

I'm generally a 'don't go there' type when it comes to doing anything about the house. However, we've lived in the house for over 5 years now, and the interior could do with freshening up a bit. A quote for the work a couple of months back frightened me - a lot more expensive than the UK.

I've decided the work is indoors, so behind closed doors - nobody will see me. I'm more than capable of doing it myself - my motivation being the outrageous quote. I'll do a better job than any Thai I've seen, and I'll be clean.

I decided that I would start this week.


I was in Market Village this morning, and thought I'd buy the gear in Home Pro (a shop I'm always on edge in). Many times I've seen row upon row of tins of paint. I'm doing nothing adventurous, so when the inevitable 'helper' tagged on, I asked him for a tin of interior magnolia paint - a very common colour.

He offered me a colour chart, so I pointed at what I'd like (didn't have to be exact). No problem, he would mix it for me. I explained I didn't want any fancy mix, I wanted a tin of magnolia paint. Can't do.

I asked what colours were in the rows of tins. No colours, have to mix. I asked again what was in the various tins - no colours have to mix. As I've said, I'm always on edge in that shop, I felt I was being bull sh*tted, so I just left him with his colour chart in his hand.

I went to another shop (bottom of Soi 94) - exactly the same store. Row upon row of transparent paint. No colours. I left.


Have things really changed that much that you can't walk into a paint shop and buy a tin of paint? Do they really have to mix everything for you? Where does the colour come from? What happens if you don't buy enough? Do they guarantee mixing an exact match?

I honestly didn't believe I could get so stressed buying a tin of paint

[buksida]

Home Pro is an utter waste of space.

Try buying anything in there from the rows they have on show ... a chorus of "mai mees" will ring out down the aisles. Getting me in that shop now would be harder than getting BA Baracus on a plane.

Reminds me of this rather amusing rant.

[STEVE G]

There are many local type building supply places around town that sell tins of basic paint, look for signs outside for Jotun, Captain or TOA brands. There are at least four of them on the Pulau U road heading out of town but there will be others nearer to you. I always use these type of places for home supplies, even if just to save the trip to MV.

[Nereus]

Have things really changed that much that you can't walk into a paint shop and buy a tin of paint? Do they really have to mix everything for you? Where does the colour come from? What happens if you don't buy enough? Do they guarantee mixing an exact match?

Hmm, I think it might be a long time since you have bought any house paint. Even in Thailand,for many years now house paint has been mixed using a colour chart for the recipe. They have machines that accurately measure the different colours and blend it together. The only difference will be between different brands of paint, so any additional requirement would have to be from the same brand.

edit: if you scroll down the link that Buksida posted there is some comments there

[johnjar]

Before going to buy the paint and primer you need measure the area you need to paint, the shop will then give you a ball park estimate of how many plastic buckets you need and also give exact buckets primer you will need.

A good rule of thumb to measure the right amount using a roller and tray is one full roller dip = one square meter which gives the correct thickness.

Acrylic emulsion for interior and exterior seems best for this climate and is available from most brands.

Preparation is the key by cleaning area first , then primer/under coat and only paint in dry season whether painting interior or exterior as the dew point effects inside or outside.

A house near my area had young blokes paint his house and I noticed they did't do much prep work and it looked nice when completed, however a month or two later it came off in sheets after some wind and rain

[Big Boy]

There are many local type building supply places around town that sell tins of basic paint, look for signs outside for Jotun, Captain or TOA brands. There are at least four of them on the Pulau U road heading out of town but there will be others nearer to you. I always use these type of places for home supplies, even if just to save the trip to MV.

I did, but same everywhere,

Hmm, I think it might be a long time since you have bought any house paint. Even in Thailand,for many years now house paint has been mixed using a colour chart for the recipe. They have machines that accurately measure the different colours and blend it together. The only difference will be between different brands of paint, so any additional requirement would have to be from the same brand.

About 6 years and that was in the UK.

So what is in the row upon row of paint tins? They can't be transparent, there must be some colour. What makes the colours if the paint doesn't have any? I am confused. If they're all the same, why so many?

Anyway guys, I'm making the bold move and changing to easycare white walls (white was available as advised by a builder friend who had to change when mixing became the norm) - should be lighter as well.

[Nereus]

So what is in the row upon row of paint tins? They can't be transparent, there must be some colour. What makes the colours if the paint doesn't have any? I am confused. If they're all the same, why so many?

They are all "base" colours, which require a different tint to produce the end result. They are not "clear" as far as I know. The same process is used for automotive paints, which are built up from a "paint code number", rather than a colour sheet to achieve a standard range of colours.

[johnjar]

Its all economics really why have paint color no one buys sitting on shelves until it's expiry date!

Paint has a limited shelf life, same as beer.By using base paint and adding pigment upon sale of the paint means they can shift older base paint first, so all the base paints remain within their respective shelf life = zero wastage

[RCer]

The base is generally white. Various types of finish, shiny, matte, etc. Some are latex or other material, depending on what you are painting.

The color is added by the machine, very little human intervention. Kind of fool-proof, but I guess if you work at it, you could get it wrong.

[MDMK]

I don't know if this is helpful as it's not Thailand. I'm doing a bedroom just now and had made curtains (from material I bought in Thailand, hehe), so was using a swathe of that material to get a coloured paint for the walls. I could have bought a ready made latex, that came in at around 88euros. I got them to mix it and it came in at 70euros. This is often the case here that the mixer machine works out cheaper than the ready coloured wall paints from brands like Dulux, Crown etc. And yeah it's just white emulsion that the computer adds exact amounts of pigment to, then swishes it around a lot to mix it. You can also but syringes filled with pigment and colour/stain/mix your own white emulsion, but unless you know EXACTLY what you're doing I don't advise this. Though it is cheap as chips do to. But you MUST make sure you mix enough paint in one go as the human hand and eye are nowhere near as accurate at measuring as those mixer machine in the shops.

[MDMK]

So what is in the row upon row of paint tins? They can't be transparent, there must be some colour. What makes the colours if the paint doesn't have any? I am confused. If they're all the same, why so many?

it's not transparant, it's a white base. Look at it like having 20 sponge cakes, all sponge cake yellow. You add food colouring you get 20 different coloured cakes. Red blue green purple, whatever you want.

Or just add varying amounts of blue food colouring to 20 cakes and you'd get 20 blue cakes varying in colour from veryyyyyy pale blue through the spectrum to navy blue. The paint mixers works the exact same way.

[404cameljockey]

I'm loving this. BB If you don't buy enough they will mix another small tin for you and it will be exactly the same. The outside of the houses in our compound were painted years ago but I and my builder gave the colour number to the guy in Home Pro this year and got exactly the same.

If you don't like Home Pro go to Global House or Thai Watsadu, but honestly, the machines all do the same mixing job.

Please use dustsheets on your furniture and buying a huge roll of cardboard to cover the floor is cheap also (if you're doing the lid too).

Two coats!

[404cameljockey]

BB white is a bit 'stark', you might not be happy when it's on?

[MDMK]

BB white is a bit 'stark', you might not be happy when it's on?

I was going to offer to come stay with family BB for a month, smoke in the house and their white will be magnolia by the time I leave

[404cameljockey]