Economical House Paint

Cans of paint

I live in a house that is nearly 100 years old.

  • Hence the paintwork is often in need of touching up, especially after I have replaced some rotting weatherboards (almost an annual task).
  • Until recently I had been paying around NZ$60/litre for exterior acrylic paint made by a well-known manufacturer.
  • Then I happened to discover a no-name exterior house paint in a local hardware store for NZ$24 for 4 litres.
  • A full range of colours was available, as long as you wanted white (but could be tinted for no extra charge).
  • Some chatting with one of the workers at the store revealed that it was in fact a “budget” line of paints made by the same well-known local manufacturer – but, under a different brand name.
  • Other than the above, the only other comment I could elicit was that it “might be thinner” than the proprietary paints.
  • So, approximately 2 years ago I bought my first 4-litre budget can, noticed no difference in coverage compared to the much more expensive paint, and have been happily using it ever since.

While this obviously does not mean that all budget paints will be satisfactory, it does indicate that sometimes you may unnecessarily pay a substantial premium for a well-known brand name.

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