Emulsion - where to get it?

[Kitty]

Now that spring is nearly here [Www], I need to paint some internal walls.  The trouble is that I always use British emulsion as I know how it works but I've changed the car and I didn't have enough room to bring the paint over with me last visit.  So,

Either (a) what is the French equivalent of emulsion?  Does it work the same as the UK stuff (I had a terrible experience with some French bought paint a few years ago and it put me off)?

Or (b) is there a supplier of British paint, who delivers in France?

I did a trawl through 2007 and 2008 threads but could not find the answer.

 

[tinabee]

Just read another post somewhere that said the emulsion paint from Lidl wasn't too bad.

[Sunday Driver]

Look for Monocouche - murs et platforms.

One coat, works very well.  Most Bricos offer a colour mixing service if your tastes are a little adventurous.......[;-)]

 

 

[NormanH]

As you will have noticed this is an item that is MUCH more expensive in France than in the UK.

I even know people who bring it back when they take their car across.

I find that if you do buy it in France it is worth paying more for a good brand.

Some of the cheap ones give very poor cover and are difficult to use.

[dr orloff]

I  recommend Renaulac from Brico Depot.  Euros 59 for 15 litres.  It is pretty good paint (roller better than brush) and no different to the price of most UK paint.  I would go for the ordinary stuff not the monocouche.

[Anton Redman]

Dr Orloff - totally off thread but amazing name for a practise of cosmetic surgeons :

http://www.drorloff.com/

On thread we normally find that expensive French paint is good but cheap French is not worth applying.

I thought the guy who was doing a regular run to and from Southampton gave up advertising about 18 months ago

[dr orloff]

Ok cover blown.  Boob jobs a speciality.

I have also hard very good reports about Sikkens - Dutch I believe but with branches in France.  Quite expensive - need to get trade prices.

I agree but I think the Renaulac is the exception to the rule.  Inexpensive and excellent quality.  If I were decorating in the UK I might consider importing it from France.

[Boiling a frog]

Having painted and repainted using French paint for the past 8 years I spotted someones recommendation for Bricodepot Renaulac emulsion and decided to give it a try.

Deep joy, it does what ir says on the tin , cost 23€ environ for 4 litre tin and you pick your colour from a huge range.

http://www.bricodepot.fr/node/3239

PEINTURE ACRYLIQUE MATE RENAULAC

is what you are looking for

NOT

PEINTURE GLYCÉRO MATE RENAULAC

[zeb]

Haven't tried the BricoDepot emulsion yet but will buy some when we next go - the problem is our nearest is 1.5 hours away with a 12 euro peage charge so we only go with a very large list!

Must admit that every visitor who drives over from the UK (not many now as we are so far) is only welcome if they bring 260 Tetley teabags and a 10litre tub of Dulux white matt!!

Seriously though, painting the walls and ceilings of hovel2 is an ongoing task - most of the emulsion paints we have used here are Castarama or Leroy Merlin own brands - both are excellent with a huge colour range, but relatively expensive. But hey, we're in SW France and driving to the UK to buy a tub or two of paint is not an option, so we just get on with it.

I'm always on the lookout for emulsion at a good price and as Lidl have an offer on this coming week for paint, I'll try some.

[BIG MAC]

Sikkens is Akzo coatings I remember that from my car painting days

Dulux Valentine products available in France

[chirpy]

WHATEVER YOU BUY IN FRANCE BE VERY CAREFUL IF ADDING WATER-BETTER ADD TOO LITTLE THAN SOME OF THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS AS THEY LOOSE A LOT OF BODY  AFTER THINNING AND YOU WILL GET DISAPPOINTING RESULTS.

[Kitty]

Thanks for your replies.  Keep them coming.  "Brico" is a long way from here.  Do "Mr Bricolage" have a similar paint?

What are the words 'emulsion' and 'gloss' in French?  Do they have a direct equivalent?

 

[Owens88]

I have used renulac white and its ok.

However my one experience with different brand, trying to re-paint a golden yellow wall with the more of the same, was a tedious 4 coat experience. 

 

However. I was later told that French paint differs from Brit paint by design and not just for cheapness. Something to do with size of the polymer bit. The advice I recall was to not overbrush french paint as it breaks it down, thinning even worse. Anybody else have any fix on this story or is it just one my memory invented ?

 

John

[Sunday Driver]

When we moved into this house, I bought a 20L tub of some obscure white matt emulsion on special offer for 5€ from LeClerc.  When I first used it, it was like painting with milk, but it actually dried to a good dense matt finish.

 

 

[dr orloff]

acrylique and glycero.

I had to travel two hours to the nearest Brico Depot, but worth it as I had a lot of painting to do. 

 

 

 

[Babbles]

Only used 2 makes successfully in France, a Ripolan (sp) for exterior woodwork (can cope with the sun) and a white professional one from M Bricolage but they are the only ones that IMHO are worth taking the time to put on the walls and I tried a few, with the Euro and the amount we need we're shipping Dulux trade Flat Matt emulsion, I've never found french paint to be that matt. You can order Farrow and Ball in France on the tinternet but not cheap.

I noticed in Bricoman that they mix paint and the shade cards are in English, does this mean that they use English paint ( hopefully better quality than most French and not quite so expensive) I'd be interested if anyone has tried it.

[mint]

Best, and ONLY, white matt emulsion I have found in France is called Corona acrilique.

Leroy Merlin and also Mr Bricolage used to sell it.

Wonderful stuff, thick so you can thin it a bit and one obliterating coat gives a wonderful finish.  I used to swear by Crown Professional but this stuff takes some beating.  Such a pleasure to use as well.

I think I paid about 43 euros for a 40-litre drum.

[Chancer]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Best, and ONLY, white matt emulsion I have found in France is called Corona acrilique.

Leroy Merlin and also Mr Bricolage used to sell it.

Wonderful stuff, thick so you can thin it a bit and one obliterating coat gives a wonderful finish.  I used to swear by Crown Professional but this stuff takes some beating.  Such a pleasure to use as well.

I think I paid about 43 euros for a 40-litre drum.

[/quote]

That sounds like the best buy then [:)]

[tonyv]

You might like to try this chap; he imports Dulux: http://www.ariegeartisan.com/

Maybe a bit pricey. He says he'll deliver but doesn't state the area; Bordeaux is a bit far aray from Ariège.

He's currently doing some work at my place, so don't take up too much of his time [:)]

[Jo]

Have used the Corona acrilique, it's great paint, on pare with a good UK emulsion[:D]

[mint]

Yes, Jo, this is the only matt white I can recommend.

It's just such a pleasure to use and the result is so pleasing.

[osie]

seeing as I do not know a duck sausage about paint I am happy to go along with the Corona paint...

during my search I found this site which shows you all outlets ... including independent ones of which there is one close to me.

http://www.coronabatiment.net/index.php?p_a=point_vente

[osie]

I noticed that mr bricolage does a dulux paint - valentine

http://www.mr-bricolage.fr/peintures_murs_et_plafonds/peinture_glisss_blanc_mat_2_5_litres_de_dulux_valentine-3.html

would this be classed as a good paint? Is it the same as the dulux in UK

Thanks

osie

[Quillan]

I bought some Dulux over from the UK after hearing all the stories of how expensive French paint is. I had a bathroom and separate toilet with half tiled walls, the other half and the ceilings were covered in maroon colored paint (don't ask!).  I can't remember how many coats of Dulux I used but it just didn't cover and I ran out of paint. I bought a tin of Leroy Merlin white acrylic and it covered in one go no problem even in the toilet which was straight on to the maroon paint.

I have since used only Leroy Merlin paint and have found it very good. It says to water it down by 30% to use but one coat without water does for me even on English lining paper. Like most shops they don't have much in the ready made colour range but I have since learnt that its more the norm in France to have your colours mixed. For external woodwork I noticed my neighbours use Bondex so I have used the same. Not cheap but has very high ultra violet protection (critical down south) and whilst it says its good for 9 years I have just painted my shutters and windows after 8 years and its brilliant.

I know a guy who swears by Wicks shutter paint. He brings it over every year to do his shutters because its cheap! Me I spend more but do it every 8 years. I'm lazy so the longer I can go without painting the better.

I did have one 5L pot of Dulux left which I found OK on new plasterboard but on strong colours it was useless and actually worked out more expensive in the end than using French paint.

[Jo]

[quote user="Sunday Driver"]

When we moved into this house, I bought a 20L tub of some obscure white matt emulsion on special offer for 5€ from LeClerc.  When I first used it, it was like painting with milk, but it actually dried to a good dense matt finish

 

 

[/quote]

I bought some of that as well........Sous Couche Plaques de Platre Blanc Mat....... it was like painting with milk but when I went back to the room when it had dried, it looked like someone else had been in and done another couple of coats[:D]   Haven't seen it since[:(]