briwy Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 We need to decorate the inside walls in a small chalet we have just bought in the Pyrenees.The walls are the usual Artex like stuff and we just want to overpaint it.Can anyone recommend a reasonable priced emulsion amd where to get it please.From what I can see a lot of French paint seems to be very expensive compared with England.I would prefer to buy in France when we get there as I dont fancy about 10L of paint in the car.Any ideas pleaseBrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 If you can bring it, I would as paint here is dearer, as you have noticed, and the quality/coverage is generally poorer as well. I can't understand why this is. I can't think of any French emulsion (most tend to be acrylic) worth recommending. The cheaper ones are usually appalling. Sorry. If anyone has found decent paint at a decent price I would be interested as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 Brian,What is worrying you about bringing 10L of paint, I dont think its particularly dangerous when compared with the tank of fuel that you will have anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 I am sorry but I have to disagree about the quality of French paint.I have used quite a lot of Leroy Merlin's own paint and have found it very good both in coverage and quality. To give an example, we had two rooms which had maroon ceilings (I kid you not) and wanted to paint them white. I bought a big tin (the big round metal one, 10L I think) of Dulux 'Professional' white emulsion from B&Q because of the rumours I had heard about French paint. For 7 nights I applied this paint to the ceiling in one of the rooms and the maroon still came through. By the end I had run out of paint. I then went to Leroy Merlin in Perpignan (to buy a bath) and bought a tin of their acrylic paint to try out which cost about twice the amount of the Dulux and was half the quantity. One coat on top of the previous 7 and the ceiling was spot on. In the other room all I needed was 2 coats and it covered perfectly.I have now used Leroy Merlin paint in all but one room and in some cases one coat was quite enough. I have to say it's the only make of French paint I have bought and I think it is really good and offers brilliant value for money.I know of one chap you buys his shutter paint from Wicks in the UK to paint his shutters every other year. I bought Bondex, the same as my neighbours use, and it needs one coat and is guaranteed for 9 years and my shutters look almost as good as the first time I painted them 4 years ago and I still have half the original tin left. So to my mind the Wicks stuff may appear cheaper but the old Bondex is by far the cheaper in the long run. Not only that but the Wicks stuff was never really designed to take the amount of UV and variations in extreme temperature we experience down here in SW France and does not offer good enough protection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Thanks for the tip about Leroy Merlin paint, Q.It runs contrary to my experience of French paint (and I know a lot of people find the same) so I will definitely try it next time.I did find that Mr Bricolage's own brand of kitchen and bathroom paint covered very well, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 [quote user="Quillan"]I am sorry but I have to disagree about the quality of French paint.I have used quite a lot of Leroy Merlin's own paint and have found it very good both in coverage and quality. To give an example, we had two rooms which had maroon ceilings (I kid you not) and wanted to paint them white.[/quote]QuillanI take it France has the same type of 'makeover' programmes that are shown in the UK!Always interests me that when these so called interior designers have their personal homes featured in magazines they never have rooms with dayglo orange walls, purple ceilings, rag mats etc. - it is only applied to the fools who volunteer their homes for ruination.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 I also disagree about the quality of French paint (i.e. it is not as bad as everybody says and not necessarily worse or more expensive than paint in the UK). I have found Astral emulsion decent quality and available at decent priced (also available at very high prices - be careful where you buy it). Similarly, some Ripolin (sic) is great and available at decent (even compared to UK) prices. I have also used quite a lot of the AVI brand (satin for wood) available from supermarkets. Its cheap and so har has shown no problems (after 2 years plus) - and it gets used in terms of I had dogs who always wait until they are indoors before shaking the mud off, etc..I have found some Leroy Merlin paint good stuff and some diabolical. One type of Leroy Merlin paint I purchased (for old wood - correct type of paint for the surface I was painting) had not dried after 2 weeks !!!. I ended up having to wash it off with white spirit then repainting with some decent paint. also, Leroy Merlin house paint is good in so far as you do not need to strip it off when you are ready to re-pain as it comes off all on its own. You only have to wait a year or two after painting and its ready to be re-painted again. However, and despite my sarcasm, some types of Leroy Merlin paint are good and very good price. they cheapo interior emulsion is great (and cheaper than I used to pay for paint in the UK, plus they mix it to the exact colour you want.The "once coat" thing is a joke - but the same applies to UK "one coat" stuff. "one coat" paint is no better or worse in France than the UK. The only exception being comparing it to the very expensive UK Dulux stuff which is the consistency of margarine, terrible to apply decently (and I chucked out the one pot of the stuff I purchased in the UK as it was terrible and thus exceptionally expensive for the area it ended-up covering).Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 I can't say about LM's other paint, I only used their emulsion (or acrylic as they call it) and their bathroom paint both of which were very good. The rest of our house has plain wood which is stained and varnished and just requires a wipe down.You are right about the stain stuff although to be fair I think its a general thing. I needed to match the existing colour of our internal doors for a new one that was put in. I took the colour card and found the match, even took a piece of the same wood. The guy then gave me a tin of stain which should have created the same colour given the type of wood to which I was going to apply it to. Needless to say the colour was quite different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briwy Posted September 25, 2006 Author Share Posted September 25, 2006 Thanks for the replies everyone.I think Ill take some with me (just worried about it spilling in the car) and then try some from France as a comparison.Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Castorama sell an emulsion/acrylic by TOLLENS called Equilibre Ultra Mono Couche paint in 2.5 litre plastic tubs.It is the only French emulsion/acrylic that I have ever used that is any good, I painted white primed plasterboard in their cafe creme colour and it was brilliant, coverage was reasonable and it only needed one coat.The downside is the price.at 45 euros for 2.5 litres it is not cheap.But if you have to apply two coats of a cheaper paint, does it work out cheaper in the long run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 [quote user="JJ"]Castorama sell an emulsion/acrylic by TOLLENS called Equilibre Ultra Mono Couche paint in 2.5 litre plastic tubs.It is the only French emulsion/acrylic that I have ever used that is any good, I painted white primed plasterboard in their cafe creme colour and it was brilliant, coverage was reasonable and it only needed one coat.The downside is the price.at 45 euros for 2.5 litres it is not cheap.But if you have to apply two coats of a cheaper paint, does it work out cheaper in the long run? Two coats?! I have used cheap french paint and it's like pva - or glue and water; utterly useless!We recently found a tin of Dulux on offer and tthe job was done in one coat - though it wasn't even advertised as one coat. Having said that it was quite a bold colour. I don't know, I suppose I'm used to having more money in the UK and euro prices always look a lot higher! Probably not such a difference in the long run, and thanks for the tip on mr Brico's budget range. [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Trollope Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Anything bought from (UK) shed that has "professional" or "trade" in the name is bound to be crap - worse than the equivalent French paint. Don't buy them!I always use "leyland" emulsion (always white) coloured with dyes bought in France and it is superb - and about £13 + VAT/10L from UK decorating suppliers (NOT DIY sheds!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Glad to see I'm not the only Leyland fan here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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