F&B paint - is it all hype?

[monkeymamma]

Completely love F&B paint and the feel and finish and all the gorgeous colours they do.

I've just had a decorator pop round to quote and he has said it's needless expense, only for posh/rich people and 'bored housewives whose husbands are earning megabucks in the city'. We should get it colour matched to the brands he usually works with.

It will be an extra expense if we don't take his advice as F&B will need 3 coats (2 coats plus primer) whereas other brands only 2 coats.

I should probably suck it up and do as he says but I do feel a bit cross about being made to feel like a naive idiot.

Any thoughts? (I am a housewife btw, not bored though!)

Dh is a decorator and never uses F&B.

I don't think he explains why in quite those words when talking to his clients though

Little Greene paint is brilliant- better than F&B IMHO, but I imagine your decorator might feel similarly if he has not used it before.

I love it, I use two coats & a paint conditioner.

I've even converted mil & she was the dulux till she died type.

Get a different decorator?

If it's what you want and like then that's up to you as the client.

It will cost you more to have it rectified if it's not what you want and you won't be stuck with a boorish git whilst the job is being done.

Absolutely hate it that decorators voice their opinions on your paint brand choice. I will only have F&B. I've had it matched before and it wasn't quite right and slightly shiny. . Just buy the paint you want and give it to him to do. He will have to suck it up! Pisses me right off.

I used it once, I didnt like it at all. It was very runny & streaky.

Im a Dulux girl, I should never have strayed.

Our decorator hates F&B, he says it's awful to work with and doesn't give a finish he's pleased with. Your guy could have been more tactful though!

I would never use F&B, you're paying for the name. Our decorator swears by Little Greene, he did one room here with just one coat.

Another vote for little greene! Don't think it's cheaper than F&B though

We found Craig and Rose much better quality.

I'm currently painting a lot of rooms using f&b, zoffany and little Greene. Zoffanys my favourite. I found lg hard to use but love the finish, f&b is my least favourite it's more watery than the others. I'm also using dulux trade for the ceiling... it's like think yogurt!

tapis - does it not work out cheaper though, if you only need one coat (LG) instead of 2 or 3 (F&B)?

I wouldn't know, I don't bother with fancyarsed paints with hilarious names, just stick to Dulux. Or whatever else I like the colour of (Australia has different brands anyway and it's ALL fecking expensive).

I colour match to Dulux and you can get different finishes including an extra matt one to make it more like F&B. On woodwork we have used Dulux colour match for first coat and then F&B for final coat which is one way of reducing cost if that is the issue.

Our decorator hates F&B too - streaks!

Every decorator I know doesn't rate F&B and just colour matches it in Dulux trade.

Every decorator I know doesn't rate F&B and just colour matches it in Dulux trade.

We have literally just had our living room painted. We picked out a F&B colour and the decorator colour matched it to Leyland or Dulux (can't remember which). He said he'd always advise against the "fancy brands" as he called them because they've overpriced and relatively poor quality.

Am I the only one who thinks your decorator sounds like a good laugh?! Tbh I expect he does know what he is talking about.

I've got farrow and all throughout my house and absolutely adore it. The colours are amazing. Supposedly it has tons more pigment in it than other paint brands which is why it's more expensive but is what gives it the rich colour that looks fantastic.

Personally I'm weary of trades people's opinions on it. You cannot get a trades discount on it so they can't profit on the paint. Plus it may take more work than other paints and lets face it they aren't going to recommend that to you even if the finished product is better!

The quality of F&B has really deteriorated in recent years.

As others have said, I now always use Little Greene. Much better quality, huge range of colours and finishes. It costs more but will last longer.