Have you seen the price of paint lately?

We are repainting a few small bedrooms in our house. We hop over to the big box store and buy about six gallons.
We get the brushes and rollers and pans too. We go to check out and …………..$400 dollars later.

I was in sticker shock. Granted, it’s been a while since I’ve painted anything. I thought lumber was bad. I can’t even imagine what professional painters charge these days. The one good thing I will say is that paint is much better quality these days. It is very thick and covers nicely.
No wonder house prices are sky high, the cost breakdown of every single item is just insane.

I also replaced a light switch cover, it wasn’t the most basic plastic cover but was the next one up, Nine dollars! Crazy man, crazy!

a reply to: JAGStorm

For a good paint it’s generally 50-70 a gallon….. I use either duration or Cashmere from Sherwinn Williams. I do have a corporate account there too; so I save quite a few dollars on purchases…

But yes paint has been expensive for a while now…. Before Covid lol

a reply to: JAGStorm

It's not just paint and not just in the US.

Over the last few months I've had trouble sourcing a back box for a VW Golf and a Shimano cassette, only to find them eventually at an inflated price.

I had a builder over to quote to rebuild my porch. The labour part of the quote is good for a year; the materials part of the quote is good for a month,

I honestly have no clue what paint usually goes for.
Im in the process of fixing up my house to sell as I am moving back to TX soon.
I bought specific Sherwin Williams paint (for specific projects) from their store and it is almost $70 a gallon....
No clue if that is good or bad...as I havent bought paint in ummmmmm, well over 10 years.

I believe you though if you are seeing a jump.

originally posted by: shaemac
I honestly have no clue what paint usually goes for.
Im in the process of fixing up my house to sell as I am moving back to TX soon.
I bought specific Sherwin Williams paint (for specific projects) from their store and it is almost $70 a gallon....
No clue if that is good or bad...as I havent bought paint in ummmmmm, well over 10 years.

I believe you though if you are seeing a jump.

I don’t know if I went through a time warp or what but I recall paint being under $20 for the good stuff

Where did you find that light switch cover? I just bought one a couple of weeks ago. The most expensive one I saw was less than three dollars for the regular single indoor kind. As I was putting this on an industrial machine, I get the 97 cent metal one.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: shaemac
I honestly have no clue what paint usually goes for.
Im in the process of fixing up my house to sell as I am moving back to TX soon.
I bought specific Sherwin Williams paint (for specific projects) from their store and it is almost $70 a gallon....
No clue if that is good or bad...as I havent bought paint in ummmmmm, well over 10 years.

I believe you though if you are seeing a jump.

I don’t know if I went through a time warp or what but I recall paint being under $20 for the good stuff

You very well could be right........and I think we have all gone thru that time warp.

Im actually just hoping Im not even truly awake right now. lol

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: shaemac
I honestly have no clue what paint usually goes for.
Im in the process of fixing up my house to sell as I am moving back to TX soon.
I bought specific Sherwin Williams paint (for specific projects) from their store and it is almost $70 a gallon....
No clue if that is good or bad...as I havent bought paint in ummmmmm, well over 10 years.

I believe you though if you are seeing a jump.

I don’t know if I went through a time warp or what but I recall paint being under $20 for the good stuff

That was some time back. Quality paint has been over $40 a gallon for the better part of the last 20 years. Benjamin Moore Aura paint is over $100 a gallon. Farrow & Ball paint can cost as much as $150 a gallon.
Just some FYI, the white in paint is titanium which replaced lead years back and its rather expensive.

Working with architectural coating for almost 30 years here.

originally posted by: JAGStorm


I also replaced a light switch cover, it wasn’t the most basic plastic cover but was the next one up, Nine dollars! Crazy man, crazy!

Also....two things.
One, I'm glad you posted this....it is so far off topic of things I ever discuss....and I needed this distraction. LOL
Two, if you go on Amazon (if you even shop there - I understand many do not want to do so), you can buy light switch covers in bulk for super cheap. Unless you are looking for specialized ones. I am looking for basic ones to get this house sold....For example

originally posted by: beyondknowledge
Where did you find that light switch cover? I just bought one a couple of weeks ago. The most expensive one I saw was less than three dollars for the regular single indoor kind. As I was putting this on an industrial machine, I get the 97 cent metal one.

Home Depot, they only had two kinds in three different colors.

a reply to: shaemac

Also....two things. One, I'm glad you posted this....it is so far off topic of things I ever discuss....and I needed this distraction. LOL Two, if you go on Amazon (if you even shop there - I understand many do not want to do so), you can buy light switch covers in bulk for super cheap. Unless you are looking for specialized ones. I am looking for basic ones to get this house sold....For example

It was one of those situations where I was there getting paint and was like, Oh I need a new light switch cover too.
The price could be my local store, it’s small and doesn’t carry as much as some of the larger ones.

originally posted by: SeektoUnderstand
a reply to: JAGStorm

For a good paint it’s generally 50-70 a gallon….. I use either duration or Cashmere from Sherwinn Williams. I do have a corporate account there too; so I save quite a few dollars on purchases…

But yes paint has been expensive for a while now…. Before Covid lol

I do the same. You get what you pay for when it comes to paint. Especially when you aren't painting bedroom walls.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: beyondknowledge
Where did you find that light switch cover? I just bought one a couple of weeks ago. The most expensive one I saw was less than three dollars for the regular single indoor kind. As I was putting this on an industrial machine, I get the 97 cent metal one.

Home Depot, they only had two kinds in three different colors.

That is where I bought that one. Heavy duty switch, metal box, cover and cable entry fittings only came to twelve dollars. You must live in a more expensive area.

a reply to: JAGStorm

The last time I bought paint was in July of 2019. I paid $68 a gallon for Behr paint, plus tax!

I use Behr paint almost exclusively, and it seems to work well. I have repainted the whole upper part of my house, and just starting on the basement. $32 a gallon. Tried more expensive brands such as Sherwin-Williams, and I really cant justify the price difference.

I went to get some different spray paints for some projects. Walmart had little selection so I went to the higher priced local hardware store and they was the same. The employee their told me there is actually a paint shortage going on.

Probably why your paint was so expensive too. Corona shutdowns messed up a lot of industries.

Paint Shortage

a reply to: JAGStorm
Oh my, I first thought "how big is the room", but after looking it up (I haven't bought paint for a couple of years) the price in the UK is virtually the same. I don't know what's going on but American prices used to be a lot cheaper than here.

The paint is amazingly better now though pricey. I was using some exterior house paint rated good to 2 degrees C. so close to freezing and it's also really thick but not hard to handle and goes on well. Same with sico stain, huge improvement and not just that horrid orange colour anymore. Both turned out to be pretty economical because they covered well so price is worth it to me.

Lumber on the other hand... guy in the hardware store says they were selling just below cost to keep customers happy which sucks for them, good business move long term. He said it took a year for prices to climb that high and in a two week period they dropped. He figures it's all artificially driven. Shame as it affects their small business a lot.

Try the best stuff at Sherwin. 150 bucks a gallon. I think that's including a discount.
It is completely worth it though.
Their industrial coating line is awesome.
Hands down the best option for doors, trim and cabinets.
It is a pre-catalyzed epoxy. It is sweeeet. Self levels easy, sprays the best though. Water cleanup.
Almost impossible to scratch, they use it in malls and such.
I prob sound like a sherwin commercial.lol
Oh yeah, never buy the crap at box stores.

Nope, not here. I bought Alpina alpine white premium child suitable (less nasty stuff) at the weekend for renovation of my now dried out home. Normally 10L cost like 34€ and I got 5x10L buckets for less than 100€, including colored paint bottles to mix my own colors plus an energy drink(add; for me) and gummi bears for my daughter.

I double checked the recipe because I could not believe it.