Paint matching?

[Alan Ambrose]

I tried the Valspar paint matching facility in B&Q and took a few square inches of plasterboard from the wall with the paint on I was trying to match. It's a sort of greeny grey matt emulsion.

 

They scanned that and made up a sample pot that was supposed to match.  Way too light. I went back, showed them pictures and said 'could they make it a bit darker'. 'No' they said.

 

So, has anyone had a better experience paint patching, or is it a fools errand? 

[Redoctober]

Could try Johnstones Paint shops - they matched F&B paints for us perfectly at a much lower price too. 

[Sparrowhawk]

I've had good success with Tikkurila's matching service, and their paint is nicer to use than Valspar. But if Valspar was that far out there may be an issue with the sample.

 

Brewers decorating centres have also been decent.

 

Edited January 20 by Sparrowhawk

[ToughButterCup]

1 hour ago, Alan Ambrose said:

...

So, has anyone had a better experience paint patching, or is it a fools errand? 

 

It's a Fools Errand.

 

Thats why on this a particular task SWMBO is sent - so that when she returns, scorched by the heat of her own worthiness ( and having spent a King's ransom on [... unnecessary sh!te .... ] ,  I can get my own back saying

 

". Ah, mmmmm, that won't work ... I'd have thought that was obvious  ...  dwahling .... " And try not to sneer while saying it.

 

Even's up the score a bit

[joe90]

My ex wife choose an expensive paint for our last house, it was very near magnolia which was a quarter of the price so I used magnolia and she never noticed the difference 🤣.

[Alan Ambrose]

Thanks, I'll try both those services and see what happens.

 

>>> But if Valspar was that far out there may be an issue with the sample.

 

It was literally a 6x8cm piece of painted plasterboard from the wall we wanted to match. I see there a bunch of skill involved operating the spectro-thingy though re calibration, multiple readings at different angles etc.

 

 

[dpmiller]

the spectros that are used for domestic matching are massively different to those used for cars etc. Was the sample board rollered or brush-painted? Much texture?

 

[Alan Ambrose]

Goodness, the level of expertise on the ‘ub never ceases to amaze me. I can just about see it’s brushed but very flat and matt.

[dpmiller]

still that's enough to upset the match as the illumination is quite oblique. Turning the sample 90degs would likely give a very different result.

 

/ with the automotive spectros, there are instructions from each paint manufacturer on what type/ grade of polish to clean the surface before reading, etc.

[Blooda]

What are you painting ?

if the material is absorbent the final colour may be slightly different. 

1) try several layers over a couple of days

2) Try some non absorbent base material. 

 

Not had a problem with Crown Centres.

 

Have you any idea of the original paint name / manufacturer.#

 

[Adsibob]

On 20/01/2024 at 15:04, Redoctober said:

Could try Johnstones Paint shops - they matched F&B paints for us perfectly at a much lower price too. 

This is a controversial topic. F and B make certain finishes which aren’t really matchable. The colour might be the same, but the way the light reflects off the surface won’t be, especially with the estate emulsion, modern emulsion and dead flat finishes. So in different lights it could look rather different.

[saveasteading]

On 20/01/2024 at 16:22, joe90 said:

used magnolia 

The secret is is to call it something else. Not beige either.

 

Having watched paint mixing close up on many occasions it has struck me how tiny were some of the  additions  of a particular dye. Whether the last drop clung to the nozzle or went into the mix would make a big difference. 

The crud dried around the nozzles should all have been in someone's tin.

 

Even different batches from the same supplier can be diffferent.

 

If you have to change paint supplier or even batches, it is impossible to see it if applied to different planes. So change at a room corner, or anywhere with a break, duch as a door or curtain.

[Alan Ambrose]

>>> Have you any idea of the original paint name / manufacturer.#

 

No, the backstory is that it was a new barn conversion we bought 5 years ago and I need some touch-up paint. I guess that's a harder job than just 'get me somewhat close to this F&B colour'. I'm a bit closer with matching the Valspar swatches by eye and their sample pots - actually I have a much better match than the custom-spectro-matching-mix thing. That suggests their matching service is a bit of a waste of time - at least from that B&Q with that operator. I couldn't understand why they didn't have a second matching step to take their first guess and improve it - but they were properly stroppy by that time.

 

I'll try Johnstones and  Tikkurila and see if they're better and report back.

 

Someone has done a very skilled job plastering and painting between all the old oak sticks so it's not an easy job to just re-paint a single 'wall' - it would need loads of masking. This kind of thing:

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Depending how big an area you need to touch up, mixing the colour match by yourself can work. I did this in a rental property to cover over damage when their "magnolia" matched no shade from the shops. I did it with a mix of emulsion testers plus artists acrylics and got a close enough finish. Getting the same matte finish as the rest of the wall was harder and took abrading + a bit of talc rubbed in to blend it together.

[Alan Ambrose]

>>> mixing the colour match by yourself can work

 

That's interesting, especially as I am already quite close with a few of the tester pots.