Irrational paint lust. How does SW Emerald compare to BM?

[treedimensional]

I love BM and Behr Premium Plus, but I've never tried SW.

The SW sale is making me itch all over to try a gallon of their premium paint.

Is SW Emerald really good paint?

[house]

Following.. we use nothing but SW. Never used anything else. LOL!

[munkii]

We started using SW Emerald when it came out, and it works wonderfully. We painted our bedroom last year and only need one coat and touch ups. I have not used the other brands; so I cannot give you a good comparison.

[Susie]

I have been a big fan of Duration. We'll probably use Emerald (it is low VOC, right?) when we paint the nursery, since I am pregnant (obviously), but I haven't used it yet.

I prefer SW over Behr, Glidden, and Valspar, but can't compare to BM. I have no desire to seek out BM paint after using SW though.

[TBM]

Which Ben Moore?

I love Aura, and am a big fan of SW Emerald and Duration over the other BM lines. I am not sure if I have a definite favorite between Emerald and Aura. They have their differences, but both have amazing color stabilizers and I go back and forth between them depending on my mood, which basically comes down to convenience and sales. It's a lot harder to decide now that I have both stores near me.

[hbomdiggity]

Jun 27, 2015 8:40:24 GMT -5 Susie said:

I have been a big fan of Duration. We'll probably use Emerald (it is low VOC, right?) when we paint the nursery, since I am pregnant (obviously), but I haven't used it yet.

I prefer SW over Behr, Glidden, and Valspar, but can't compare to BM. I have no desire to seek out BM paint after using SW though.

I don't think emerald is low voc. it definitely has a strong smell, but it goes away. We used it in our nursery, but I didn't do the painting.

[AAM2012]

We've used emerald and it coats very well. We were able to cover darker brown walls with one coat. It seems to go on thick so we needed quite a bit more than what we originally anticipated.

[auntie]

SW Emerald is the nicest paint I've ever worked with. It's like painting with heavy cream. Coverage is excellent and the finish wonderful.

I prefer BM's Advance for trim work.

[munkii]

Jun 27, 2015 8:40:24 GMT -5 Susie said:

I have been a big fan of Duration. We'll probably use Emerald (it is low VOC, right?) when we paint the nursery, since I am pregnant (obviously), but I haven't used it yet.

I prefer SW over Behr, Glidden, and Valspar, but can't compare to BM. I have no desire to seek out BM paint after using SW though.

It's zero VOC: www.sherwin-williams.com/architects-specifiers-designers/inspiration/stir/sw-art-stir-emerald.html.

[treedimensional]

Jun 27, 2015 10:18:57 GMT -5 TBM said:

Which Ben Moore?

I love Aura, and am a big fan of SW Emerald and Duration over the other BM lines. I am not sure if I have a definite favorite between Emerald and Aura. They have their differences, but both have amazing color stabilizers and I go back and forth between them depending on my mood, which basically comes down to convenience and sales. It's a lot harder to decide now that I have both stores near me.

Thanks for going with Aura as the default here. I wanted to consider the top-of-the-line product in every brand because I hate lousy paint!

[simpsongal]

Jun 27, 2015 14:10:25 GMT -5 auntie said:

SW Emerald is the nicest paint I've ever worked with. It's like painting with heavy cream. Coverage is excellent and the finish wonderful.

I prefer BM's Advance for trim work.

Not sure if you read my recommendations, but I LOVE BM satin impervo for trim.  It's gorgeous paint!  I used Advance for my cabinets.  While I liked it, I don't like that you're not supposed to add paint extender (I usually need a little help eliminate brush strokes and lengthen drying time).

[lavender444]

I've tried many times to like SW, but when it comes down to it, I like Ben Moore better. I like how it covers, applies and that the colors seem more pigmented. I've tried to have color matching done in SW, and it's always off and not as true and pretty as the original Ben Moore color.

That being said, we did buy and put up SW's top of the line exterior paint on our trim. Most of it was brushed and not rolled on and I was happy with that outcome. I

[qubit]

We painted every room in our 3,000 square foot house with Emerald because it is zero-VOC. We were covering a darkish builder beige, and used a variety of light paint colors. Everything covered in one coat except white. I needed 3 coats of white Emerald to cover beige, which was frustrating. I was very happy overall though. It is thick and doesn't drip or splatter. I used Ben Moore Advanced for kitchen cabinets and furniture, but haven't done any comparisons.