Best Ceiling Paint for Farrow & Ball, BM Aura

14 years ago

Hi everyone, I've been reading through the forum archives and learning a lot! Anyway, one question I can't seem to find the answer to - what's the best ceiling paint to use? Everyone seems to agree that you get what you pay for in paint, but does this hold true for ceiling paint?

We are remodeling a 95 year old house and all of the walls and ceilings are going to be repainted (we're leaving the trim, doors and windows as is for now - they need to be done too, but this whole project is already overwhelming. I'm sure most of you can relate!) I plan on using a mix of FB in Modern Emulsion and BM Aura for the walls. (Don't plan on repainting any of it for another 5+ years so figure we better get paint that we can happily live with.)

The FB Eco Dead Flat paint, which I guess is their ceiling paint, is $124 a gallon - expensive even by their standards! There's only a couple of rooms where I'd be interested in using specific FB colors on the ceilings. Should I use the FB Eco Dead Flat, or just the FB Estate Emulsion, or should I just use a similar color in the BM Waterborne Ceiling Paint and call it good? Can you really tell that much of a difference in the quality of ceiling paint?

I'm interested in any thoughts you all might have, although at this point I'd like to stick to FB and BM - I'm sure there's a lot of other good options out there in other brands, but the list of paint we need to buy is complicated enough as it is! Many thanks.

Featured Answer

rococogurl

14 years ago

My ceilings are done with F&B Estate Emulsion in Pointing. It's nowhere near that cost. Much closer to cost of Aura and has a surface quality I prefer.

Comments (11)

paintguy22
14 years ago
There is no reason to spend a lot of money on a ceiling paint unless you want it to be washable like in a small kitchen or bath. In order to get the dead flat look, the cheaper the better. I usually go with BM Super Spec flat.
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
14 years ago
I am really liking BM's Waterborne Ceiling Paint 508, about as dead a flat as I have ever seen and very user friendly.
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denali2007
14 years ago
I used Ben Moore's new Ultra Flat Ceiling Paint. You can get it mixed in all their colors.
materialssue
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for all the feedback! I'll definitely be going the BM route.
sherwhy
14 years ago
BM store owner told me that if you want to save money do it on the interior paint. Spend your money on high quality exterior paint. $124 a gallon? yikes!!
pirula
14 years ago
And the Estate Emulsion is flat. You don't need the DEAD flat. In fact, F&B warns (or used to warn) people to test the dead flat to see if they like it.

I prefer a soft sheen to my ceiling to bounce off natural light. Mine are in the Modern Emulsion in Pointing. If you want flat, go with the Estate Emulsion. Pointing is not only one of F&B's best whites, it's one of the best whites bar none.
ginzing
13 years ago
I just primed, and painted my ceiling with Farrow & Ball primer, and Wimborne White in the Estate Emulsion. It's a nightmare. It's flashing after a third top coat. The primer went on beautifully, and looked better than the Estate Emulsion. At this point, I don't know what to do. I'm considering the BM Waterborne paint, but I've read that flashes, too. Any thoughts anyone? For my time, and money, I definitely won't be using Farrow & Ball on a ceiling again. I'm hoping a professional painter can salvage the Blazer Red, I've put on the walls. So far Farrow and Ball for me has been a huge disappointment.
Vertise
11 years ago
Please describe why Farrow & Ball's Pointing is the best white ever. Would love to hear about it. I'm surprised it's about the cost of Aura. I'd ruled it out over $100 gallon, too. The Aura paint dries so fast I am not sure it will work for me on larger rooms. There is no time to work before it starts getting tacky and a somewhat pointy texture.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Mon, Jan 14, 13 at 0:08
kitchendetective
11 years ago
My laundry room ceiling is Farrow and Ball Estate Emulsion Pale Powder, and it is plenty flat. It did take three coats, but there is a ridiculous amount of texture on the the surface, which the F&B formulation helps to obscure.
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
11 years ago
read post #2