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Enduring Quality or something else?

Does the kind of paint you use on your doors and millwork make a difference? We think it does! Read more...

The difference a gallon of paint makes

Every business has water cooler talk, and ours is no different.  Recently a few of the guys were talking about a practice that some builders have regarding painting their doors and woodwork.  It is not unheard of for some builders to load up a spray paint rig with flat latex paint and quickly paint all the doors and woodwork in a house with a coat of “flat” paint – the same that they are using on their walls and ceilings.

Why is this a topic of conversation?  Because it’s not what we do.

Why not?   A gallon of flat paint is relatively inexpensive – maybe $15-20 per gallon. Frankly, the cost is the reason that some builders use it for so many different surfaces; there is no cheaper way to finish off your doors and woodwork than the method described above.

We typically use a high gloss paint that costs almost $50 per gallon.  We carefully pre-finish our doors and millwork off-site, and then apply a final coat of paint by hand to all woodwork after installation on the job.  Undoubtedly this costs us more money.

So why do we do that?  Because there is a huge difference between initial cost and lifetime cost.  If you only care about getting the cheapest price for your project, definitely take the lowest initial cost.  However, that flat paint won’t last very well, or very long.  Before you know it, every handprint and smudge will be all over that door to the bathroom and that piece of woodwork next to the light switch.  You probably will want to repaint those doors and that woodwork.  That may be time-consuming, disruptive and expensive.  That repainting will need to be done every couple years as long as you are using the cheapest paint available.

Of course, when you use quality paint, those smudges will wipe right off.  Those doors can shine brightly for years and years without repainting.  No extra time, no disruption, no further expense.

Dale Koontz Builder believes that looking at your lifetime costs is the right way to look at it.  So we will keep using that more expensive paint – in the long run it really is a better VALUE for our customers.