Choosing a paint
You probably came here for a ranking of paint brands. We have not published one, and the reason is on this page. What follows is more useful anyway: the six properties that actually decide whether a paint suits your wall.
Reviewed 6 September 2026.
Why no brand table: a fair comparison needs current technical data for each product, compared on equivalent terms and approved for publication. We do not have that, and a ranking assembled from general impression would be opinion presented as fact. Trade marks belong to their owners, and naming a product in your quotation does not mean we are authorised by or partnered with its manufacturer.
At a glance
Start with the room, not the brand. Decide how washable the surface needs to be, what sheen suits the wall's condition, and whether odour matters while you are living there. Those three narrow the field faster than any brand comparison, and your contractor should then specify a product that meets them.
Six properties
Ask for these against any product you are offered. A supplier who can answer them is specifying; one who cannot is selling.
Where the money goes furthest
If your budget is fixed, the order that produces the best-looking wall in three years is: fix the moisture, then level the surface, then prime correctly, then choose the paint. A premium emulsion over unrepaired plaster fails on the plaster’s timetable, not the paint’s. That is an unpopular thing for a painting company to say, a bigger paint bill would suit us, but it is what the failures we get called out to look at have in common.
We do not publish a brand ranking. A fair comparison needs current technical data for every product, tested on equivalent terms, and approval to publish it, and without that, any ranking is opinion dressed as fact. What we will do is specify a product for your surface and explain why we chose it.
On a properly prepared wall, a higher-grade product generally holds its finish and cleans better. On a poorly prepared wall it fails at much the same time as a cheap one, because the failure is in the layer underneath. Preparation first, product second.
Yes. Tell us at the inspection and we will specify around it, or tell you plainly if it is unsuitable for that surface. If you supply the material yourself, we will note in writing where that changes responsibility for the result.
Typically the product, not the application, and generally conditional on the surface having been prepared and coated as their documentation specifies. It is separate from our workmanship warranty. We will tell you which is which rather than letting the two blur.
It depends entirely on the room. A washable upgrade in a hallway usually pays for itself; the same upgrade in a spare bedroom rarely does. We will tell you which rooms justify it and which do not, which is generally not what a manufacturer's tier chart suggests.
At the inspection we look at the surface, how the room is used and what matters to you, then recommend a specification, including where spending more genuinely buys you something and where it does not.
