Pondering why is Sherwin William’s paint so expensive? For sure, you are not the only one thinking about it. When a bathroom product is sold for a high price, usually the raw materials used to create that product are of premium quality.
The higher price can also be explained by high packaging, transportation, and marketing cost. But that is just a vague explanation. To get the real reasons for the issue, read the whole article!
Why Is The Price Tag of Sherwin Williams Paint So High?
Now, we are at the juiciest part of this article. Many people love Sherwin Williams paint because of its external beauty, quality, and long-lasting properties.
But what makes it so special and admirable? Get your glasses on because the answer will blow your mind!
A) Raw Material Inflation
A premium bathroom paint requires higher-quality materials to be produced. Despite its strong demand from the public, the raw materials used in Sherwin Williams paint are inflated.
Cheaper-quality materials are not able to provide the long-lasting and luxurious-looking finish that we all want to see in our homes.
Painting experts do not like paints that need multiple layers of coating to look presentable. Sherwin Williams paint is one of their favorites, because of its thick consistency and short application time.
B) Unprecedented Quality of The Paint
A range of factors impacts the quality of Sherwin Williams paint primer. They are not limited to the pigment of the paint, binders, liquids, and other additives.
- Primers
The inclusion of prime and secondary pigments in the primer allows greater durability, easier application, and stronger color retention.
- Binders
Next, the binders used in Sherwin Williams paint provide amplified film integrity, better adherence to surfaces, glossy finish, durability, prevention of blistering, cracking, peeling, and stains.
The latex paints may contain vinyl acrylic, styrene-acrylic, or 100% acrylic binders. On the other hand, oil-based paints may contain soya oil, linseed oil, and alkyds (modified oils).
- Liquids
Although the liquid itself is pretty worthless compared to the contributions of primers and binders, the correct ratio at which it is mixed determines the quality of the paint.
Sherwin Williams paints all have the perfect ratio of liquids and solids.
- Additives
The additives in the Sherwin Williams paint make the biggest difference in production cost. These extra features allow the paint to have certain attributes that give it a higher competitive advantage over other paints in the market.
Some of the additives in Sherwin Williams paint are disparaging agents that evenly distribute pigments, mildewcides to fight against mildew formation, preservatives that protect the paint from wasting, and rheology modifiers to level the coat and hide wall flaws.
C) Diverse Range of Products
Sherwin Williams has come up with a wide range of products that were specially designed to serve certain purposes.
The purposes may vary between washability, stain removal, preventing color rub-offs, reducing ambient odor, containing antimicrobial agents, moisture resistant technology, improving indoor air quality, and spot resistance.
Some notable ones are Emerald, Duration Home, Cashmere, Harmony, SuperPaint, and Captivate. These variants are even available in flat, glossy, matte, semi-gloss, low luster, medium luster, pearl, and satin.
Let us have a look at how the price structure of Sherwin Williams paint has been designed based on its variants.
| Type of Sherwin Williams Paint | Cost of Paint |
| SuperPaint | $65.49 – $70.49 |
| Emerald | $94.99 – $101.99 |
| Duration | $69.99 – $74.99 |
| Cashmere | $60.49 – $65.49 |
| Captivate | $38.49 – $42.49 |
| Harmony | $60.49 – $65.49 |
D) Cost of Service per Year
Sad but true, you may assume that buying a cheaper quality paint is saving you money. But the reality is far from it.
Lower quality paints require several coats to achieve the desired finish that Sherwin Williams paint can achieve in one go.
Additionally, because the cheaper paints are not durable, you have to spend more on maintenance over the years. A high-quality paint like Sherwin Williams may cost $40 per gallon.
But you only spend this money for the next 25 years!
On the contrary, if you have spent $20 per gallon on lower quality paint, the chances are you need to repaint the walls after 6 years. You may notice mildew, scratches, cracks, dampened areas, dirty appearance, and unremovable stains.
In saying so, you are saving more on Sherwin Williams paint compared to any other regular, affordable paints. By investing in higher quality paint for your bathroom, you are saving a lot on maintenance and repainting.
The Downside of Sherwin Williams Paint
- Sherwin Williams paint price keeps rising from now and then due to different reasons, such as supply chain problems and raw material inflation.
- Their stock runs out very quickly, and it is frustrating for the clients. The project gets delayed until the batch is restocked.
- Not all the paints in the product range are of top-notch quality.
If you do not want to compromise on quality, then the perfect alternatives are Berkshire Hathaway, DuPont, PPG Industries, Ecolab, Kelly Moore, and Benjamin Moore.
Though not considered bad, the more affordable alternatives are Behr, Vaspar, and Glidden
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Need some expert advice on painting with Sherwin Williams? Dig for it!
This phenomenon of small cracks appearing on freshly painted walls is called ‘alligatoring’. It occurs when the paint applied had a very thick film. Upon observation, some of the films dry quickly, whereas the rest take longer to dry.
So, the underside of the paint shrinks when it finally dries, making the top layer of the film to crack up. But this is completely avoidable!
Whether you are painting on your own or seeking professional help, the paint had to be mixed with the right thickness and spreading rate as assigned by the manufacturer.
Sometimes, these unwanted cracks are caused when there are contaminants, like oil, hair spray, silicone, and other residues on the wall surface. To solve this, you just have to clean the wall properly before applying the paint.
Despite following the owner’s manual through and through, coating failures are normal. It may be caused due to the low formation of the film, unsupportive weather conditions (such as chemicals, fumes, and humidity), improper use of a coating, and poor surface preparation.
Air spray the walls if the trims are not in place yet. Because if you have furniture, carpets, curtains, and appliances that need covering, air spraying will be hard. This type of painting method usually falls on the floor that needs to be cleaned later.
Rolling and brush painting will take a long time compared to air spraying. For that reason, let several people take up the task and work in different areas of the house.
To Finalize The Answer
In fact, if you analyze all the pros and cons, you would not be surprised at the question: why is Sherwin Williams paint so expensive?
Consider the quality of materials (additives, pigments, and binders), a wide range of products that have several coating finish options, and the long-term benefits of investing in a higher quality paint primer.
It may look as though you are spending too much on this paint, but you are minimizing contingency costs for the next 25 years! Therefore, instead of judging a book by its cover, a little research into the content of the book may be more fruitful for you!
