# Sherwin Williams Promar or SuperPaint



## mrpaintman

Hey all,

I see a lot of contractors using promar. I use it for ceiling paint but not for walls. Do you prefer it over SuperPaint? My cost for both is about the same and SW tells me SuperPaint is a better product. Any thoughts?


----------



## lilpaintchic

mrpaintman said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I see a lot of contractors using promar. I use it for ceiling paint but not for walls. Do you prefer it over SuperPaint? My cost for both is about the same and SW tells me SuperPaint is a better product. Any thoughts?


Neither. At that price bm ultra spec is a far better product than either sw product.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


----------



## mrpaintman

lilpaintchic said:


> Neither. At that price bm ultra spec is a far better product than either sw product.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


what do you pay for that if you don't mind me asking? Only problem with BM is there is not one all that close to me, and the hours are weird. I always have trouble with runs with BM and never seem to with SW.


----------



## KooLayed369

SuperPaint is a better product, but like lilpaintchic said, you can get better products for the same price. BM has good options, and Kelly Moores Premium Professional line is equivalent and could probably be gotten for cheaper than any of the other options. Equivalent product+cheaper price= more money for you!


----------



## lilpaintchic

mrpaintman said:


> what do you pay for that if you don't mind me asking? Only problem with BM is there is not one all that close to me, and the hours are weird. I always have trouble with runs with BM and never seem to with SW.


There is a trade off of convienence to obtain a better product. Better product (even at a higher price)= better finish and less labor(labor is more expensive than product and ho's pay for product).
That being said, I was a diehard sw fan for many many years. Used a boat load of both sp and pm. I can get bm ultra spec for about $25/g. Regal for about $45, 508 ceiling paint for about $30. No jerking around for "best pricing" b.s., it's straight forward pricing. All of these products beat any sw products HANDS DOWN. Yes, a bit more in the front end but over the cost of a job its peanuts compared to the other benefits. The trade off is I have to be more organized and drive a bit further. Totally worth it imo. Also, bm will deliver just like any other manufacturer. 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


----------



## cocomonkeynuts

lilpaintchic said:


> There is a trade off of convienence to obtain a better product. Better product (even at a higher price)= better finish and less labor(labor is more expensive than product and ho's pay for product).
> That being said, I was a diehard sw fan for many many years. Used a boat load of both sp and pm. I can get bm ultra spec for about $25/g. Regal for about $45, 508 ceiling paint for about $30. No jerking around for "best pricing" b.s., it's straight forward pricing. All of these products beat any sw products HANDS DOWN. Yes, a bit more in the front end but over the cost of a job its peanuts compared to the other benefits. The trade off is I have to be more organized and drive a bit further. Totally worth it imo. Also, bm will deliver just like any other manufacturer.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


Those are excellent prices BTW, quite a bit below what I offer. The ultraspec is especially priced _very _competitively.



mrpaintman said:


> what do you pay for that if you don't mind me asking? Only problem with BM is there is not one all that close to me, and the hours are weird. I always have trouble with runs with BM and never seem to with SW.


Off the shelf for most painters I have ultraspec priced at $33/gallon. Make friends with the manager, most dealers will be willing to do whatever to take sales away from sherwin. Just call and ask for somewhat extended store hours or delivery.


----------



## PACman

Promar 200 and Superpaint have different tint strengths, so there goes that theory. I could go on, but everyone else has it covered it seems. I'll just be in the background munching my popcorn if you need me.


----------



## chrisn

You could get PPG's pure performance for that price(super paint) maybe cheaper and far better.


----------



## Gymschu

Yeah, no reason to beat a dead horse. To me ProMar 200 is what you use for apartment repaints and the like. SuperPaint, as I've stated before, is just a solid, middle-of-the-road paint product, nothing more, nothing less. Cashmere is my go-to paint from SW. For PM 200 I pay $26, for SP and Cashmere, I pay about $33, nothing to write home about.


----------



## lilpaintchic

cocomonkeynuts said:


> Those are excellent prices BTW, quite a bit below what I offer. The ultraspec is especially priced _very _competitively.
> 
> 
> 
> Off the shelf for most painters I have ultraspec priced at $33/gallon. Make friends with the manager, most dealers will be willing to do whatever to take sales away from sherwin. Just call and ask for somewhat extended store hours or delivery.


And get a rep out of your local bm store to work with. Mine is AWESOME!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


----------



## Gwarel

I use the 200 if I need egshel, I like the lower sheen, Super paint is ok for flat but I like the Cashmere flat look much better so that's what I use.


----------



## cocomonkeynuts

lilpaintchic said:


> cocomonkeynuts said:
> 
> 
> 
> Those are excellent prices BTW, quite a bit below what I offer. The ultraspec is especially priced _very _competitively.
> 
> 
> 
> Off the shelf for most painters I have ultraspec priced at $33/gallon. Make friends with the manager, most dealers will be willing to do whatever to take sales away from sherwin. Just call and ask for somewhat extended store hours or delivery.
> 
> 
> 
> And get a rep out of your local bm store to work with. Mine is AWESOME!
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yeah my rep is awesome too I see him almost twice a week. If you are using BM products you should have your local rep on speed dial. They are a great free resource that you should be using.


----------



## Rbriggs82

Gwarel said:


> I use the 200 if I need egshel, I like the lower sheen, Super paint is ok for flat but I like the Cashmere flat look much better so that's what I use.


Have your store order a couple gallons of SuperPaint velvet to try. I think both the SuperPaint satin and Cashmere low luster are too shiny, the velvet is perfect.

To the op, I'm not a fan of anything Promar. SuperPaint is a great middle of the road paint, along with Cashmere. For residential interior painting, with the exception of real deep colors, those two lines are all you need. They're easy to work with, cover great, and are durable. If I need flat I use the Cashmere flat enamel and if I need more of a satin/eggshell finish I go with superpaint velvet.

Almost a year ago now I took up the carpet in my office with plans to put down laminate instead. In the meantime it was just a bare concrete floor so to keep the dust down I took some leftover SuperPaint velvet I had and painted the floor until I got around to the laminate. It's been almost a year with my office chair rolling around and it getting walled all over and it still looks great. When it gets dirty I just mop it.

If superpaint can last a year on a floor and hold up fine there's absolutely no reason why a normal residential interior requires more than that on the walls.

Also, I'm not a big fan of BM ultraspec or Ben. If I were to ever switch to Benjamin Moore it would be to the regal which is a fantastic paint. Is it worth $15 more a gallon and added difficulty to get ahold of? Maybe, depends on the job and color, for me most of the time it's not. 

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


----------



## woodcoyote

PACman said:


> Promar 200 and Superpaint have different tint strengths, so there goes that theory. I could go on, but everyone else has it covered it seems. I'll just be in the background munching my popcorn if you need me.


Tint strengths as in the total oz of colorant that can be added? 

Please do. Go on and on. We're all curious.


----------



## PACman

woodcoyote said:


> Tint strengths as in the total oz of colorant that can be added?
> 
> Please do. Go on and on. We're all curious.


proprietary stuff. Sorry, can't tell.


----------



## mrpaintman

Rbriggs82 said:


> Have your store order a couple gallons of SuperPaint velvet to try. I think both the SuperPaint satin and Cashmere low luster are too shiny, the velvet is perfect.
> 
> To the op, I'm not a fan of anything Promar. SuperPaint is a great middle of the road paint, along with Cashmere. For residential interior painting, with the exception of real deep colors, those two lines are all you need. They're easy to work with, cover great, and are durable. If I need flat I use the Cashmere flat enamel and if I need more of a satin/eggshell finish I go with superpaint velvet.
> 
> Almost a year ago now I took up the carpet in my office with plans to put down laminate instead. In the meantime it was just a bare concrete floor so to keep the dust down I took some leftover SuperPaint velvet I had and painted the floor until I got around to the laminate. It's been almost a year with my office chair rolling around and it getting walled all over and it still looks great. When it gets dirty I just mop it.
> 
> If superpaint can last a year on a floor and hold up fine there's absolutely no reason why a normal residential interior requires more than that on the walls.
> 
> Also, I'm not a big fan of BM ultraspec or Ben. If I were to ever switch to Benjamin Moore it would be to the regal which is a fantastic paint. Is it worth $15 more a gallon and added difficulty to get ahold of? Maybe, depends on the job and color, for me most of the time it's not.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


Thanks!


----------



## westchesterpaint

Superpaint for res repaint and ProMar for commercial use


----------



## playedout6

I like the ProMar 400 CW . Cheap too...under 20 a gallon . Not crazy on the Superpaint Satin that they sold one HO we are currently doing for her trim work . They sold her Superpaint Matte for the walls...it covers OK...so I'm happy with that . BM is just way too expensive here on PEI . As far as primer...hard to beat the PPG 6-2 for 65.00 a bucket . We used to use a lot of SICO Eggshell Evolution for walls but it simply KILLS brushes , almost impossible to clean them out . Covers perfect but instant death for a brush !!! Anybody else have that problem ? I'm in Canada .


----------



## cocomonkeynuts

playedout6 said:


> I like the ProMar 400 CW . Cheap too...under 20 a gallon . Not crazy on the Superpaint Satin that they sold one HO we are currently doing for her trim work . They sold her Superpaint Matte for the walls...it covers OK...so I'm happy with that . BM is just way too expensive here on PEI . As far as primer...hard to beat the PPG 6-2 for 65.00 a bucket . We used to use a lot of SICO Eggshell Evolution for walls but it simply KILLS brushes , almost impossible to clean them out . Covers perfect but instant death for a brush !!! Anybody else have that problem ? I'm in Canada .


Have your BM store bring in some Super Hide or Coronado products. SK1000 primer is pretty good for $60/bucket. SK3000 you can get for about $20/gallon


----------



## woodcoyote

ProMar 200 HP > Super Paint. In my opinion. 

Good stuff. Give it a shot.


----------



## woodcoyote

PACman said:


> proprietary stuff. Sorry, can't tell.


Sounds like fake news.


----------



## PACman

woodcoyote said:


> Sounds like fake news.


Superpaint uses a different tint percentage than promar 200 does. Don't know how else to explain it. And it's been that way for 35 years so it isn't really "news" anyway.


----------



## cocomonkeynuts

Ok so I havn't used many sherwin product before.
Today I made some test boards for the scuff-x half with promar-200 zero eggshell. Took 3 coats with a 3/8" mini, applies very tacky and still looks like crap. Can't believe people think this is good paint. Complete Junk!


----------



## PACman

cocomonkeynuts said:


> Ok so I havn't used many sherwin product before.
> Today I made some test boards for the scuff-x half with promar-200 zero eggshell. Took 3 coats with a 3/8" mini, applies very tacky and still looks like crap. Can't believe people think this is good paint. Complete Junk!


yup. Doesn't cover for crap in a side by side test with just about anything in it's lowest price range. I've got stuff i can sell for $12 that out covers it like crazy.
BUT, paint quality isn't the reason painters will buy a particular paint! We already established that here on PT a couple of years ago. Convenience is the number 1 determining factor for which paint most painters will use. Not quality.


----------



## woodcoyote

PACman said:


> Superpaint uses a different tint percentage than promar 200 does. Don't know how else to explain it. And it's been that way for 35 years so it isn't really "news" anyway.


So your saying that Super Paint can take a higher amount of total tint therefore it "hides" better? Than say a ProMar 200? 

I've been under the assumption that hide is actually due mostly in part to the amount of titanium inside the product and a few other chemical factors versus how much tint it could hold.


----------



## PACman

woodcoyote said:


> So your saying that Super Paint can take a higher amount of total tint therefore it "hides" better? Than say a ProMar 200?
> 
> I've been under the assumption that hide is actually due mostly in part to the amount of titanium inside the product and a few other chemical factors versus how much tint it could hold.


No. It takes a different percentage of colorants to make a given color. It DOES have a higher concentration of titanium than promar 200, but given that it was engineered that way almost 35 years ago that doesn't mean it is a comparable product to other TiO2 levels on the market today. Just that it has more than PM200. Which isn't actually saying much in today's paint market.


----------



## avladmin

*SuperPaint vs ProMar: redeux*

Read through all of these responses and not certain I come away with a definitive answer for the original question: Why ProMar over SuperPaint? ... and contradicts what I've been told.
Contractor used ProMar 200; SW rep spec'd SuperPaint. When I asked at the local SW store, the counter-person said they are the same: ProMar sold to contractor, SuperPaint sold to DIY.
Many of these responses indicate that they are not 'the same'.
Use: (a-c'd) hallways [over painted drywall and concrete] and (non-climate controlled) egress-stairs [over painted concrete] of condominium towers.
Concern: did the contractor (who did not follow the provided spec for SuperPaint) put us in a better or worse position for life-cycle quality of the painted surfaces?


----------



## PACman

avladmin said:


> Read through all of these responses and not certain I come away with a definitive answer for the original question: Why ProMar over SuperPaint? ... and contradicts what I've been told.
> Contractor used ProMar 200; SW rep spec'd SuperPaint. When I asked at the local SW store, the counter-person said they are the same: ProMar sold to contractor, SuperPaint sold to DIY.
> Many of these responses indicate that they are not 'the same'.
> Use: (a-c'd) hallways [over painted drywall and concrete] and (non-climate controlled) egress-stairs [over painted concrete] of condominium towers.
> Concern: did the contractor (who did not follow the provided spec for SuperPaint) put us in a better or worse position for life-cycle quality of the painted surfaces?


It's so the painter can make a huge mark-up on the Promar 200 silly! It's a scam SW and a lot of their painters have been running for over 40 years!

And the life cycle of Promar 200 is WAY less than Superpaint. For what it's worth Superpaint has a lifetime warranty. Promar has no warranty whatsoever.


----------



## PaPainter724

I'm not going to call it gospel by any means but I've had no less than 4 different SW reps tell me that the main difference between ProMar and Super Paint is added Talc to thicken up the SP and give it better wet hide/body. I've used a lot of ProMar 200 over the years and it's not my favorite, but you'll find that most commercial jobs spec it or Harmony and never Super Paint. I can't say I've been impressed by Super paint though either. 

I typically stick with BM ultraspec on my commercial jobs and BM or PPGs higher end lines for houses. I also dabble with California Paints. Their Ultra line is the best trim paint in the market IMO.


----------



## cocomonkeynuts

PACman said:


> It's so the painter can make a huge mark-up on the Promar 200 silly! It's a scam SW and a lot of their painters have been running for over 40 years!
> 
> And the *life cycle of Promar 200* is WAY less than Superpaint. For what it's worth Superpaint has a lifetime warranty. Promar has no warranty whatsoever.


I wonder if SW ever thought about a subscription based service for promar200. Fresh paint every two weeks!
:devil2:


----------



## Gwarel

Rbriggs82 said:


> Have your store order a couple gallons of SuperPaint velvet to try. I think both the SuperPaint satin and Cashmere low luster are too shiny, the velvet is perfect.


I took your advice. The store manager had gallon and I put it in a bathroom in my house last week. I like the sheen and it was easy to work with. It's always good for me to have a new product in my home to see how it holds up.


----------



## PACman

PaPainter724 said:


> I'm not going to call it gospel by any means but I've had no less than 4 different SW reps tell me that the main difference between ProMar and Super Paint is added Talc to thicken up the SP and give it better wet hide/body. I've used a lot of ProMar 200 over the years and it's not my favorite, but you'll find that most commercial jobs spec it or Harmony and never Super Paint. I can't say I've been impressed by Super paint though either.
> 
> I typically stick with BM ultraspec on my commercial jobs and BM or PPGs higher end lines for houses. I also dabble with California Paints. Their Ultra line is the best trim paint in the market IMO.


That is partially correct. They are forgetting, (or perhaps they are not aware.) that one of the things added to Superpaint is a rheology modifier that causes it to drag more than Promar 200. That's how they get DIY painters to put it on thick enough that they could put a warranty on the can (originally it was 10 years, then 15, 25, and now lifetime.)


----------



## mDUB562

Promar 200 is Sherwin Williams contractor grade Residential paint. SuperPaint is in their DIY lineup. I've heard a lot of mixed opinions some like one better then the other but the products have also changed a lot in recent history. Something I love about SuperPaint is it's ability to go directly to new drywall or plaster that has been prepped properly.

My opinion is that the SuperPaint is easier to work with but since professionals learn to work the product they tend to prefer the Promar 200. I think Cashmere is a big leap and if you're into an amazing finish you'll appreciate the upgrade.


----------



## New England painter

Sw in my opinion is not good paint. I prefer behr or valspar over sw. I think bm is at the top. I don't use sw.


----------



## Toolseeker

As posted before I have recently changed from SW to BM. Not crazy about the ultra spec line but everything else so far has been great. Really like the Regal line.
When I used SW it was always PM for flips, and rentals, SP for residentials.


----------



## lilpaintchic

New England painter said:


> Sw in my opinion is not good paint. I prefer behr or valspar over sw. I think bm is at the top. I don't use sw.


Valspar IS sw....

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


----------



## New England painter

Well yes Sherwin Williams just bought out valspar, but the actual paint has not changed. Same goes for when sw bought out purdy, brushes haven't changed.


----------



## cocomonkeynuts

New England painter said:


> Well yes Sherwin Williams just bought out valspar, but the actual paint has not changed. Same goes for when sw bought out purdy, *brushes haven't changed.*


I believe there is some debate about that...


----------

