# What's your go to white.



## philcav7 (Sep 12, 2013)

I am doing two rental units this coming week and am torn on color. I never thought picking a shade of white could've difficult, but I can manage to over complicate everything. 

I will be doing walls and ceiling one color to minimize time cutting the ceiling lines. Pro mar 400 low sheen on the ceiling and pro mar 200 eg shel on the walls. Most of the trim is stained, but will have a couple of rooms with painted trim. How does the low sheen look on a ceiling, compared to flat? Being an apartment, being washable is a plus...not that I find low sheen very cleanable though. 

What would be your go to SW white for a job like this? I go cross eyed looking at those darn chips. 

Thanks for your suggestions. I've never did the walls and ceiling the same color before and it's screwing me up.


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## PatsPainting (Mar 4, 2010)

Swiss Coffee seems to be everybody's favorite. Have no idea if SW has that color but just about all the other brands have it.

Pat


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## Hines Painting (Jun 22, 2013)

I've been doing a lot of REO houses over the last year and they go all 1 color/sheen on everything. Stain grade trim will usually stay stain grade. But I've been using a color called Frost by Kelly Moore. It's more of an off white, but it covers awesome.


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## Hines Painting (Jun 22, 2013)

Forgot to mention I'm using an Eggshell finish.


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## philcav7 (Sep 12, 2013)

Hines Painting said:


> Forgot to mention I'm using an Eggshell finish.


You're doing the ceilings egshell as well? I hate the look of any sheen on a ceiling, but keep reminding myself that it's an apartment and the owner is over 2000 miles away and will probably never see it. All he cares about is getting it cleaned up and collecting rent money.


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

BM Dove White.............if it aint white it aint right


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## wje (Apr 11, 2009)

If it is an apartment, whatever is closest to the existing white.. in my experience this is usually a severely smoke tinged yellowish white..


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## Clearlycut (Dec 1, 2013)

Swiss coffee is the worst color to cut n roll. never covers well even after primer.spraying is fine though....kellymoore has nice pre packed whites.Ben Moore Decorators white is good


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

Finneran Haley, a local company around here that was taken over by BM used to offer a Princeton White flat that would cover bare rock in 1 coat .....good enought for NC


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## Hines Painting (Jun 22, 2013)

philcav7 said:


> You're doing the ceilings egshell as well? I hate the look of any sheen on a ceiling, but keep reminding myself that it's an apartment and the owner is over 2000 miles away and will probably never see it. All he cares about is getting it cleaned up and collecting rent money.


I don't like flat on ceilings unless the drywall work is bad and you need to hide it. In general, I hate flat paint.

Ceilings, trim, doors, everything. I'll usually do cabinets in semi-gloss if they're nice and in good shape. But if they've already been screwed up by someone I'll just do them eggshell.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

If you're using SW then Dover White and the one next to that in the same strip are popular. 
In BM Linen White is a long time winner when going monochromatic.


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## BhamPainter (Mar 6, 2013)

Ben Moore White Dove


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

A bunch of apartments we painted the owners said they wanted an off White and went with Manchester Tan :blink:
My house is Linen White walls and trim flat white ceilings.


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

Hines Painting said:


> I don't like flat on ceilings unless the drywall work is bad and you need to hide it. In general, I hate flat paint.
> 
> Ceilings, trim, doors, everything. I'll usually do cabinets in semi-gloss if they're nice and in good shape. But if they've already been screwed up by someone I'll just do them eggshell.


Pretty much every one we run into want a flat ceiling, not so much a straight ceiling white but a duller flat white


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## Bender (Aug 10, 2008)

Does anybody else use L-4?


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## kdpaint (Aug 14, 2010)

Aw man, around here, every rental place, and I mean 1000s of units, are all BM Navajo White. We just call it "Landlord White" and every paint store knows what we mean.


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## Northwest_painter (Jan 27, 2012)

PatsPainting said:


> Swiss Coffee seems to be everybody's favorite. Have no idea if SW has that color but just about all the other brands have it.
> 
> Pat


Just about every paint maker has a swiss coffee, and if you get to the store early enough you can get a fresh cup of coffee too!


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

Bender said:


> Does anybody else use L-4?


Before Columbia Paints disappeared into the maw of SW, we used a lot of L-6 from them for our go-to white for apartments, etc.


For the non-discerning landlord, we keep 5s of "Apartment Mix" on hand. All of the dribs and drabs of whites. off-whites, and the occasional pastel, mixed together. Just don't ask us to touch up a month later:whistling2:


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

Northwest_painter said:


> Just about every paint maker has a swiss coffee, and if you get to the store early enough you can get a fresh cup of coffee too!


In the late '70s, Swiss Coffee was sometimes labeled "White Texture C" since it was a match for acoustic (Ceiling) texture, AKA "cottage cheese". The idea was to eliminate having to paint the ceilings. As long as it was a flat paint, it meant no masking and no spray shields. Any overspray on the ceiling blended right in. 

It did cover up the sparkles, though.


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## philcav7 (Sep 12, 2013)

Damon T said:


> If you're using SW then Dover White and the one next to that in the same strip are popular.
> In BM Linen White is a long time winner when going monochromatic.


Yeah, SW only. BM near me wants $30/gal for super spec. I get much better pricing through SW

Dover and creamy(the one on that chip) were two considerations but was thinking it may look to beige on the ceiling. 

Snowbound was another thought, it's lighter a little more gray compared to the others which are more yellow. 

Maybe I will grab a 5 and just do a few rooms to see.


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## epretot (Dec 17, 2011)

philcav7 said:


> Yeah, SW only. BM near me wants $30/gal for super spec. I get much better pricing through SW
> 
> Dover and creamy(the one on that chip) were two considerations but was thinking it may look to beige on the ceiling.
> 
> ...


I like snowbound. All of my person ceilings are snowbound. Basically looks white...but covers better.


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## capepainter (Mar 9, 2012)

Usually for trim I go with off the shelf extra white or pure white


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## harmonicarocks (Nov 29, 2013)

philcav7 said:


> Yeah, SW only. BM near me wants $30/gal for super spec. I get much better pricing through SW
> 
> Dover and creamy(the one on that chip) were two considerations but was thinking it may look to beige on the ceiling.
> 
> ...


Duron is hard to get these days but their Shell White can be matched by Sherwin Williams. We use this color on a lot of rentals in our area.


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

BM factory mixed white.Here in Miami everybody loves extra crisp white


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

Linen, Dove, and Navajo are the most popular whites I see. In that order


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## STAR (Nov 26, 2010)

What about a regular pail of white and just add 5 shots of black to it?


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## philcav7 (Sep 12, 2013)

I went with alabaster. I grabbed 5g of flat for the ceilings, and eg-shel for the walls to get started. I may switch to Dover in some of the other rooms, as I progress. I still have to finish fixing the bad joints from the electricians cutting out the bottoms of the walls and the wonderful newspaper filled joint compound cluster that was the handy work of the previous tenant... Right in the middle of a swirl finish wall, of course. 

To give you an idea of the shear talent of the tenant, I will share this gem with you. This is their door repair, I'm thinking a heavy coat of oil based primer should cover this well. I will use a heavy nap to get a bit of texture to hide it.


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## kdpaint (Aug 14, 2010)

Yikes, I'm thinking fire could cover that door well. That's what deposits are for. Property manager should kick down $25 and get a used door.:jester:


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## Joeb3rg (Feb 13, 2013)

Ultra spec super white. Covers decent and it's cheap . White on white one nice coat does the trick.


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## capepainter (Mar 9, 2012)

Looks like that door should b replaced


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## philcav7 (Sep 12, 2013)

kdpaint said:


> Yikes, I'm thinking fire could cover that door well. That's what deposits are for. Property manager should kick down $25 and get a used door.:jester:


Yeah. There are 3 doors to replace in that unit. 

The deposit went to the back rent and court cost to evict them. Repairs are coming out of his pocket, I'm sure.


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## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

*Whites*

I just use the standard company "white" from any good name brand. My preference here is Para Paints. Most of the big guys have a premixed white, though the last time I used BM it seemed bluer than most. I was knocking off a unit a day in a condo tower here in Toronto. I never messed with color chips for that. If you stick with the same brand, the premix will be a standard, reliable white. GET GOOD QUALITY!


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

Bm cloud white


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## PSGott (Feb 16, 2009)

BM-linen white in Walls
BM-1/2 linen white;1/2 flat white on ceilings
BM-white dove on trim


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## ReNt A PaInTeR (Dec 28, 2008)

PSGott said:


> BM-linen white in Walls
> BM-1/2 linen white;1/2 flat white on ceilings
> BM-white dove on trim


Lol. Nice intro!


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## funcolors (Nov 27, 2011)

SW's Creamy is one of my core, go-to colors for ceilings. Actually spec'd it for ceilings in my own house. To date, I've never seen it look beige. It's a warm white and it coordinates easily with many other colors. Including grays which are trending right now. On walls and ceiling, it will be a nice look.


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## ReNt A PaInTeR (Dec 28, 2008)

funcolors said:


> SW's Creamy is one of my core, go-to colors for ceilings. Actually spec'd it for ceilings in my own house. To date, I've never seen it look beige. It's a warm white and it coordinates easily with many other colors. Including grays which are trending right now. On walls and ceiling, it will be a nice look.


Do you have a number from SW? I'm looking for a white that goes well with AF 290 from Benjamin Moore. Have any ideas?


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## scott2000 (Oct 9, 2012)

funcolors said:


> SW's Creamy is one of my core, go-to colors for ceilings. Actually spec'd it for ceilings in my own house. To date, I've never seen it look beige. It's a warm white and it coordinates easily with many other colors. Including grays which are trending right now. On walls and ceiling, it will be a nice look.



+1 on the creamy.....I was going to say cream......But I believe it is creamy......seems to be extremely common and I even use it with success in matching other repaints........


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## painter1986 (Mar 19, 2012)

I like Extra White. Because if I buy too much I can return it, and there's no mis-tint issues. Which is why if the client says "I don't care, just paint it white" we always use Extra White.

But if I'm doing everything same color same sheen, I like an off-white. Sherwin Williams makes "White Duck" which is nice cause it's not too white.


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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

philcav7 said:


> I went with alabaster. I grabbed 5g of flat for the ceilings, and eg-shel for the walls to get started. I may switch to Dover in some of the other rooms, as I progress. I still have to finish fixing the bad joints from the electricians cutting out the bottoms of the walls and the wonderful newspaper filled joint compound cluster that was the handy work of the previous tenant... Right in the middle of a swirl finish wall, of course.
> 
> To give you an idea of the shear talent of the tenant, I will share this gem with you. This is their door repair, I'm thinking a heavy coat of oil based primer should cover this well. I will use a heavy nap to get a bit of texture to hide it.


Must have used the funny papers.


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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

Northwest_painter said:


> Just about every paint maker has a swiss coffee, and if you get to the store early enough you can get a fresh cup of coffee too!


So swiss and swift.:whistling2:


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## Zoomer (Dec 17, 2011)

BM OC-117 Simply White.


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## TJ Paint (Jun 18, 2009)

I like natura white.


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## benthepainter (Jun 17, 2011)

Mine would have to be White


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## Michael H (Jan 24, 2012)

Flat straight white always looks best on ceilings IMO. Plus who washes ceilings? I think apartment walls should be eggshell but the sheen will vary from one company to another. I have an apartment owner that uses SW 200 Satin which is "almost flat" and is somewhat confusing as most other company satin paints (including other SW products) are in between eggshell and semi-gloss which again IMO is a bit shiny for walls. As far as color... most apartments I have done ended up using SW Dover White 200 eggshell.


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## scott painting (Jul 5, 2008)

*Best Paint for coverage*

All of the apartment house complexes use china white. Benjamin Moore makes a china white. Sherwin Williams can make the Benjamin Moore china white on request. Because of the pigmentation in the china white, it covers rentals in one coat. Colors like linen white many times takes a second coat. In rental complexes, they use the same finish on walls, ceiling, and trim. You can paint a room in one hour if all the same color. A different finish on the wall and ceiling takes more time and working with two different paints.
Hope this was helpful.
Scott


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## CBPainting (Apr 13, 2011)

Snowbound is the best white period! Awesome on ceiling. I would go flat 400 on ceiling and 200 eggshell on walls. You will love it.


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## esdpainting (Feb 2, 2014)

Bender said:


> Does anybody else use L-4?


All the time. 
We call it Old Whisper or Rental White.


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