Is Valspar paint really a trade brand?? It is made by Sherwin Williams, who are the main trade paint manufacturer over in America. The Valspar V700 range of paints aren’t exactly cheap, but they are popular amongst homeowners. That said, we do get conflicting reviews, so we thought we’d ask professional decorators from The Decorators Forum UK what they think about it.
This is what they came back with….
Valspar V700 emulsion is fantastic paint! You need to use an undercoat colour for deep bases, but that’s the only drawback. V700 is easy to apply, doesn’t flash, and leaves a nice finish. It’s also durable, which is another bonus. The Trade Tough Matt is a step-up again, but the V700 is also awesome.
Valspar V700 is high-end retail, so similar to Farrow and Ball, but better. I like it.
I love it. I had a problem with V700 in a deep purple once, but then someone told me to paint the wall grey first, which solved it. Nice to use and leaves a good finish. It’s better than a lot of the trade durable matt emulsion paint products, so I’ll carry on using it.
Stay away from the strong colours, but Valspar V700 is great in the lighter bases. Covers well and dries durable.
Valspar paint, is there a reason people hate it? Other than the fact B&Q sell it? I’ve used it on loads of jobs recently and had no problems. Last week’s customers had the trim in the eggshell, and I thought for a water-based eggshell it was great.
Is there a better durable emulsion than Valspar v700? Excellent coverage, no need to spot prime filler and touches up without flashing. The only downside is the price
I am impressed with Valspar to be fair, it’s better than some other brands of paint I have used. The Valspar Trade range is superb and they will match any colour in B&Q. I often ask my customers to have Farrow and Ball colours mixed into Valspar v700 because I know the quality will be there.
The photo below shows the first coat of Valspar v500 (cheaper than the v700 which is the premium stuff), not bad for p*ssy paint. I honestly don’t understand why some of you guys think it’s rubbish.
This is one coat of Valspar trade matt. I know the trade is slightly better quality than V700, but just look at how good the opacity is! The finish is even better! As a professional decorator, I have no issues with Valspar V700 at all. I think it’s good paint. Better than Dulux anyway.
This is first coat of Valspar v700 artic fox over medium grey. I just can’t fault the stuff. No smell either.
My customer got Valspar V700 to cover over red. I thought, “hear we go this will take few coats” but covered well with 1st coat. Think I could be converted if it’s all this good.
***Calling all Valspar haters ***
One coat of Valspar in furrow LG equivalent over white. Great coverage and levels of brilliants. Rubbish paint they say 😉
Mini Valspar v700 Emulsion Reviews
As a whole, Valspar V700 is good gear. It is a completely flat durable matt. There are no issues with flashing or picture framing, and it touches up easily. Opacity is good in most colours and it just flies on. It really is a high end product in my opinion.
The only time you’ll ever struggle is when you’re using it in a deep red or a blue, then it just doesn’t want to cover. I’d go for this over Farrow and Ball any day
Valspar V700 is good until you get a strong colour like a red or a blue, then it’s useless! I can’t believe the gulf in quality between strong and pale colours. There is just no opacity in it and the finish is horrible!
Valspar V700 is good paint. It is a flat, durable matt used on interior walls and ceilings. A lot of decorators don’t seem to like it, probably because it’s sold in B&Q and bought by retail customers. Plus, we already get trade quality products at discounted prices. The idea of going to B&Q and buying our paint at full price does nothing for us.
That said, I love using Valspar, particularly their trade range.
Apparently, Valspar have the best colour matching service in the world, which is easy to believe to be fair. Take them any colour and they can scan it there and then.
Another point is they have experts in B&Q you can talk to about anything. The will advise you about which paint you need for a job and how to apply it. This isn’t really a service a decorator would need, but it’s great for a homeowner.
Mini Valspar v700 Emulsion Reviews
The v700 is great, touches up without flashing, huge color range, durable and self priming so no spot priming required, 1st coat might flash slightly but 2nd will sort it, never had a problem with it.
The v500 is a decent durable matt, price is competitive and the colour matches are some of the best I’ve encountered. Do a great match of most dulux and F&B.
Time served painter and decorator (14yrs) tried every brand out there some are better than others regardless of price. Thought I’d give valspar a try as iv heard good reviews from friends, I bought 10ltrs of v700 Matt emulsion (trade was out of stock) to repaint my living room, 2 coats covered easily over the old metallic gold walls, no flashing when touching up, dried in good time, very easy to use and no issues apart from the fact it’s not a Matt finish, it’s more of a soft sheen which I’m not too bothered about tbh. Fast forward 3 weeks and I’m currently doing the kitchen/stairs/landing, this time around they had the trade back in stock so I bought 10ltrs trade Matt emulsion in a medium/dark red which is going over magnolia (Matt), beige (Matt) and a few freshly lined walls, I’m 4 coats (rolled) in now and I can still see through the paint, even where it’s been cut in its not covered after 3 coats, I’m now working through my second bucket (£80 each) and im almost certain im going to need another, so that will take my bill upto £240-30ltrs for 1 ceiling, a small landing/stairway down to the dado rail and a kitchen diner down to the dado rail. Which is pretty shocking tbh, add that to questions of when is my last coat going to be the actual last coat and even when it’s finish will it blend in when touched up? . . .v700 is great providing you know it’s not a proper Matt finish, the trade however is pretty shocking, too much time, too much money and a total loss of confidence in the product
Seeking Advice.
I’m a plasterer, with almost 40 years experience. I’ve recently been involved in refurbishing a house with a full extension. Part of the schedule involved re- skimmimg but the core of work was dabbing ,board and skim. The,customer has applied two coats of Leyland contract matt as a mist/base coat which has been allowed adequate drying time and is of the standard you would expect. However, Valspar Trade matt/primer emulsion has been applied as a third coat and has resulted in blisters forming intially followed by crazing/cracking and eventually becoming very flakey. Finally, not only has the final coat of valspar failed but it has also removed the 2 previous coats of Leyland emulsion to expose the newly applied plaster on quite a big scale. Would appreciate your views please and possible solutions other than having to consider re- skimming. Many thanks, Tony.
I’ve been using the masonry paint and I think it’s covered as well as some premium brands. Shame they don’t mix a 10L
I used valspar once and will never use it again. It stank like rotten fish and took 4 coats to do what a decent paint would have done in 2.
we do now, i work at b&q and its a lot cheaper too than buying 2x 5l’s £36 for a 5l pot £45 for 10l
V700 used before and it was great recently bought semi-sheen and diary from having to apply 6 coats this paint is washed off when a soft damp cloth is used to remove finger prints. Not happy.
I’m using V500 to cut in under coving and around light fittings and it’s terrible. Skins over in seconds (literally) on both wall and brush, and the brush drags off what I’ve just done. Roller work is OK (only OK) but brush work – forget it!
Did you prep at all? and what where you painting over?
I’d say 99% of valspar complaints are because people are lazy.
I’ve use v500 and brush painted a whole room and found it great, it covered years worth of nicotine, cut in really well and wasn’t any hassle at all.
Where you painting mat over silk by any chance?
Awful paint, drags and very poor cover, my husband said soul destroying, worst paint he has ever used. Patchy and such a waste of money.
Totally agree very disappointing and what a mess my wall is in now. Never using v7000 again. Not sure how lm going to fix the patchy rough mess.grr.
i tried the v500 same thing skins over in seconds (over old clean matt valspar ) the finnish is rough not good at all ,thinned with water and added floetrol not much improvement i would never buy again iv been painting 20 years i could not get this to a good finnish
Trying to use V500 on walls and shave given up after 2 coats and am off to buy another make. It drags off what you’ve just done when using roller and doesn’t cover with brush.
Good to hear that Trev. Is it only in trade matt, or is it in the v700 range also?
coated walls with valspar white matt emultion when applying dulux ease care on top of valspar paint it went sticky and pulled not good
I love valspar I have tried most of the other paints out there, and very happy with Valspar I would always recommend the V700 cover is great and go’s on great yes it’s a bit more expensive to some out there, but for me well worth it and the colour range is great to
Had an interesting experience yesterday. Had to paint my daughters kitchen ceiling and walls. Ceiling was with Leyland trade and walls with Valspar Trade. Valspar horribly thin. This has two problems, first you cannot load up your brush and if you get too close to a corner the paint wicks into it so you lose control of the paint edge. As a test I took a clean 1″ brush and plunged it 1″ in into both paints and then waited until the drips stopped. The Leyland did not drip at all and Valspar took 10 seconds. The Valspar was purchased 2 weeks ago and mixed at the shop. I stirred it thoroughly right down to the bottom, this caused a few bubbles which transferred themselves to the wall. I will have to take it back and aim to buy something which is not an “shop brand”.
Bought V700 matt emulsion for whole of downstairs (different colours). Goes on easily and covered new plaster without any problems at all it even seemed to fill in imperfections without the need to fill and sand. The base coat seemed to bond really well with the surface and needed only a light final coat. The finished walls are covered in a dense matt finish with the colour even and everything looking pristine.
Choosing colours was easy as the chips on display at B&Q were co-ordinated with the shades that work together on the same row. It was easy then to get a contrast by holding the chips against the contrasting colour. Mixing the paint took only a few minutes and when opened there were no issues with the paint being mixed right through evenly. It couldn’t have been easier from start to finish.
I can wholeheartedly recommend the V700 version of this paint. My brother in law was equally impressed and he has been decorating since Moses was a lad and it was definitely worth the money.
Its rubbish v500 emulsion dries too quickly and makes a mess of wall. Tried roller and brush. Now have to sand again and repaint with decent paint like dulux.
How can people have such different reviews, I am trying the bathroom and kitchen version now and it’s awful after putting the first patch up and then reloading the roller 2 steps from where I’m using it the paint has already started to dry and when you roller over the edge of the first part the roller pulls the paint straight back off
Is the kitchen version a retail or a trade line?
I would assume they’ve got quality control issues. I used to love Valspar but recently it’s been hit or miss as to whether it goes on easily or is a nightmare. It’s often been incredibly thin when I’ve bought it in the last couple of years. Prior to that the texture was very different
Bought the colour match V500, followed the manufacturers advice to the letter in terms of prep and dry time between coats. Finished applying the 2nd coat of the colour at the end of the day after allowing 3-4 hours between 1st and 2nd coat (manufactures guidance is 2-4) and went to bed feeling a sense of achievement.
Woke up the next day to check the room and found my wife standing in the middle of the room in tears as all paint had cracked like alligator skin and also flaking and peeling in places. Not happy, but luckily Valspar have a Guarantee for peeling, cracking and flaking.
So I reached out to Valspar, but they said I had to contact B&Q, contacted B&Q and they wanted all sorts of ridiculous information, which they then said was either an issue with damp (walls are fine no damp issues at all) or didn’t allow enough time between coats (even though I followed manufacturers advice) and offered a gift voucher to cover cost of more paint!!!!!!!! Not happy as going to cost me a fortune to get skimmed and then prepped…. insisted they raise with Valspar and asked a rep to visit.
Lip service from Valspar who agreed that not a damp issue and prep was perfect but simply assumed that I applied the paint too thick and/or didn’t allow enough time for 1st coat to dry, regardless that I’ve used the same materials and approach to 2 other rooms and almost perfect results and had also gone over my prep with a builder friend of mine who’d never seen the result in over 30 years.
So offer is still gift voucher and not interested in standing behind their guarantee. I’ll never touch this paint again and the customer service is really poor as they simple don’t care about the customer.
BOOOOOOO Valspar!!!!!!!!
have used valspar a lot in my line of work and no problems. if you used the same approach to the other two rooms and achieved near perfect results, then obviously the problem is with your third room and not the paint.
AS TO b & q, they will do ANYTHING in my experience to refuse to accept liability!
I have used this paint – it is not fit for purpose in my case. V700 paint in a teal blue colour. The issue with Valspar V700 is that it is primarily an acrylic and latex binder, that’s why it smells of cats urine, and also why it marks and peels so easily. I think the product development team at Valspar completely forget the fundamental purpose of an interior pigment wash – it is meant to allow the walls to breathe as well as be decorative. The obsession of hard gypsum renders has basically driven the paint industry to make this type of plastic paint – it is now an extension of the exterior ranges with an acrylic base – certainly cheaper for Valspar to extend the utility of their R&D team project costs, but I would not buy it for interior applications again. F&B I have never had an issue with. Pays your money, takes your pick.
First of all I must say I am not a professional painter but at 73 I have done a lot of rooms in my time ! I am currently redecorating all of our bedrooms. 2 of them have been done in Dulux “off the shelf” matt pastel colours over either clean magnolia or a new very light non vinyl Anaglypta pattern paper . Excellent cutting in and coverage over the inevitable white ceiling paint used on the new coving I put up both by hand brushing and roller. All done in one coat ! The third bedroom we ended up resorting to Valspar custom colour mixed paints. First of all we got a tin of the V700 in a colour which domestic management did not like (too dark). It also was not perfect at coverage and brushing / cutting in was not easy. We then got a sample of the wallpaper we used on one wall scanned and colour matched to the lighter base colour and mixed again at B&Q . Unfortunately I accidentally chose V500 instead of V700 and this is even worse than the V700. Coverage is awful, It would be better use as a glue as brushing / cutting in edges is difficult as it goes sticky quickly and pulls. Cutting in in my opinion should be done in one coat as otherwise there is potentially a lot of touching in afterwards due to the inevitable errors. It is also B tedious ! Next thing to do. Abandon Valspar as it is c**p and I have now found a Dulux decorator centre that could potentially mix a much better quality paint for me.
Final comment. Whatever happened to Valspar ? They used to make really top quality paints, especially their gloss paints. Now I think it is just a brand name sold off.
Absolutely agree with comments here
, used many times. Its expensive and awful paint! Yes we know it’s the process you rolled it but I’m a professional. It also fades about a year down the line..
Day light robbery…
Most Valspar paint is ok, but you must remember that some colours do need a base coat, so always ask the supplier beforehand,
I’ve been using this product on a handful of jobs and honestly can’t fault it yet.
Been using Valspar emulsion for years and it never fades with the washable ones marks easily come off. and they cover minor plaster cracks. Just started to use Valspar Satin Wood and its very smòoth but like any paint just keep strirring throughout your task thats the key to a good finish 😎