I just wanted to share our recent experience. We built our home about 4 years ago, so we know what is on our walls because we are the only ones who have painted them! We have always bought all of our paint from Lowes and used the One and Only Brand and the highest quality of that. NEVER have had a problem with anything and it always worked out great. Dd decided she wanted to do her bathroom, so we picked out the decorations and headed to Lowes for paint. They no longer make the one and only brand and have what I think is called American Traditions instead. Fine, we go with that in the good quality latex paint. When we get home and start painting, right away we notice that it is thicker. Well, that isn't a bad thing, maybe it will cover in one coat! Get the painting done and the next morning go into the room and it is bubbling off!! It is a mess and the only thing we can do is start to peel it off. Next problem, some areas it is sticking and others it is not, so while we are peeling we will all of a sudden get to a part that is sticking and yep, you guessed it, dry wall starts peeling off!! So we stop what we are doing and head back to Lowes to fill them in. First he tries to say that there must be a oil based paint on the wall. Well, we know for a fact that there isn't because we are the ones who have done all of the painting in our house! We have never bought an oil based paint in our lives! So I then ask him.. because he is insistant that there MUST be, I said, well, if there were an oil based paint on the wall, why is some of it sticking and some not?? Wouldn't it ALL be peeling off of it?? He stammers around and doesn't really give an answer... so we get around to what do we need to do to solve this problem? He agrees that it needs to come off and then start all over with a primer and then paint again. We ask what to do about the areas that are sticking and he says to get a sander and lightly sand that part off.... I will try to shorten this by saying that we now have a HUGE mess in that bathroom and think it is going to need to be completely re-dry walled!! We have a dry wall contractor coming over tonight to look at it. We attempted to do the peeling/sanding and big chunks of dry wall paper is peeling off. There is no way that we would be able to putty that to make it look right....

I talked to a friend who recently moved and has done some painting and stuff and guess what....she has a different paint story that she is telling me... after she finsihes, I asked her where she got the paint and low and behold it is Lowes and she talked about always getting the one and only paint and how they didn't carry it and blah blah blah... she isn't having the peeling that we are, but her own problems none the less. So I then shared our story with her!

I am not going to say that I don't think anyone should buy paint from Lowes ever again (although we won't be) BUT, if you notice anything about the paint..looks a little thick, or a little thin or isn't going on just right....STOP and take it back.

We are going to see what this contractor has to say tonight and if it needs to be replaced, we will be taking the estimate to Lowes and see what they have to say about it. The paint is not right. When you peel it off, it stretches like a rubber band!! I don't think we should be out a couple thousand dollars I am sure because they make a crappy paint.

So anyway, to sum it up...be careful if you get paint there!!

By Palmbchprincess on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 09:40 am:

I'm sorry you are having all that trouble. I'm not a Lowes fan anyway, their employees don't seem very competent to me. We had taken a mini blind to them and said we needed one cut to replace it. They cut it, swore it would fit, and it was an inch too long. This was during our recent move and we didn't have the time to go back and get it resized. I hope you get it all straightened out, and they help you.

By Emily7 on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 10:04 am:

We don't even have a Lowes here.
I hope things get worked out for you.

By Boxzgrl on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 10:28 am:

Well since I cant paint in military housing I wont have to worry about it but I will definitely remember this for the future. The only experience I have with Lowes is that DH bought an outside firepit from them and when we got home the ceramic was cracked and the stand was missing. They replaced everything but it wasnt the greatest experience. Sorry you have such a mess to deal with.

By Kay on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 10:35 am:

I think you should write to the company with the list of extra expenses and time incurred due to their paint. I would word it politely, yet strongly, and CC it to the Better Business Bureau. If they see that a copy is going to the BBB, the home office might be inclined to 'make it right' with you, in the name of keeping a customer happy, and avoiding negative talk about their company.

Try it - I did that with Subway once, and received a very nice letter and coupons.

By Eve on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 10:40 am:

Wow! I am so surprised! I've never heard of paint doing that. I'm sorry you are having to deal with it. If you are looking for another good paint, we always use Behr and it's wonderful. Consumer Reports rates it well too. Good luck.

By Vicki on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 10:41 am:

Oh trust me Kay...we are not done with them. LOL I am just waiting to do anything until the guy comes tonight to see just what we have in store for us. I still have the receipt from the paint, the sander and the primer that we haven't even used yet.... they haven't heard the last from me!!

By Mrse on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 10:41 am:

Oh, my goodness re drywall the whole bathroom? Can you get some paint stripper and strip it off? Take a chip of the old paint and get lowes to analize it, to see what type the paint is. Even though you already know what it is, this way when you bring your paint that you bought in, you can show that it is defective. The drywaller should be able to float all the walls, once you get all the old paint scraped, and sanded a bit. It is a pile of work, but should be less costly than getting the whole bathroom re-done. It is such a disappointment when projects turn out like that, I feel so sorry for you

By Kay on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 10:51 am:

Go, Vicki!!!

They'll think twice before getting a mom riled up!

By Paulas on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 11:37 am:

I hope things go well for you. We don't have that chain in Canada...at least I don't think we do. Good for you for standing your ground...you go girl!

By Rayanne on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 11:42 am:

I'm so sorry. We always by BEAR from Homedepot and have never had a problem with it. You might want to try that.

By Yjja123 on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 04:18 pm:

Did you photograph everything? We bought Home Depot Bear primer and paint for our house (exterior) and it is guaranteed not to chip. 2 years later it did. They cut us a check for $800! Document and photograph everything!

By Sue3 on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 06:08 pm:

That is terrible.Funny thing that you mentioned it though because we are in the process of painting our bathroom right now.
My GF and I primed it this afternoon and I thought I had some paint and I didn`t.
I bought almost everything at Lowes.Except the paint.The kind I saw was Behr like eve talked about but I didn`t know anything about it
so I didn`t buy it.
I was going to try Martha Stewart.My GF said it was good.
I also like dutch boy.
What a terrible experience for you.
I am sure that lowes will compensate you.
My Brother in law had a bad deal with carpet from them and they replaced the cost and then some.
Good luck !

By Feona on Friday, September 3, 2004 - 07:05 am:

Absolutely horrible.

He is right though what you described sounds exactly like oil based on the wall then covered with latex.

But since you know it isn't oil based covered by latex than lowes should pay for the work.

Oil based is just a mess to clean up you would remember it. You need to clean everything with paint thinner not water.

By Coopaveryben on Friday, September 3, 2004 - 07:12 am:

My FIL had a painting business for years and everytime I get ready to paint something the first thing out of his mouth is....DON'T get paint from LOWE's!

By Vicki on Friday, September 3, 2004 - 08:24 am:

Feona, that is exactly why we have never used an oil based paint in our lives!

The drywall guy came last night and he is going to call the painter that he uses because he thinks that it can be just repaired! I wasn't here last night when he came (I was at meet the teacher night) so this is info passed onto me by dh and you know how they can be sometimes. But I guess there is a specific product that goes on like paint, but is self leveling or something that he says should give us perfect results. The painter will be doing all of this going behind the drywaller after he makes some of the repairs. We are also going to have them just go ahead and do the painting also so that all of the work is completely covered in case anything would happen again, or if it doesn't turn out right! We also have always wished that we would have put either a window or sky light in that room when we built because it is so dark in there, so while we are at it, we are going to add a window!! He said it was definately a problem with the paint and is going to write up a report as well as have the painter write something up that we can take to Lowes to see if they will cover it. The work has to be done either way, but I am hoping they cover the labor and materials for all of the painting part of it. So that is my update on the appointment last night...now, just to see what Lowes has to say will be next!!

By Pamt on Friday, September 3, 2004 - 09:03 am:

Sorry you had a bad experience. I have to say that we have always used the high-end American Tradition paint from Lowe's and have never had any problems. As a matter of fact, I need to pick up some more today to finish my kitchen cabinets. Our whole house in MO and now our whole house here in LA have been painted with this paint with no problems. I believe that Consumer Reports also ranks it highly. At any rate, it is guaranteed so Lowe's should take care of it for you. Hope you get your problem resolved soon.

P.S., You mentioned that when you peel the paint off it is "stretchy"---that is normal for latex paint. (think latex gloves---the latex makes it stretchy)

By Ginny~moderator on Friday, September 3, 2004 - 09:48 am:

Vicki - keep the paint cans, take lots of photos, and ask the contractor to try to figure out what the heck happened. If you wind up having to remove any of the existing drywall, keep some of it so that if you wind up having to sue, you can have it tested to show what paints were and were not put on the wall.

And, write down, step by step, just what happened, who you spoke to at Lowes, etc.

By Conni on Friday, September 3, 2004 - 01:01 pm:

I painted my ds bdrm with that paint from Lowe's andhad no trouble with it at all. I wonder if the paint was old, mixed improperly, etc... Bummer! A good friend of mine has painted her entire home with this brand paint and had no complaints. It looks great.

Ditto Pamt, it will be stretchy.

The rest of the paint in our home has come from Sherwin-Williams. I LOVE how helpful they are and the quality of their products.