On Oct. 9, 2010, I went to Sherwin Williams Paint Company at Redwood City, CA location to purchase interior paints for the house. I was advised that the “SuperPaint” in flat finish is the best to paint my existing ceiling, which was in off-white color, and that one gallon would cover approx. 250 sq ft of surface area, and that one coat would be sufficient to cover up any light-colored ceiling. I was also advised that, in order to paint my existing walls, doors and door trims, which were all in white or off-white color, I would need to use a primer before applying the paint coats. On that day, I purchased 5 gallons of Superpaint in flat finish to paint the ceiling, 13 gallons of primers along with 13 gallons of “Duration” paints to paint the walls, doors and door trims.

After applying three coats of the SuperPaint paints to the living room ceiling (approx. 450 sq ft), I can still see very clearly a patching that was done (which was professionally buffed by a licensed contractor multiple times to ensure there were no bumps and consistent/leveled with the ceiling) to cover a hole (approx. 6” in diameter) in the ceiling. The patching was primed correctly with a 1-2-3 primer, and the correct roller brush size was used, which both were agreed by the Sherwin Williams store manager to be effective when I subsequently visited the store to complain about this issue. I had to purchase another 5 gallons of Superpaint to adequately cover that section of the ceiling (the living room only) in order to avoid inconsistent color between the area that was patched and the rest of the living room ceiling. The quality of this paint was misrepresented (or the paint was defective) and I had to buy much more paint to perform the job. Using 10 gallons of paint to only cover the living room ceiling (approx. 450 sq ft) is not normal or acceptable.
Subsequently in discussion with professional painters and paint companies about performing the interior paint job, I was told that a primer is usually not required because the existing walls/doors were previously painted in a light color. The primer is required when the previously painted walls are in a much darker color than the new paint color, or that it is a new construction with walls that were not previously painted. But when I consulted the store on what paints I would need on Oct. 9, 2010, I was advised to buy primers for all areas when I specifically mentioned that the existing paint color on my walls, doors and door trims are in white or slightly off-white color.

The paint products' quality were not acceptable. Furthermore, the produts were definitely misrepresented to me, which had caused me to purchase primers that I did not need. I have already contacted Sherwin Williams but they simply denied any quality issues with their paints.