Mixing paint to match the existing paint...

Posted by on September 19, 2006, 1:59 pm

Hi everyone ~

I am doing a scrape and paint on my garage, and I do not have enough
house paint left to do the job. I brought a fresh chip of the color I
need to Lowe's (charcoal gray). They matched it up using Olympic flat
exterior 25 year paint, but I notice now that it is slightly darker
than the original.

Can I mix in a bit of flat white a little at a time, mix it up and
match it to the existing, or is that too difficult to do?

I am going to fully cover the siding, I just don't want the garage to
be a shade darker than the house if I can help it.

Thoughts are appreciated.

Bluesman

Posted by hallerb@aol.com on September 19, 2006, 2:06 pm

the original paint has oxidised you will never get a exact match.....

if a miss match troubles you it might be better to paint garage a
contrasting color

Posted by on September 19, 2006, 2:56 pm

actualy, using the computer and a decent paint girl at home depot near
me, we did an exact match that is indistinguishable from the 30 year
old paint that was on the garage.
I'm suprised that the color is noticable off.

Empressess #124457

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hotblues20@netscape.net wrote:

> Hi everyone ~
> I am doing a scrape and paint on my garage, and I do not have enough
> house paint left to do the job. I brought a fresh chip of the color I
> need to Lowe's (charcoal gray). They matched it up using Olympic flat
> exterior 25 year paint, but I notice now that it is slightly darker
> than the original.
> Can I mix in a bit of flat white a little at a time, mix it up and
> match it to the existing, or is that too difficult to do?
> I am going to fully cover the siding, I just don't want the garage to
> be a shade darker than the house if I can help it.
>
> Thoughts are appreciated.
>
>
> Bluesman

Posted by mm on September 20, 2006, 12:30 am

On 19 Sep 2006 11:56:27 -0700, empress2454@wowway.com wrote:

>actualy, using the computer and a decent paint girl at home depot near
>me, we did an exact match that is indistinguishable from the 30 year
>old paint that was on the garage.

I understand t hat they can do that -- I finally believe it -- but
what happens when the new paint ages? Won't it age faster in the
next 5 and 10 years than will the 30 year old paint?

>I'm suprised that the color is noticable off.
>Empressess #124457

Posted by Gideon on September 19, 2006, 4:19 pm

There are many factors which are important when matching
new paint to old. The size of the "chip" that you bring in to
Lowe's is important. So is the texture of the sample. So is
the type of new paint that you are purchasing (satin, semi-
gloss, gloss, latex, oil, etc.)

Exactly matching paint can sometimes be very difficult. Still,
Lowe's, Home Depot and others will generally guarantee
the match, within reason. Take back a good sample of the
old paint, a sample of a surface painted with the new paint,
and the can of new paint. Be polite, go there when they aren't
likely to be super busy, and ask if they can attempt a better match.

You may need to skim off a bit of paint from the new can to make
room for the additional tint that they will add. It is also useful if
you can have a sample material which has been painted with
both the old and new paints so that the differences are obvious
when viewed side-by-side.

Don't attempt to tint the paint yourself unless you have no other
option. Even so, be advised that sometimes (uncured) paints are
incompatible. It is possible that you may add a bit of flat white
latex to some tinted latex paint and the paint is ruined. That doesn't
happen every time, but it does happen. Two different latex (or oil) paints
can have incompatible solvents, emulsifiers and/or binders.

If Lowe's won't help you, you may be lucky as I am. I have a very,
very good relationship with my local True Value hardware store.
Several times I have gone in (at a non-busy time) and the manager
has retinted some paint I own. Often it is paint which I didn't
purchase at his store. Why is he so considerate? Because I am
a consistent & loyal customer, I am a friendly customer, and I send
in a lot of referral business. I have worked out similar good &
consistent customer relations with NAPA, Harbor Freight, Benjamin
Moore Paints, the corner grocery, etc. It really helps when you walk
into a store and the manager immediately smiles and greets you by
name.

I like the approach of one of our local Benjamin Moore retailers.
After they custom match new paint, they put a dab of the
new paint on my sample of the old paint. Nobody in our family
can identify the spot which contains the new paint! That is one
method of letting the customer leave the store with a rather
high confidence that the paint will match. If it doesn't, they'll
work their butts off to make it match.

Good luck,
Gideon

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