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August 10, 2009
Benjamin Moore Regal or Aura?
Hi all,
My apartment is being repainted and I picked several Benjamin Moore Aura paints (used them before in my last apartment and was happy). Got a call from the painter today that he used BM regal paint instead because he thinks the quality is much better. I'm a bit annoyed by this because it took me forever to pick out the aura colors and I think they're great. He's assured me that the colors in regal are basically the same. Any thoughts on Regal vs. Aura paint?
Thanks!
Comments
Aura is supposed to be a higher quality BM paint...it is more expensive than Regal.
Posted by: WonTon at August 10, 2009 8:07 PM
We just finished having our apartment painted and we compared Regal and Aura and decided there was enough of a difference to warrant the higher cost. Plus, Aura is virtually odor free after 24 hours and we could stay in the apartment while it was painted, low toxicity and only requires one coat and often no priming for walls. It requires a different application mentality than Regal. I'm very happy with it.
Kind of a bummer that your painter took it upon himself to not get what you asked for. I've heard opinions that Aura isn't worth the extra expense, that they're barely different in the end (which is not at all my experience so I disagree with that) but NEVER that Regal is higher quality.
BM dealers claim that they can exactly match both types, but it's not really the color that's the issue, rather the texture and and how they coat, which they differ in.
Posted by: jland at August 10, 2009 8:43 PM
The last time we had some painting done [last Summer]we used Regal in most rooms and Aura in the stairwell. It was the first time our painter had tried Aura and he was surprised that it really did cover in one coat, instead of two. The finished results were comparable. Aura is far more expensive, but you use less of it so it's pretty much a wash.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at August 10, 2009 10:56 PM
Just two weeks ago I painted a room for a client who wanted to use Aura because it's a no VOC paint. I have always used Regal in the past and the smell never really bothered me. I found that Aura was a much thinner paint than Regal which I didn't like. With the thinner Aura paint I had to paint two coats of a custom color of white. Regal is still the best paint because it's really thick, giving you more control and covers in one coat. Yes Aura is more PC, and ECO friendly, but Regal is a better product for the task at hand.
Posted by: Rick at August 11, 2009 6:32 AM
One more thing. The colors are really the same. I'm in the same boat with your painter, he likes Regal, he's experienced with it and it gives him the best results.
Posted by: Rick at August 11, 2009 6:41 AM
rick, that's odd to me, because I've found Aura to be noticeably thicker in each instance of apples to apples, and that's basically what it's reputation is. That's sometimes not preferable, but it's definitely not thinner than Regal.
Posted by: jland at August 11, 2009 8:43 AM
Either way, it was wrong of your painter to do this without consulting you.
Posted by: superstooper at August 11, 2009 9:13 AM
What can I say jland, This is the first time I used Aura and it was thin. I spoke with the guy who mixed it too and he said it was thiner than Regal and that many people put up with that for the low VOC.
Posted by: Rick at August 11, 2009 4:07 PM
I have used both. Aura is definitely much thicker. The color I used was bizarre and unnatural looking. I did not care for the paint at all. Much prefer the high quality regular Benjamin Moore paint.
Incidentally, Farrow & Ball is even better, costs the same, has subtle colors, and has been natural and non-toxic for 300 years.
Posted by: mopar at August 11, 2009 10:41 PM
mopar, when I saw some F & B I was very impressed, and it sure has a legion of fans But when I checked for the color scheme it was quite a bit more than Aura. You sure about that?
Posted by: jland at August 12, 2009 12:48 AM
Well....it's $50 a can *with the decorator discount.* Plus there's a shipping fee because they mix it in Canada (I think) and send it. I forget what that is -- maybe it's $25 no matter how large the order. So if you know someone in the business and can use their business number, you can buy it for $50 a can. (They can fax in their info, you can order it.)
How much is it retail?
Posted by: mopar at August 13, 2009 11:04 PM
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