Chalk one up for the Orange BORG......

[Ken Fitzgerald]

We are finally getting to the point on my bathroom remodel to buying paint and should be using it tomorrow.

We have always had good luck with Sears paints but IMHO the quality of service and materials has gradually gone downhill at Sears.

The LOML had found the color she like and it was a Sears color. This afternoon she went to Sears to get some paint. They finally sent someone over....."May I help you?"...."Yes, I'd like some paint mixed in this color"......"I'm sorry..our machine is broken"......."When will it be fixed?"......"I don't know....management is aware of the problem"......

She came home perplexed as we'd really like to finish this by Tuesday or Wednesday. The custom shower door is supposed to arrive Tuesday and they will install it soon after that. I asked her "Do you still have the paint chip? Yes? Take to HD and see if they can match it."

Away she went. When she returned.....she smiled broadly and said "Look at that." There on the top of the can was a splash of the mixed paint. Placing a chip by the spash....it was an exact and an awfully close match.

Sometimes the Borgs can come through.

[Steve Clardy]

Yep. Most have that paint matching down real good anymore.


Be sure and paint behind the terloit.
No shortcuts now. :p

[Matt Meiser]

Yeah, the paint matching is incredible. I took a small chip from my office wall which is a maroon the previous owner put up and bought a quart. I can brush some on the wall and once it dries, even I can't find it.

I did the same at Sherwin Williams with a part for my Powermatic jointer.

[Greg Cuetara]

I tried to take a paint chip in to get it matched at HD and they couldn't match it anywhere close for the life of them. I even tried 2 or 3 stores. They said they needed a full color chip about 1" square. Anything less, which is what I had, brought in the background color and totally distorted it. I was perplexed they couldn't match it.

Congrats on your color match. It is always nice to get what you need when you need it.

Greg

[Michael Wetzel]

That is odd. The paint scanners usually have an eye the size of a pencil eraser.

[David G Baker]

I agree with Michael W. It has been a few years since I have had to get a chip read but when I did, the eye of the scanner was the size of a pencil eraser as Michael wrote. Things may have changed like everything else.

[Dave Johnson29]

I tried to take a paint chip in to get it matched at HD and they couldn't match it anywhere close for the life of them.

Often it is the reflective quality of the surface of the chip. If it is badly sun damaged and matte the scanner will think it is a much more white-base. When taking in a sample try and find something that is in a very wind, rain and sun protected spot if possible. The better the surface the better the match.

With a bigger chip they probably wanted to try in several places and see if they could get a closer real match. Not defending HD, just sticking up for the technological limitations. :)

p.s. Greg, you appear to be too far back on those skis. :) :)

[Gene Howe]

The ACE Hdwr store near me can match very small chips. And, believe it or not, their paint is excellent and less expensive than what we priced at HD. Saved me a 100 mi. RT.

[Brent Leonard]

Some maufacturers put a imperceptable coating on their sample chips so a scanner cannot get an acurate reproduction.

I had this problem. The Growler found a unique color at the HomeDepot, I was buying all my paint at Sherwin Williams (I find SW paint my favorite, plus I could get it on a contractor account/price). Sherwins couldn't match the paint exactly. The store manager told me about the coating that makes the scanner get a bad reading.

[Greg Cuetara]

Often it is the reflective quality of the surface of the chip. If it is badly sun damaged and matte the scanner will think it is a much more white-base. When taking in a sample try and find something that is in a very wind, rain and sun protected spot if possible. The better the surface the better the match.

With a bigger chip they probably wanted to try in several places and see if they could get a closer real match. Not defending HD, just sticking up for the technological limitations. :)

p.s. Greg, you appear to be too far back on those skis. :) :)

To HD's credit I was using a paint chip and like someone else said it could have been some sort of coating on the chip. I was trying to match a cabot color.

And Dave regarding the skiis....well ummm...I was in about 3 feet of powder. We got over 100 inches of snow in the week I was at Snowbird this year. Pretty good skiing but made for a much different approach to getting down the hill.

Greg

[Marty Paulus]

It amazes me how some people can see color. In my professional life I often get to watch people 'read' color in things. They can tell if a black has too much red or blue in it. They have to take a very detailed test to put very subtle shades of colors in the correct order. I can sometimes see the things they are seeing but only if they point them out to me first. They are also comparing two plaques side by side for the comparison to try to match them.

Years ago I remember my industry had these 'colorometers'. Now only very few companies have them and they are not used for critical color matching. It was determined that the human eye is much more accurate in reading the color then the machine could ever hope to be. I have seen some hand held devices used by some companies that supply the colorant. These are many times more expensive then the units at the BORGS but, I am told by them anyway, much more accurate.

Those OP that can't seem to get the proper color match from the machines at the BORG's my have better color perception then the rest of us. Oh yea, us guys are typically less adapt at seeing the difference in colors and more likely to be color blind in general.

One other point is the color will change depending on the light under which you look at the color. The color may match the chip in the orange lights in the store or in the flouresent lights but my not be close in the lights in your home/office. Ahh the fun of colors.....