Oops paint, you've heard of it, so what is it? Explained here!

[kingofthehive]

On a side note There is a way at Home Depot to get some lumber or concrete really cheap. If you just need say two or three feet of a 2x4 or a small piece of plywood ask an associate about "culled lumber". These are genrally boards that were damaged or cut for a customer that can't be resold at full price. I know at my Home Depot the culled lumber goes for $ .51 for anything on the cart.

If you need concrete at Home Depot ask about any bags that have been broken or ripped open ( these can't be sold at full price because there is no way to know if the weight is correct). I sold a pallet of culld concrete bags a few weeks ago for $15 ( about 25 bags) normal price was $3.97 a bag. That is about a $45 dollar savings for around a ton of concrete.

[ted_d_bear]

Just a note: If you think you find several cans of the same color, mix them together in a bigger bucket. I made the mistake of not doing that two years ago. I found 3 cans at Lowes of that were a red wine color. It was the perfect color that I was wanting to paint the bedroom with. They had the outside lit painted and all 3 cans looked to be the exact same color. Even compared them in different lights and outside and thought I was safe. Well, I opened one can and used that, then went for the second can and the shade was a tiny bit off. Same thing with the third can. I now wonder if they just used paint from one can to paint all three lids. So the moral of the story is even if you think it looks like the same color, mix them anyway just to be safe.

[susysnshn]

If you buy multiple cans of paint, even at full price, I think you are supposed to mix them together because there can be slight variations. It's like buying the same lot numbers of wall paper, yarn, etc.

[berlinsmommy]

I just read in Consumer Reports that they named Behr Premium Plus Paints #1 in both Satin and Semi-Gloss and an overall Best Buy!! The majority of my house is Behr Premium Plus. The rest is Ralph Lauren (#22 or so, not a best buy), but I will say that Ralph Lauren has, by far, the best texturing glaze I've ever worked with.:beavisnbutthead:

[wookin]

We used Oops paint in our hall bath. Got it for $1/gal. Used 1/4 gal on the room for a cost of .25. Not bad, not bad at all!!!!!!!!!!

[MrsPinecone]

Our entire house is painted in Behr paints. I made the mistake of doing ONE room in a different paint, and ended up repainting it with Behr.

[too-old-now]

Years ago I worked in a hardware store and we had customers ask for special colors, we would mix them for them while they shopped. We had our own "specials" section that we would put dented cans or whatever in them, and sell them for 50% off. We had one lady come in and she asked for 4 gals of a light blue, then she went to shop. Next thing we know she was driving away. We held the paint for her for about a week, and a colleague told us she called and said she was sorry but she didn't want it. So, we put in on the specials rack. 20 minutes later, another woman comes in and asks about our specials paint. She sees these cans and is delighted to see we've marked them down. When she came up to pay, an associate recognized her as the sister-in-law of the woman who had ordered them. Not only that, but they all lived in the same duplex.

It's one thing to be cheap, but this was being dishonest. The manager told her sorry, these were a mistake they are on order for someone, and he rightly refused to sell them to her for half-off.

Later that year, I had to paint the inside walls and the shelves in the back end of the store a nice, light blue. I know several stores will give mistakes to employees first.

[berlinsmommy]

I can see the potential for people to be dishonest here, but I would STRONGLY discourage it. A few of the Home Depot stores in my area have stopped selling oops paint and I wonder if that is why.

In my OP, I referenced my friend who bought a gallon of a custom color and the clerk accidentally mixed 2, well, I went back later and bought that 2nd gallon, it is now my kitchen color, and I felt wierd doing that, I wonder if they thought we did something sneaky. That was at a Home Depot near her house, which I almost never shop at. The two stores I shop at regularly recognize me since I go in weekly to check out the oops paint, so I'm pretty sure they know that I'm just scouting out what's already there, not doing anything dishonest to get certain colors that I want. Besides, that kills the thrill of the hunt!!!!

ETA: The best selection of oops paint is late in the week before the weekend since lots of the stores pull out all the cool colors and glazes to use for their painting classes on Saturday morning.

[crownline266]

I just wanted to thank all of you for the oops paint recommendations!! We went in to get some paint for our bedroom and already had a paint picked out. I suggested to DH that we check out the oops paint (from reading it on here, although I do check to see what they have sometimes). We bought a lighter green for our bedroom to match our comforter and found a darker green in the oops paint. It was a flat and we don't normally get flat, but for $5 we thought we could put it somewhere if we don't like it. We ended up running out of the lighter green in the bedroom, so the oops paint is our accent wall!! It looks wonderful! Then I just got done painting the laundry room with the rest of it and it looks great also. DH and I both said we'll be keeping an eye out on the oops paint at Home Depot and Lowes from now on!!

[MOM2SNOX]

As a cashier, I get "oops paint" purchasers all the time! I'm amazed at the prices on the cans! 5 gallons for a few bucks! One lady bought a slew of different "odd" colors and said, "My whole house has been painted with "oops paint"!" I thought that was pretty cool!