Yes, Valspar is good paint, with a ceiling on it. Reserve is the strongest wall paint Lowe's sells and the only one in its tier with an anti-microbial film, which is why it belongs in baths and laundry rooms. Behr's Marquee and Dynasty still win the independent hide and durability ratings, and the deck runs thin on saturated color. Buy Valspar if Lowe's is your store and the rooms are rooms you live in. Skip it if a designer or contractor signs for the job.
- +Reserve carries anti-microbial additives in the cured film, which Behr Marquee does not answer without stepping up to a bath-and-spa product
- +Price-to-spec on a big-box shelf: Reserve near $56 a gallon against Benjamin Moore Aura near $100 for a wall most people cannot tell apart at year three
- +Valspar 2000 has a primer built into a $22 to $29 gallon, which is the cheapest competent can at the counter
- +Cabinet, Door & Trim Enamel at $45 to $55 undercuts BM Advance and SW Emerald Urethane by a wide margin on a one-kitchen budget
- +The Perfect Color Guarantee pays for a replacement color by rebate when the first one is wrong on the wall, and no other big-box brand covers that step
- +The Lowe's desk will match a competitor chip in any Valspar line, and painters who work both channels rate the tinting accurate
- +Only four consumer interior tiers, tinted in quart, gallon, and 5-gallon at every store, so it is hard to buy the wrong can
- −Behr Marquee and Dynasty keep beating Reserve on independent one-coat hide and durability ratings
- −The deck is thin on saturated archive color, so a match for a deep navy or oxblood comes back close and reads flatter by year three
- −Signature's paint-and-primer label oversells hide, and a real color change still wants two full coats
- −Contractors and designers spec Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore, so a painter you hire is probably not bringing Valspar
- −The discount arrives as a rebate or a Lowe's gift card, so you front the sticker price and wait weeks for the value back
- −Line names churn. Optimus, Simplicity, and Pristine are gone from the US shelf and old guides still send people looking for them
The Line Ladder: Which Valspar Paint to Buy
This is the block most people came for: which Valspar can to actually put in the cart. Prices are per gallon at Lowe's in 2026 and move with sheen and market, so treat them as the band, not the ticket. Every row gets one blunt verdict.
How Lowe's Actually Discounts Valspar
Valspar does go on sale, but not the way Sherwin-Williams does. There is no 30 percent off ticket across the store. The discount runs through MyLowe's Rewards, which is free, and the recurring shape of it is $10 off a 1-gallon can and $50 off a 5-gallon pail of select paint and stain during a rewards week. The bigger events go further: Lowe's has run buy-one-get-one-free on interior paint from Valspar and HGTV Home, paid back as a Lowe's gift card rebate. Sign up for the account before you shop, because the pricing attaches to it.
Read the mechanics before you budget. Most of the deep Valspar offers are rebates, not register discounts. You pay the sticker at the counter, submit the claim inside the window, and the value comes back weeks later, often as a Lowe's gift card rather than cash. That is fine if you are buying more from Lowe's anyway and annoying if you are not. Keep the receipt, note the deadline the day you buy, and do not count the rebate money as part of the paint budget until it lands.
For a fair price, use these as the marks. Reserve at $40 to $48 a gallon after a rewards week is the number to beat, and even at $56 sticker it is defensible against Behr Marquee at $50 to $60. Signature belongs in the low $30s on a rewards week. Duramax around $40 is the exterior number. Five-gallon pails shave a few dollars a gallon before any promo, and the Valspar Pro program at the paint desk is worth asking about on a volume order even if you are not a contractor. The worst answer is no.
The Valspar Color Deck
The Valspar deck runs roughly 2,850 colors, all tintable into any line at the Lowe's desk, in quart through 5-gallon. It is deep in the neutrals most houses actually get painted and noticeably thinner in saturated archive color. These eight are the ones that keep showing up.
The Cons Only Forums Talk About
Signature Hide Is the Complaint That Repeats
On PaintTalk, the contractor forum, the Signature threads land in the same place: it does not cover the way a paint-and-primer label implies. One painter documented yellow going to tan and light brown and needing more than the two coats he had bid. The same threads report picture framing, where the brushed cut line dries a shade different from the rolled field, still visible after two coats. Signature is fine paint at its price. Bid it as two honest coats, three over yellow or red, and cut and roll wet into wet.
Painters Still Judge It on the Pre-2017 Can
Ask a contractor about Valspar and you often get a verdict about a gallon from a decade ago. Pre-acquisition Valspar had real batch-to-batch inconsistency, and forum posts after the Sherwin-Williams deal read as flatly as it being a mess since the takeover. The renaming did not help: Optimus became Reserve, Simplicity and Pristine disappeared, and every name change reads to a pro like the formula moved again. The current cans are tighter than the reputation. That gap is worth knowing about, and it is not worth arguing with a painter about.
The Lowe's Aisle Confuses Two Different Brands
HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams sits on the same Lowe's shelf as Valspar, and the top tier of each looks like the same product to a shopper. Infinity lists near $66 a gallon against Reserve near $56. Both are Sherwin-Williams-owned, neither is the Sherwin-Williams store lineup, and nobody at the counter explains the difference. Add the discontinued Valspar names still floating around old guides and Pinterest and you get people driving to Lowe's for cans that are not there. Know the exact line name before you go.
The Sale Is a Rebate, Not a Ticket Cut
The good Valspar offers are usually claim-back, not register-off. A buy-one-get-one interior paint promotion comes back as a Lowe's gift card, and the rewards-week paint deals are tied to an account you have to have already. You front full price at the counter and wait, sometimes six to eight weeks, and the value returns as store credit rather than money. If you are pricing a job against Behr's everyday shelf price, compare sticker to sticker first, then treat the rebate as a bonus.
Paint-and-Primer Outside Gets Prep Blamed on the Paint
The exterior lines carry a primer-in-one claim that holds only on sound, previously painted, properly prepped siding. On bare wood, chalky old paint, raw fiber cement, or tannin-prone cedar it is not a primer, and the pattern in complaints is people skipping that step because the can said plus primer, then finding bleed-through or peeling two years later. There are also complaints of Duramax semi-gloss staying tacky for days on new wood. Prime bare substrates, and do not paint a wood house in high humidity expecting the label dry times.
The Questions Between Two Cans
Reserve vs Signature
Reserve costs about $5 to $8 more a gallon and buys three things Signature does not have: the anti-microbial film, a thicker build, and the lifetime warranty. That is worth it in kitchens, baths, laundry rooms, and hallways. In a guest bedroom or a formal room nobody touches, Signature does the same visible job and you keep the money.
Valspar Ultra vs Signature
Ultra is 100% acrylic with ScrubShield at $29 to $39, Signature is the mid tier at $35 to $49 with a longer sheen range and better leveling. The honest gap is smaller than the shelf position suggests. Buy Ultra for rentals and refreshes, Signature when you want the finish to look deliberate.
Full comparison →Valspar 2000 vs 4000
2000 has a primer built in and higher volume solids in every shared sheen, 40 against 38 in flat, 33 against 30 in eggshell. 4000 runs about $5 cheaper and adds exterior use. On a color change, patched drywall, or anywhere satin is the spec, 2000 costs less by the time the job is done.
Full comparison →Valspar vs Behr
Behr wins the ratings at the top: Marquee and Dynasty beat Reserve on independent one-coat hide and durability. Valspar answers lower down, where 2000 with a primer at $22 to $29 is hard to match, and in baths, where Reserve's mildew-resistant film has no Behr equivalent short of a specialty can. Realistically the closer store wins, and both counters will match the other brand's chip.
Valspar vs Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore
Same parent as Sherwin-Williams since 2017, different plants and different formulations, so Reserve is not Emerald in a Lowe's can. Against Aura and Emerald, Valspar loses on saturated-color depth and on counter expertise, and wins on price by a wide margin. Buy BM or SW when the color is the whole brief or somebody else signs the spec. Buy Valspar for the rooms you live in.
All Valspar Reviews
12 products reviewed in this brand.
Valspar Questions, Answered
Is Valspar paint good?
Yes, with a ceiling. Reserve is the strongest wall paint on the Lowe's shelf and the only one in its price tier with an anti-microbial film, which earns its keep in baths and laundry rooms. Behr's Marquee and Dynasty still win independent hide and durability ratings, and the deck is thinner on saturated color. Good paint for lived-in rooms, wrong paint for a designer spec sheet.
How much is a gallon of Valspar paint?
It spans a wide band. Valspar 2000 runs $22 to $29, Ultra $29 to $39, Signature $35 to $49 depending on sheen, and Reserve $56 to $65. Outside, StormCoat is $30 to $42, Duramax $45 to $65, and Defense $65 to $71. The cabinet enamel sits at $45 to $55. Rewards weeks typically take $10 off a gallon and $50 off a 5-gallon pail.
What is the difference between Valspar 2000 and 4000?
Three things. 2000 is a paint-and-primer, 4000 is paint only. 2000 carries higher volume solids in every shared sheen, 40 against 38 in flat and 33 against 30 in eggshell. And 2000 offers a satin that 4000 does not. 4000 costs about $5 less a gallon and can go outside. On any color change or patched wall, 2000 finishes cheaper.
Which Valspar paint is the best?
Reserve, if the room takes abuse. It has the thickest build in the consumer ladder, the anti-microbial film, and the lifetime warranty, at $56 to $65 a gallon and $40 to $48 after a rewards week. For most bedrooms and low-traffic rooms, Signature at $35 to $49 does the same visible job. Outside, Duramax is the value answer and Defense is the pick for hard climates.
Is Valspar or Sherwin-Williams better?
Sherwin-Williams is the better paint and the better counter. Its store lineup runs deeper, the staff troubleshoot, and Emerald holds saturated color further than Reserve does. Valspar is the better value, especially at sticker, and Lowe's is open where a Sherwin-Williams store may not be close. Note that SW has owned Valspar since 2017, but they are formulated on separate tracks at separate plants.
Benjamin Moore vs Valspar: which should I buy?
Benjamin Moore wins on color. Aura's pigment system holds a deep navy or oxblood in a way Reserve does not fully copy, and the dealer network gives you someone who knows the product. Valspar wins on price, roughly $56 against $100 a gallon at the top of each ladder. On whites, greiges, and mid-tone colors, which is most houses, the finished wall is much closer than the price gap suggests.
Behr or Valspar?
Behr takes the top of the ladder. Marquee and Dynasty beat Reserve on independent one-coat hide and durability testing, and Home Depot stocks paint off the shelf. Valspar takes the bottom, where 2000 gives you a primer-in-one gallon at $22 to $29, and takes damp rooms, where Reserve's mildew-resistant film has no direct Behr answer. Buy whichever store you can actually get to.
Who owns Valspar, and does Sherwin-Williams sell Valspar paint?
Sherwin-Williams owns Valspar. The deal was announced March 20, 2016 and closed June 1, 2017 at $113 per share, about $9.3 billion in cash. But Sherwin-Williams stores do not sell it. Valspar stayed the Lowe's-channel consumer brand, formulated at its own plants, so you buy it at Lowe's, Ace, and some independents, not at a Sherwin-Williams store.
What is the best Valspar exterior paint?
Duramax for most houses, at $45 to $65 a gallon and near $40 after a rewards week. Step up to Defense at $65 to $71 for cedar, T1-11, coastal damp, or a south face with all-day sun, where the water-beading and fade package pays back. SeasonFlex is the pick in hard freeze-thaw country. StormCoat only belongs on siding that is already sound and already the right color.
Is Valspar sold anywhere besides Lowe's?
Yes. Lowe's is the flagship shelf and carries the full ladder, but Ace Hardware stocks Valspar, Walmart carries select SKUs including the 456 latex wall line, and independent hardware stores carry it in plenty of markets. Valspar.com runs a where-to-buy locator. Outside Lowe's expect a narrower line selection and a smaller tinting operation at the counter.
Is HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams the same as Valspar?
No. They share an owner and a Lowe's shelf, and that is where it ends. HGTV Home is a separate consumer line with its own formulas and prices, with Infinity near $66 a gallon against Valspar Reserve near $56. Neither one is the Sherwin-Williams store lineup. Read reviews for the exact line name on the can you are holding.
What is the Valspar Perfect Color Guarantee?
If the first color you buy is wrong on the wall, Valspar pays for a replacement color through a mail-in rebate. It covers the step of a repaint that goes wrong most often, and no other big-box paint brand offers it. Sample first anyway, because a rebate does not refund the weekend you spent rolling the wrong color.
Ask a Question
Choosing between two Valspar lines?
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