Gray’s Paint Stores

Condo associations are all terrible. They are one of my worst nightmares (yes, even worse than Fed Ex-​Kinkos), and attempting to deal with them is pretty much pointless.
Need approval for a hardwood install? Why even bother, they wont ever get back with you.
How about painting and repairing a damaged front door? After eight months, I finally got fed up and took matters into my own hands.
It’s been years since I have used Gray’s, but they still had the color code for my door. Within 10 minutes I was back painting the damaged areas on my door and it’s now looking pristine.
Yes, I am a rule breaker and technically the association can write my butt up. Yeah, ummm I will be waiting to hear back from them on that.

I can not say enough great things about Gray’s paint. We have used them for all of our home remodel projects and have been very pleased with the service, expertise and product we have received. In fact, with one of the trickiest color matches we needed they were able to match it exactly… so that the color works in daylight and at night. Super impressed with their community mindedness also. I am a Gray’s customer for life.

I spent many days at the store picking up different color chips. They have a great selection of paint chips and samples. We originally picked out a color for the trim on our house only to find out it was not what we were looking for at all. Went back to get some samples with the painters waiting at the house. They understood my urgency and helped me quickly get the new color samples back to the painters and we were able to get the right color selected and completed the job on time.

I had a similar experience to one of the other reviewers. A woman asked me almost right away if I wanted help with colors and she seemed very knowledgeable and patient. Once you pick colors, you’re turned over to the guys behind the paint counter. I am just a DIY, amateur home painter. I’m sure this was clear by my blank stare when the guy gave me a list of paint finish options and asked me which one I prefer. I then set about selecting all of the accessories I thought I needed. I wanted to ask the paint mixer to go through them with me to make sure I had everything but he was in a hurry to check me out and dismissive when I tried to ask him if I got the right roller. I just started setting up to paint and realized I don’t even have a paint stirrer. Assuming I’m paying higher prices for service at a local Benjamin Moore dealer, I expect service. I will note that he did carry the box of paint to my car for me since I was carrying my supplies in one hand and my 2 year old in another. That was thoughtful and I appreciated that. But slow down and ask people if they have questions/​have found everything they need. If it weren’t for the color specialist, I’d go 2 stars.

Guys behind the counter have horrible customer service skills.
I went in, spent some time with a very nice lady who helped me pick out colors for a project. I went to buy some samples only to find that several were completely dry and unusable. She told me that they were replacing and restocking all the old samples… new vendor or something and the guys at the counter needed to make up new samples for me.
Rather than make up the samples that I wanted to buy (which they needed to make regardless of my purchase) they guy behind the counter told me that I’d need to buy a quart of each one if I wanted a sample. Uhmmm… How about no?
There were 3 or 4 guys there, only 1 person appeared to actually be working. One of the other guys could have easily made up the samples but they chose to stand around and BS. It took a few moments to even get their attention as they had their backs to the counter. The woman that helped me seemed surprised and frustrated at their lack of service.
I took the color advice she gave me and went elsewhere for my paint.
The kid at Lowe’s was far more friendly and helpful than any of the guys working at Gray’s. When he couldn’t mix the color I wanted with the paint I wanted in just a quart, (wrong base or something) he immediately offered me ½ off the gallon price. Even after I said ok, he still made an effort to locate the correct base for me and found another that worked in the quart size.
When I paint my house this summer, I’ll be getting my supplies elsewhere.

I buy all the paints and stains I need from Jeff now (see prior review), except for the one case where he advised me to get a particular exterior black acrylic from Kelley Moore. I can return pints or quarts for free re-​do if the color isn’t what I expected, and I get good advice at every turn. They’ll even give you empty paint can boxes if you plan ahead — which are great for boxing books. There may be better prices at the volume stores, but the quality and service are priceless here.

I come here a lot. I’ve bought paint numerous times before both for my personal & commercial projects. They used to be so nice & friendly but lately they’re surly. I’ve been in the past 2 times in the last 2 – 3 weeks to get some paint samples & the same gentleman who looks like the brother of the other guy that works behind the counter lacks customer service. I was looking at some paint samples & asked if he could help & he tells me that he’s with a customer. So, there are 2 – 3 other guys behind the counter & he couldn’t even tell them that someone at the front of their store needed help? I have limited mobility because of a surgery so it’s hard to move around. I really just needed some recommendation. Icky — definitely lacking in customer service! I love this store. But the one thing I don’t like is lame service & I wouldn’t mind going elsewhere if this continues.

I thought somebody had a bad day the time I went, but after visiting the store two more times it seems that they do need some customer service training. I felt that I was bothering them in trying to get a can of paint that I had purchased there longtime ago (when they were on Howard), and I was told that the formula was discontinued, what about in trying to match the paint. It is too bad because the products are great & good quality, but if the staff would work a little bit in being less rude would be great. I hope I don’t get the same treatment in the store in SSF.

I bought a color that ended up being too light given the lighting in the room. I took my second can of Natura paint up to Gray’s and they added pigment to darken the paint to the next Benjamin Moore shade I was interested in. The room now looks great and I didn’t have to waste an entire can of paint. They didn’t even charge me to add dye and re-​mix my existing can of paint. Great customer service.

How do I count the ways??? I cannot say enough to highly recommend Gray’s Paint & Wallpaper. To start, Jeff Gray patiently mixed over 12 reiterations of a custom body color. I even brought pieces of siding off of the building to make sure the paint matched after it had dried while still at Gray’s.
Jeff and his staff will also, paint the color on a sample card and dry it before the paint is delivered to be sure you are getting exactly what you ordered. At one point, I thought we had the perfect formula and the perfect match; but, when I saw the color after it was applied on the building in full sunlight, I was shocked how different it looked. To make matters worse, the paint morphed into looking like one color at the back of the building and quite another at the front.
Not to worry. Jeff Gray calmly came to the rescue and educated me about color «metamerism» and metameric failure: when two material samples match when viewed under one light source but not another. So, after 17 reiterations we got it right and I am thrilled!
There are no shades of «gray» at this high caliber establishment — if you want to get the best return on your investment and top notch color, GO to Gray’s Paint & Wallpaper.

I am a contractor and would never buy paint anywhere else! Everyone that works there knows just about everthing you would need to know about painting! If you ask someone at home depot anything can only direct you to the bathrooms!

You need high quality paint? Go to Gray’s! I’ve had the unfortunate pleasure of painting three buildings in the the past three years. The first one I bought «standard issue» paint from Orchard Supply and Home Depot. Big mistake. I ended up re-​painting half the house because of poor coverage. Cheap paint = poor paint life and poor coverage. I now buy my paint (Benjamin Moore) from Gray’s. Just painted a house this memorial weekend. Bought the exterior latex Benjamin Moore in satin finish. Beautiful!
I’m not sure what that other Unilocaler (who is now filtered) is talking about. These guys have always been outstanding at Gray’s. Sure, they may be a tough bunch of guys, but I’d rather buy from a bunch of guys that know paint and how to apply it, than a few softies who don’t know a dam thing about paint over at Home Depot.
— They have always answered my questions — both in person and on the phone.
— They always have my paint ready long before I show up! I’ve never waited to be helped like I always have to at Kelly Moore.
— The paint quality is unreal. It covers up the old paint and looks beautiful.
— They have all the supplies you’ll ever need.
— They carried all my paint to my car for me without even asking (my foot was broken).
— They have an amazing showroom now. The old store… not so nice… this new store is beautiful.
Again, I’m just a weekend warrior painter but I recognize great customer service and high quality products. Gray’s has them both.

I was very surprised to find that I would be disappointed by Grays. But I was. They mixed the wrong color. It was close enough to the color I had ordered but very off once it dried.
This caused me a lot of re-​work, frustration and project delay. They replaced the paint which was nice. But, they we’ren’t really apologetic about the incident. Not even a sorry. Just said, the machine went down last week. So why the heck wasn’t there any Quality Control on the manually mixed paint.

Gray’s Paint has been a staple in Burlingame for a long time and their recent move to bigger digs on California Ave is a good one. The store is spacious and lofty with lots of natural light for viewing paint samples and colors. If you look around the walls, you’ll also see some of their more popular colors painted on them.
Benjamin Moore brand paints is by far their specialty, with EcoSpec and Aura being the environmentally-​friendly versions. (Aura is awesome if you haven’t tried it!) The staff is helpful too. I’ve gone there a number of occasions, for both my design clients and myself, and they always offer to load the paint in my car.

Love this new location! Easier to park! Easier to get to. Very well organized and SPACIOUS! Great selection of quality products. Staff is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Rarely have to wait for service.
They carry hard to find top quality products like Fine Finishes of Europe, Sydney Harbor, Modern Masters, etc. They are a Benjamin Moore dealer.
Always well stocked and accommodating if they need to order something for you. Great customer service.

Friendly and knowledgeable staff, gave us lots of tips before we painted our interior. Also helped us choose colors that would look good together (sort of pottery barn-​ish). They have a small lot next to the store but there’s plenty of street parking. Prices were comparable to other paint stores I’ve been to.