Frequently Asked Questions

O’Leary Paint is based in Lansing, Michigan. We’ve proudly been Michigan Born and Raised Since 1891.

Open positions can be found at olearypaint.com/careers.

Please contact marketing@olearypaint.com.

Our store staff are always happy to advise on color selection. While we’re happy to give guidance and provide recommendations, we do recommend coming in person to review colors. Sometimes color may vary on digital screens, so it is a far better way to visualize colors.

Yes, we find many of our customers choosing to paint accent walls in their homes, bedrooms, and spaces. Accent walls can provide a pop of color and vibrancy that could look busy or overstimulating if used on all walls. If you’re considering vibrant colors, that could be a great option. A common interior design philosophy is to consider balancing. If you were to imagine your space being shrunk down and balanced on your finger, would it be unbalanced? Furniture, art, and wall colors can be arranged to create balance in your space while not making it feel lopsided.

As always, it depends! But most people choose to go with stock white, or a very lightly greyed off white. Of course, this is subject to personal preference. Some choose to paint the ceiling the same color as their trim, when it’s off white. While not unheard of, most choose not to paint their ceilings colors or dark options due to it making spaces feel smaller and shorter.

No, your trim does not need to match your walls or ceiling. Many choose to go with either white or an off-white for their trim. Another popular option is going a shade or two darker than your wall color. If you do consider matching your walls and ceiling, this is called color drenching.

In short – absolutely! Many of our stores have fan decks from popular national brands, like Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore, to match from. There’s even a good chance that we’ve matched it before, if it’s a popular color. If it’s not a color from a fan deck that we have, we ask that you provide a color chip or sample for us to match using. We cannot match colors from screens or pictures. Cameras and displays do not reflect colors like physical objects and are not able to be matched reliably. Color matching services are always free and no charge.

100%! All our stores provide both color and stain matching. Our store staff are trained in matching and do many matches each day. We pride ourselves on our customers, commenting on our excellence in matching quality, particularly in comparison to other paint stores. 

For stain matching, we ask that you provide the sample being matched and a sample of the wood being stained. Stain will appear differently based on the species of wood, age, and milling process. Result may also be influenced by protective coatings like varnish and urethanes applied over the stained wood. Due to stain application processes taking longer than drying paint, we ask for 24 hours to match stains. 

Color matching services are always free and no charge.

We have 6 locations across Michigan and Indiana. Find your local O’Leary Paint here.

We do not currently offer online ordering for our stores and products. However, you can call your local store to place a pickup order in advance. If you’re a pro painter with a charge account, you can also call your local store to order for delivery.

Yes, we’re proud of our partnership with authorized dealers. You can see our dealers here.

Individual store hours can be found on the Store Locator page.

We find that most paint failures are caused by poor to no surface preparation. There are four key aspects to make sure your surface is ready for paint – clean, dull, dry, and in sound condition. 

Clean means the surface is free of dirt, dust, oils, and other contaminates. If you surface isn’t clean, you’re not painting your walls, trim, etc. Instead, you are painting dirt, which leads to failure later. 

Dull means the surface is not glossy or shiny. Slick, glossy surfaces do not provide a profile for the paint to fill and anchor onto while curing. If you have a surface that paint would have difficult adhering to, consider using abrasives or a bonding primer. 

Dry means the surface is free of moisture. Moisture that is painted over will find its way to the surface by bubbling or pushing the paint off the surface. Consider that paint in liquid form dries to a solid film by drying and releasing moisture into the air. If the air is too humid, moisture from the liquid paint cannot enter the air to dry solid. 

In sound condition means the surface is free of damage, rot, or decay that would prevent it from being prepped and painted. This is especially common issue with deck staining. Paint will not protect something that is already damaged and needs replacing. 

Following these steps to prepare your surface gives you the best chance of a successful painting project.

Paint not touching up could be caused by a variety of things. First, make sure that you’re using the same product and sheen as the wall was painted. Paint products that are different product lines, sheens, and from different companies will not touch up. They all take tint and reflect light differently. 

Another reason would be the existing paint is dirty. You may not have messy household members or pets, but walls will collect dust and dirt over time. This is usually imperceivable on its own, but side by side with fresh paint could account for the difference. 

Your existing paint may have faded in color and/or sheen over time due to daylight exposure. To ensure the best possible touch-up in this case, make sure to feather the new paint – or brushing out the paint so that it gradually fades from old to new paint. 

If none of these solve your touch up, it might be time to paint corner to corner – or the entire uninterrupted wall surface. While not ideal, sometimes the paint has just faded too much to be touched up.

Color chips/cards and final paint may vary in appearance. This is due to a variety of aspects. Color chips and our paints are colored using different pigments, so they will sometimes reflect light differently in different lighting. Our paint also comes in different sheens, so the paint might be flatter or glossier than the color chip, reflecting the light differently. If you think that there is a significant issue with the color that cannot be explained by these differences, contact your local store. On rare occasions, there may have been an error on our end during the tinting process. Your local store should be able to determine the cause of the issue and provide a refund or replacement at their discretion.

Sounds like you’re experiencing tannin bleeding – the natural oils in the wood are leeching out through the wood and then through the primer/paint. Tannin bleeding can be stopped using a stain blocking primer like our Stick-N-Seal Stain Shield or our Stick-N-Seal Block It for lighter tannin stains. Both products are interior and exterior use.

We highly recommend hiring a professional lead abatement company. If you scrape, sand, or remove old paint, you may release lead dust. Lead is toxic. Exposure to lead dust can cause serious illness, especially in children. Pregnant women should also avoid exposure. Wear a NIOSH-approved respirator to control lead exposure. Clean up carefully with a HEPA vacuum and a wet mop. Before you start, find out how to protect yourself and your family by contacting the national lead information hotline at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323) or log on to www.epa.gov/lead.

Yes! ProHide, Porch & Floor, Aqua Alkyd, and Supreme Ceiling Paint are a few of our low/zero VOC products. All low/zero VOC products can be found on the Sustainability page.