Find a different painter! Also, check out the painting forum. I just finished painting my 3200 sq ft new construction myself (no painting experience). I used Sherwin Williams superpaint in satin. 1st coat I sprayed and backrolled. The second coat I power rolled. There are a couple of places where I messed up; the rest looks great. I could have taken the time to fix my mistakes by sanding the walls in between the 1st and 2nd coats, as a professional would have done. I believe that if I can do it with a couple errors, a professional could do it no problem.

Some other points to consider: many quality painters will paint the first coat right after drywall, and the second the very last thing in the house to prevent the other finish contractors from damaging the paint. Floating the entire wall with mud is a level 5 finish. Most houses in my area have a level 4 finish. Finally, I bought my paint at contractor prices. All of my paint was around $2000 (interior only). So, you would also have to pay for markup and labor. BTW, there's no way I would sign something that said it was okay if I didn't like the finished product. Welcome to the forum!

Get a different painter.

Ours suggested satin and eggshell. But you can't do touch-ups like you can with flat (which is why builder's and painters like flat). If you need a repair, you need to roll the entire wall again or you'll see the blemish.

Ours also did what arewetheryet talked about, he sprayed primer and one wall coat, and painted all the trim (with exterior paint so he can get by with only two coats). Then waited till we were all done with everyone else, then they rolled every wall again and did all the caulking.

He also primed the drywall before mud and tape. It helps prevent the fuzzing of the drywall paper that the mechanical sanders can cause. I think it worked nicely, it's not a level 5 finish, but it's smoother than other houses I've been in.

Our painter talked us into flat paint (sherwin williams) because it was easier to touch up and it is a disaster in wet areas that have other than off white paint because water splashes and drips permanently darken the paint and so we have permanent drip lines and splash spots in the kitchen and bathrooms. It is not a problem in the areas that were painted withe flat dover white. As far as the dog rubbing on the wall, kids bumping the walls, etc., the flat paint has been just fine. The flat dover white has been easy to clean up too (red kool aid even washed off it just fine), it's just the flat colors that are affected by water stains and looks horrible. We will be repainting the bathrooms and kitchen with egg shell--we had bad luck with water spills and they needed repainting within one month of us having moved in.

Thank you so much for the suggestions! Unfortunately, hiring our own painter really isn't an option. The builder is carrying the construction loan, not us, so it's really his house until we close and it's in our contract that we can't bring in our own subs. Of course I suppose we could ask, but I don't think it will be allowed.

I actually like the flat finish due to the ability to do touch-ups. I did have a powder room with a pedestal sink and the wall right behind the faucets did get some stains. DH will never walk a few more feet to a family bathroom and insists on using the powder room!!! Every few months I would get out the paint can and a roller and touch up that wall. It looked brand new every time. Eggshell would still have gotten dirty and would have started to look bad after scrubing every few months.

The ideal is to be able to mix finishes depending on the room and its use. I use eggshell in family bathrooms that get steamed up. Good luck with your build.

it depends on your texture. if you have a flat surface satin comes out too shiney.

I am a builder--I know, boo, hisss---and I agree with the builder.

One custom home I did, the buyers insisted on taupe satin on drywall. I warned them that unless there was a finish coat of plaster applied over all the walls, they would see joints etc. During the painting stage, the painting contractor foolishly let them in and he ended painting some rooms up to eight times till they were sort of satisfied.

Their "acceptable standard" evidently was the smoothness of the paint on their Mercedes. It doesn't work that way on houses!

For my own latest home, I went with satin over drywall. But on walls with accent lighting and hallways I chose other ways to cover the "defects".

If your builders' painters say a Level Five looked "terrible", the fault was theirs. By asking another $1,500 for satin finish and a "waiver", he is just trying to dissuade you. I would take the flat finish. See how it works out for you. You can always repaint with satin down the line.

This is strictly a personal opinion, but I love flat paint. I've used SW Superpaint in the past, but recently tried their Cashmere paint. I'm very satisfied, and it was much less expensive. When I was renovating our old house, SW gave me the builder' discount as a courtesy.

Thank you so much for all of the input!!

I heard back from our general manager and the flat paint that they use is actually "Kwal Acu Pro flat wall paint matched to Sherwin Williams colors". That was a bit misleading to me as I thought we were actually using Sherwin Williams paint. I think we're leaning towards just going with the flat, touching up when we need to, and then just repaint as we want to in different finishes down teh road (namely kids bathroom, main floor bath, etc) as I'm sure I'll be changing out some colors anyway as we've lived there for awhile.

chispa - That is good to know it's that easy to cover any blemishes!! It makes me feel so much better about going with flat!

kangell - Yes, I think you are exactly right. It is more expensive for them to finish the drywall for anything other than flat paint as flat paint hides blemishes better. It's all about money at the end of the day!

worthy - Thank you so much for your input as a builder! I'm relieved to hear that you agree with our builder and it's just not him trying to be cheap. Son in your own home you did do satin over drywall...out of curiosity, why were you willing to do it on your own home but not on others? Did you do different drywall prep? Or just have lower standards of "smoothness" than your previous buyers? ;) I think we are going to do exactly as you suggested, thank you!

joyce - I love the look of flat much better than satin as well, but with kids and a dog, anything but flat is more practical!

why were you willing to do it on your own home but not on others?

We didn't go too dark; we also covered a lot of the walls with other materials or special painting. And we prefer subdued and indirect lighting. (mrs. worthy is a makeup artist and knows all about coverups!)

I have flat paint and prefer the look to eggshell. I also have four kids and no matter what the finish of the paint was I would still have to touch up.

Basically we have to paint our lower walls every year due to the damage the kids cause. It's super easy to paint only the lower walls and the flat paint blends in just fine.

Always enjoy seeing that pic, Worthy. Not only the fine stair work, but the barrel vault passage. Mighty fine indeed!

I'm late coming to this thread but had to comment because I think some of the information is eroneous.

We have drywall, smooth texture and egghsell paint. There are not seams showing and there was nothing special to be done to achieve nice walls. We used one coat of primer and 2 coats of BM eggshell.

Sounds like to me some painters are just lazy and sloppy. My DH uses eggshell on all his interior paint jobs unless the customer requests something different. The price to paint flat is the same as it is to paint eggshell.

Like everything, the workmanship and skill of the person performing the job will determine the outcome, not the products being used.

Thank you for your input Brutuses. I do not like flat paint and I am trying to decide on eggshell versus satin finish on my walls that are now almost 20 years old and I am painting only 2.5 years after they had been painted which was a poor paint job. What finish does your husband do on the trim? I wish your husband lived near me in NJ, then I would hire him to do everything in my home since he is so talented and you Brutuses have an idea for detail and color.

Hi lynn, thanks for those glorious compliments. LOL He uses BM white semi gloss on all the woodwork and trim.

Since it's been so many years since your walls have been painted be prepared to apply at least 3 coats. If you are covering a dark color I'd recommend a latex primer first, then the eggshell or satin paint. If you are painting a dark color, I'd recommend tinting the primer so you need less coats of paint. Some dark colors take a lot of coats to show their true color.

I have satin. No problems. I think theyre trying to find ways to charge extra. Be sure and provide feedback on the painter and the builder on www.yelp.com Check with a paint company to see what they say.

Builders insist on flat paint for a couple reasons, both benefit them, flat can be touched up and they dont have to do a higher level of finish on the drywall finishing. Usually higher. Priced/quality home builders do not do this. Personally I would never let a builder get away with using flat paint on the walls, and I would not sign a waiver. Tell them to do their job right, or give you a paint credit and you will hire a painter yourself. You could have him just prime the walls. But also tell him if your painter finds drywall defects the builder is liable before finish paint can be applied. Flat paint in walls does not clean at all, does not hold up well. On new drywall I prefer a coat of primer/sealer, and two coats of an eggshell finish. On trim, one prime coat and two coats of an oil base finish paint in eggshell. ( true oil base requires mineral spirits to clean up. Some states you can't buy it, they may offer a modified water clean-up oil base. This system is usually used in higher priced homes.