If you have health problems that are made worse by air-born chemicals (like paint fumes) you need to make low odor (as in fumes, airborn chemicals) your priority in choosing a paint. There are special latex forumlations (what you are calling waterborne) made specifically for hospitals that have minimal odor and airborne chemicals. Check with your paint contractor or specialy paint providers like Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams for these type of paint.

Stevepm,
Thank you for your post. However, I won't be living in the house while it's painted....I'll probably move in two weeks later. The SW store told me by then there would be no fume issues existing. Is that correct?
Thanks again!
Squirt

Paintguy,

Thank you so much for your in-depth response - which of course triggered more questions:) hee hee

Trim - After your post and speaking with the SW and BM sales guys I think I'm set on doing a latex trim. It just makes more sense. My trim is very dark. So the SW guy told me to use the All Surface enamel because he said the waterborne Pro Classic cannot be done in dark colors. He recommended using a Preprite Holds Gloss Primer on it and then the All Surface enamel gloss.

Do you think that is a low quality paint? I looked up Graham paint - none in Charlotte, NC. So I looked up Muralo. They have it listed at a hardware store here. Could that really be superior to a SW or BM bought from a paint store? Oh and the SW guy also told me no dark trim can be made in a waterborne - he said only light to medium trim colors in waterborne. He also said the painter could put in a float or slow trowl product to allow the spread of the brush marks to spread smoother.

Wall color - I totally agree about the chalkiness of flat. Plus I am doing dark rich colors that may mar easily. I used BM Regal washable matte in the last house and liked it. But the SW sales rep told me Duration Home is much superior. He said the finish isn't quite as "creamy" as the Cashmere, but it holds up much better. Also, Cashmere and Duration Home in matte cannot be done in dark colors, only in light to medium tones. He said I had to use Color Accents for dark colors like crabby apple red. He said the dark could be done in Duration Home only if I did it in satin or semi.
I don't know if the Color Accents is very durable and it will be in a semi-busy area. And I don't know if it goes on nicely.
You mentioned the Duration Home looks "gritty" Does that mean you like the BM Regal Matte better, or do you have another washable choice brand you like best?
SW guy says it's not quite as nice as Cashmere, but close. If I go satin won't both look nice? If I use satin in both will the Duration still be more durable?

Lastly, we went to see a painters work today. He had a lot of flashing on the medium tone painted ceiling. He said it was a normal issue. It was very obvious around the recessed lights, which they said where dropped down and painted around and it was very obvious at the ceiling to wall cut-in line. SW guy told me that it was because he didn't keep a wet edge and that with a dark color on the ceiling the painter should have the cut in guy go first, followed immediately by the roller. YOUR Opinion?

The thing that turned me off mostly about this man's work was the fact that he caulks last in the attempt to make the cut-in line sharper. He says he paints over the caulk, but we saw a finished home and there was no doubt the white caulk could be seen between the cream trim and the light green wall. I thought it looked like a odd way to get a straight line. What concerns me more though is my trim is dark chocolate, so obviously caulking last wouldn't work. This was a HIGH end custom painter, doing million dollar homes! I have never, in all my homes, seen it done this way...is it a new practice?

Sorry so long. Thank you again SO very much for the responses!!!

Squirt

Well as long as you stay top of the line with all the big companies you should be okay. Of course the SW rep is going to endorse his product over BM but I would say they are comparable. I have never used Cashmere but I always thought that was just a very high quality flat. I'm not a huge fan of the Regal Matte anymore since the formula change but I will use it on jobs where washability is not a huge concern. Tall rooms are tough to roll out nicely because the new formulation has a rediculously fast dry time which makes it hard to avoid lap marks and areas where you change directions with the roller can end up showing.

My opinion on the dark ceiling and this is just my opinion...SW does not make a ceiling paint that I know about that will not flash. I have tried several and never liked them. There may very well be one that works, but I'm just not aware of it because I don't buy much paint from SW so I don't experiment much anymore. One trick you can use is to prime the ceiling with the primer tinted to the finish color and then do one coat of your flat finish. The primer will seal up the ceiling so that your paint isn't soaking in unevenly to the flat paint that is up there.

I don't understand how caulking after you are done painting gives you a straight line. I have heard of taping, then using caulk to seal the edge of the tape down so that you have no paint bleeding under your tape though. I just do all the trim first, then tape the trim off and then paint my walls.

Paintguy,
Thanks again for your response!!!!

Do you have a favorite washable paint?

Regarding flashing...can't the painter just use a product additive to extend the drying time, and then have two guys - cut-in guy followed right in front of the roller?

Seems like most of the paint estimators want to use flat, but the decorators say satin or eggshell is a "richer" look. IF my walls look good, do you think I'll be happier with a satin so I don't have to worry about chalkyness?

Thank you again!
S

Hi Squirt!
IMO, you should consider ACE'S Flat-Sensations where you want flat walls.

* It's the only flat out of many submissions that 3M licensed to use it's Scotchguard protection.
* After full-cure (~ 1 month), you can wash this stuff nicely!!
* You get the richness of a Flat, and the washability of a S/Gloss. At most ACE stores, it's about $27/gal.
* I just had a GUY come up to me last week & compliment me on this (Sensations flat) beautiful flat he used!
* It's the only Flat you could put in a Kitchen...!!

Faron

Sure you can use an extender or some Floetrol to extend the open time, but I've never found it to work to extend the wet time long enough to stop a paint from flashing. Some people swear by it....I've never really bought into it. But, if you want to give the paint the best chance to not flash that is exactly how you would do it.

My favorite washable paint is C2 eggshell.

I'm surprised that most painters would recommend flat. Of all the residential repaint work I do, I would say that I use flat on walls maybe 5 percent of the time. Most people want some degree of washability.

Check out this demonstration of the Aura paint by Benjamin Moore

washes black magic marker off

Here is a link that might be useful: AURA NO PRIMER DEMONSTRATION *SUPERIOR

I would highly recommend staying away from any oil based products for your trim. Oil paints tend to yellow over time and are brittle. The oil based products today are much harder to work with and usually require Penetrol to thin and help the products level and flow better. There are quality latex products available for the trim that are by far superior to the oil based counterparts. You probably don't want anything higher than a semi-gloss on your trim, although some people do like a high gloss finish. I would recommend Accolade by Pratt and Lambert. It is a superior grade product that has a nice sheen and is very durable. Whatever brand you use, spend the extra money for the better paint, it will last longer. As far as the walls, I would probably use an eggshell finish. Pratt and Lambert has a Porcelain Flat, Eggshell, and Satin Finish paint that is low odor,guaranteed washable and is also green approved. If I were buying Sherwin Williams products, I would only use the Duration product.