"The foam brush causes the peel look, and brushing right afterwards won't improve it, especially with the primer as it sets those bumps fast. " Not exactly. Perhaps you should learn better painting skills. Hint - it's all in the prep work, applying the paint is only about 10-15% of the job! "Wooster ones work so much better in getting a super smooth finish coat" It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools, both brands make very good brushes. Choosing the correct type of brush for the job is critical. (see above comment) Foam rollers are fine to get lots of paint onto the surface quickly and fairly even. Smooth after with the brush. Rollers leave orange peel - period. If you don't want it you have to smooth down the orange peel. +1 about Floetrol and Penetrol. Most old timers won't touch Satin Impervo in waterbase, so all this applies to oil base and goes back to # it's all in the prep which includes choosing the correct product. It has a pretty long open time especially with Penetrol in it. "but XIM Extender is usually preferred by the pros. " perhaps in your neighborhood , but not on the jobs I go to, especially in the Southeast, especially with BenMoore paints. XIM makes some fantastic coatings, but they are not really known for their interior trim paints! "I should have realized something was up " Yep, you should have realized your paint guy wasn't as knowledgeable or as competent as you/he thought.

I should've qualified my answer some... I haven't directly used BM products. (I'm at a C2, RL, & ACE-Royal dealer) BUT...through research, studying the Data-sheets, etc., BM's upper lines are very good paint, and give great performance...assuming qualified applicators (both Homeowner's & Painters) do everything properly. In the "next level up", lie the ULTRA-Premium labels, such as Farrow & Ball, FPE, and a couple others. * At this level, you really can't go any higher. * Pigment-grind levels, resin-quality, and colorant ("pastes" here) quality are without equal. * I HAVE directly played-around with various FPE product-samples. Wow...ONE COAT COMPLETE OPACITY with their Eurolux Matte, tinted to "Wine Red". * I did this on a black/white striped test sheet. Used a foam brush, & pulled the coat real thin. COMPLETE HIDE...NO trace of the stripes. Absolutely unheard of in normal paints. I was immediately hooked. * That's why I ordered some to paint my lower bath...the "Brown Cafe" I've mentioned in other posts here. Their ECO-Series, in Brilliant (Gloss) & Satin, are beautiful for Trims/Cabs, etc. These paints level so nicely! I did some sample trim pieces, on their sanded primer....again...Wow. Faron Here is a link that might be useful: FPE Info....

I chose Aura White Dove satin for my 30 year old dark stained cabinets and primed with an oil base primer first. Just a touch of grain shows through which is the look I wanted. I love how smooth they feel with just the slightest hint of sheen to reflect light. I do think it's personal preference b/c I received different answers at the three BM stores I frequent. The people at each store did say to mix up the paint finishes within a room. So I'll use a different sheen for the walls. I'm using Ben eggshell White Dove for a storage closet and I like the way that rolls on too.

Oil will yellow, which could be good or bad depending on the color---I actually love yellowed Acadia White on our oil-based Impervo trim, and was bummed that the actual Acadia White is not as creamy! Also, for whatever it's worth, our built-ins painted in oil-based *still* reek three years after being painted. We had it on our old kitchen cabinets and it seemed to hold up decently---only a few chips over three years, and that's on partial inset cabinets, so lots of pressure on the doors. I could see some potential issues in trying to match the color to do touch-ups, though.