My builder uses flat paint as well and it has to do with touching up according to my builder. He told us that after painting there will be areas that will need to be touched up that get dinged from some of the trades that come through. With flat paint they can just touch up the ding while satin and other finishes would require more than just touching up the ding because you would notice if the ding was the only thing touched up. Hope that made sense. We didn't want to pay anything extra for paint so we are just going to have the builder paint with flat and then at some point if we really don't like it we can paint it ourselves. We've done plenty of painting in our previous houses so for us its not a big deal. We also have college aged kids so not too worried about sticky fingers, We were able to choose any colors we want for the various rooms that will have sheet rock(building log cabin) it's just the paint has to be flat to avoid an upcharge.

What is the builder paints everything Dover White Eggshell? I'd lean toward that option, personally, and then just figure I'd be repainting as needed for color after completion. That or same deal but with the Flat Dover White - you can do a lot of painting yourself for $3,000 (or even get some painting done professionally). The problem with the color-of-your-choice options is that you don't necessarily want the same color on the walls as ceilings...

I'd do the "free" version. Since flat hides things better, that's usually why it gets used (I was unaware of the application differences). To that end I would prefer a flat on the ceiling, and then just paint the walls as you go. Besides, you may want to add some color, etc, and do the higher quality paint and better finish then...

Go the free route and once you're in paint at your leisure or hire a professional. that sounds like a big ripoff

Agreed that sounds like a ripoff. We had a local guy do primer coat on everything, and finish coat on ceiling for $500 I think it was? Sprayed and then backrolled for everything.

We bought our own paint and tools for a 2600 sq ft home for <$3k. Definitely count on painting only 1 room night per person, though, if you need 2+ coats per room, plus any masking you might require. Its NOT a weekend job.

Oh, and if you get reappraised prior to close due to financing requirements, check with your appraiser first if painting different colors will mess with your appraisal - ours is a PITA and threatening to dock our house value because we painted rooms different colors. (Which I think is stupid, since almost everyone repairs upon movein, but whatever!)

Flat paint hides imperfections in poor framing, drywall installation and finishing. If you paint with eggshell or satin, any imperfections will be come immediately apparent. That is why builders like to use flat. It's less work and they won't have fix drywall issues because they will be hard to see.

I suggest saving the money. After a year or two, most of the nail pops and tape cracks will have developed. Wait until that happens so you won't be fixing and painting twice. After the two years, paint the interior with the designer color of your choice in the finish of your choice. You will want to make the drywall repairs before you paint.

After two years and two small boys, you will need to paint anyway. Save your money.

What does your trim get painted???

I love SW matte paint. It is so easy to touch up. I don't like eggshell as much.