Looks like the drywall company we hired to restore both ceilings to a level 5 smooth finish will start Tomorrow. We had a highly recommended paint company from Monterey stop by yesterday and they will be able to provide the high level of paint finish we are looking for. The owner of the new paint company could not believe how smooth and flat the walls I just restored were. He said they are not Level 5, but must be Level 7 or 8. He knows Level 5 is the highest, but could not get over what I had done with drywall. I received similar comments from other contractors in different trade before the first paint contractor we hired damaged our walls. We have sufficient evidence now to prove the paint application done by the sprayer was felony vandalism under California law. The individual who was hired by the sprayer admitted he witnessed the damage and could not get him to stop. The owner of the company will not explain why this happened to us and why an individual he has had problems with in the past was brought into our home. He just wants to come to a financial settlement and move on. Our insurance agent is recommending we file a report with the Sheriffs Department. Regarding the Sherwin-Williams Emerald paint, we like it very much. I prepared a 4â x 4â piece of 5/8â drywall and painted half with Sherwin-Williams Emerald Greek Villa in satin using a 1/4â roller sleeve and the other half using a 3/16â roller sleeve. The finish on both were excellent. This post was edited by Aptos_Station on Tue, Jul 8, 14 at 14:21

Spraying paint and back rolling is probably the best way to apply the paint evenly. If you are rolling manually out of a bucket or whatever, the time it takes to load the roller with paint is what makes it hard to keep a wet edge, especially if the walls are big. If you can't keep a wet edge, this is how lap lines may show up. If the Natura is washable, it should be just as easy as applying an eggshell. True flat paint doesn't form a washable skin on top of the paint film when it is dry and is filled with cheap fillers like chalk so that is why we use the bigger naps for flats. The best way to roll either paints though is to apply it, and then make your final pass with the roller in one direction top to bottom.

@julieste Wallpaper removal is a very difficult task to bid and often done on a time and material basis. If you have the time, you may find it works out cheaper to do the wallpaper removal yourself. If an estimator looks at it, the bid will likely be high to cover the risk of the wall not having had the proper prep before the wallpaper. I just helped on a wallpaper removal and repaint job. If done as part of a larger project, tearing out the wallpapered drywall and starting with new would have been cheaper. I'm in the midwest and smooth walls are standard practice here so textured walls wouldn't save you much money.

It depends on the look you want. When you have level 5 walls you can have any finish you want! Not knowing what the design of your home is and what your designer wants the look to ultimately be it’s hard to say you should do a certain finish over another! I generally don’t like shiny walls unless it’s part of the overall design plan. Matte can be a great choice instead of flat as it is a bit easier to clean and has a soft velvet finish.