Painting a Big House

[Anonymous]

I always knew this house was too big (5000 sq ft.) I just got the estimate for repainting the interior and it's more than some automobiles. I think I'm gonna plotz. Words of wisdom, anyone?

Also, I'm mulling flat vs. eggshell. Eggshell looks prettier and can be washed, but flat can be touched up easier when it dings or mars, without repainting an entire wall.

All advice welcome.

[Anonymous]

Eggshell

[Anonymous]

Love Eggshell.

Try doing one or two rooms at a time?

[Anonymous]

I like flat for living, dining, bedrooms. eggshell for bathrooms and kitchen where you might need to clean more. yes -- shocking how much it costs. get a number of estimates.

[Anonymous]

Satin if you have kids. Try craigslist you can get a really good deals, like 5 man crews for 750 a day.

[Anonymous]

Can't you paint, OP? It's not hard.

Eggshell.

[Anonymous]

Eggshell.
Also that sounds like a really high estimate. Get another couple estimates.
We lived in that size of house and I did most of the painting myself because I also couldn't stand to pay someone. It's not that hard. I hired out parts of the two story foyer but that's it.

[Anonymous]

I did my entire house on flat because the drywall job wasn;t great (cheap flip job) and eggshell showed the lines and lousy sanding job more clearly because it reflects light better. If not for that, I'd have chosen eggshell.

[Anonymous]

Ditto 7:05....pick up a brush, and paint it yourself. It sounds like the job estimate was around, say, $20,000. It that money was laid on your floors in cash, my guess is, both you and wife would be picking up those brushes and getting after it. Eggshell

[Anonymous]

I recently tried to paint our living room. It wasn't hard except for the edges - I just couldn't get it to look good enough where the colored wall meets the white ceiling and where the wall meets the white molding. It looks so amateurish. Any tips?

[Anonymous]

OP - what was the estimate?

[Anonymous]

Eggshell. We redid our basement and I forgot to mention that's what I wanted to our contractor. He painted it in flat and after a month there were scuffs on the wall. I can magic eraser and spray clean EVERYTHING off of the eggshell walls upstairs, but we're going to have to repaint the stupid basement now.

And I agree with pps who say to do it yourself. DH and his friend did our main floor, and I did my master and laundry rooms myself and they turned out great. If you see any imperfections in your drywall, sand them out, wash your walls, and get a forgiving paint. I know everyone on here loves Aura, but I prefer Behr Ultra. It goes on great and it's really affordable. Duron's higher end stuff is nice too and it's all Sherwin Williams color.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eggshell. We redid our basement and I forgot to mention that's what I wanted to our contractor. He painted it in flat and after a month there were scuffs on the wall. I can magic eraser and spray clean EVERYTHING off of the eggshell walls upstairs, but we're going to have to repaint the stupid basement now.

And I agree with pps who say to do it yourself. DH and his friend did our main floor, and I did my master and laundry rooms myself and they turned out great. If you see any imperfections in your drywall, sand them out, wash your walls, and get a forgiving paint. I know everyone on here loves Aura, but I prefer Behr Ultra. It goes on great and it's really affordable. Duron's higher end stuff is nice too and it's all Sherwin Williams color.

No, no, no. Not Behr.

Quality paint costs $60 a gallon.

[Montana]

Anonymous wrote:I recently tried to paint our living room. It wasn't hard except for the edges - I just couldn't get it to look good enough where the colored wall meets the white ceiling and where the wall meets the white molding. It looks so amateurish. Any tips?

Buy the green-colored Crocidile tape. It is expensive, about $12 a roll. I painted 3 rooms w different colors, including white ceilings. All the hard work goes in putting the tape down. The painting is easy, and very cool when you remove it.

[Anonymous]

We need to paint our house before listing it for sale. Do we need to use high quality paint (e.g. Benjamin Moore), or can we get away with Behr? What are the differences in appearance between the premium products and the big box products?