pmacbee,

sometimes (well darn it-most of the time)in new construction it is all the contractor can do is to keep other subs from coming in at the last minute to do their job and the GC leaving notes or reiterating to the subs to "Please Be Careful Of Newly Painted Walls". Especially when something other than a flat is used. Usually the painting is all done and here comes the cabinet finishers, carpet people, wood, etc. and 9 1/2 times out of 10 there will be little boo-boos made on the wall and touch-ups will need to be made . Not to mention NO ONE can seem to keep their darn hands off of the walls.

Just make sure if any of this happens that in the aftermath your eggshell walls can be touched up without obviously seeing a difference. Might want to cover this with your GC.

I have seen a few times when new construction painting is left off until the very last thing (walls trim that is). Ceilings would have already been done. In this case lots of things would need to be taken in consideration also; meaning everything would need to be covered in order to prevent paint accidents and takes up more time-labor . This is not the norm though because painting will take place right before end construction is complete.

Just wanted you to be aware of any touch ups using other sheens rather than flats.

Thanks so much! That explains a lot that hadn't occurred to me. It sounds like that's a significant part of the reason the estimate is so high--and why we saw the savings of switching some things to Regal disappear when we then specified eggshell rather than flat. Builder says no appreciable extra cost of the eggshell finish, but that he has to assume that a damaged wall will need a whole coat in eggshell, where as it could have just been touched-up in flat. Stuff I just would never have known! I think we'll get a credit if there is less touch-up work required than he anticipates--and I'll hope that some stuff can be cleaned off an eggshell finish that would have required touch-up in flat! Thank you again, decorativewalls, for your knowledgeable and really helpful input.

Your welcome pmacbee. Doing decorative finishes in new construction I have seen my fair share of knicks, knocks, bangs, (even on my own work done). It can be very frustrating at times when your GC tries to keep everything in order and here comes a nail gun that slipped and bumped the wall, etc. Accidents happen, but then again really there are some slobs that come in to do their part of the finished construction with no regards to what the painter has bent backwards to keep new and clean. That's why in new construction flat paints are pushed so much. It really does make a painters life a little more appreciative when others see what can happen to their originally once beautiful painted walls. Price upgrades are built into the total when colors or number of colors are chosen as well as the up sheen. Eggshell sheen should be fine in minor cleaning and please do not use magic erasers or harsh abrasive cleaners.

First of all, Aura does not need special applicators or special application procedures. It's just paint that dries fast so a pro is better apt to apply it because they generally move faster than a novice. Perhaps some painters use this logic of Aura being hard to apply so they can charge more.

Keep in mind that a gallon of builders flat costs about $10 or less and a gallon of Aura is $50. All washable paints need two coats as well, so it's double the actual painting labor. The biggest thing is when you suddenly add a color to the walls, you are adding double cutting in all ceiling lines which adds a tremendous amount of time.

I agree it's best to paint the walls last when you are upgrading to a washable finish, but many builders won't let the painters do this because it screws up their precious schedules too much. They are used to the floor finishers coming in after the painters to beat the hell out of the walls and it's hard for them to change to a system that makes more sense. The only people that come in after me are the cleaning people...makes the touch ups minimal.

paintguy and I were typing probably about the same time. Everything he said also. In reality yes the cleaning people should be the only ones to come in , but that is in a make believe world most of the time.

Oh and pmacbee you might want to make sure what the cleaning people are using also. Meaning the things I mentioned before.
Needless to say, same cleaning people of the same contractor and they find finger prints on doors or chairrails I have painted before - come to find out when questioned about the sheen difference I was seeing at an angle, they decided to run magic erasers across the items . Well was I highly pi*sd. Lets just say magic erasers are not in their cleaning supplies.