It is my understanding that Advance is more for trim and cabinetry. Advance has a leveling agent that doesn’t allow it to dry as fast and doesn’t show brush marks. It works great for trim/cabinets as I have used it. Is this what he painted your walls with?

Agree with ajrmcr. I think Advance is made in other sheens, but I've never used it on drywall.

Advance is not for drywall. Only trim.

Are you sure it's not just an empty can he just used to work out of? I can't imagine why anyone would choose to use Advance on walls.

Advance is not for walls, at all. It is not any cheaper than Regal Select, it is just a cabinet/trim paint. If he actually sprayed that on your walls, he's professionally incompetent and you should fire him immediately. It takes months to fully cure and you have a mess on your hands.

BM Aura is their waterborne made for walls. Regal Select is their top end traditional latex. Either one would be nice.

I may be remembering incorrectly then... it wasn’t Regal Select, or Aura or Regal. Maybe a Pro something if not Advanced? I called the paint store and now can’t remember exactly. I’ll call back on Monday AM since they are closed on Sunday. I do know I saw what looked like popped pinpoint bubbles on a couple walls, but it also Texas and 100 degrees and the first coat, so...

Let’s assume it was a suitable latex but a lesser line. Could he paint over with Regal Select?

Side note vent - this is the one contractor I let my husband handle on his own because he came with good recs for a trusted GC and another friend who just had him at their house. He is a good guy and does great detail work - but he can’t seem to get his crew organized on time. He was supposed to be there today with three guys, but he no showed and wouldn’t answer calls. My husband also let me know today this is the one guy we don’t have a detailed quote from, and we’ve paid him 65% of his total estimate so far. I’m about to strangle all involved.

And to add - the paint store said the Regal Select was about $130 more for 5 gals versus what the painter picked up. So sounds like it wasn’t Advanced and I’m remembering wrong. It was definitely BM though.

After doing more digging, I’m almost positive it was Ultra Spec - I had originally just looked at the BM site, so sorry for the confusion! So, I asked for Regal Select Eggshell and likely got a first coat in Ultra Spec Eggshell instead. Some walls were sprayed, some were rolled. I feel like it looks shinier than the Regal Select Eggshell, but could be my imagination? Only a handful look well covered, as I can see the outline of test patches and old wall paint in most rooms. The possibly higher sheen and low coverage is what promoted me to call the paint store to check on the order. Can I upgrade to Regal Select now, or did I get screwed by the first coat?

You can put Regal on top of Ultra Spec, but it doesn't always look perfect with just one coat. Sometimes the sheen uniformity is an issue. I would suggest trying it to see how it looks. Technically though, he should be applying two coats of what you asked and paid for.

Can't be second guessing the painter when the information keeps changing.

May be that first coat is a tinted primer? There is a primer in the Ultra Spec line.

What does the BM store say? I would ask them your sheen and coverage questions and take their advice.

Thank you guys! So sorry for the confusion on this, I was a bit flustered. It definitely wasn’t primer, the guys at Roosters confirmed it was Simply White Eggshell and my husband had already talked to the painter about spots that “might need a second coat” - um yeah, the whole house! The guy at Roosters also said it should be fine to put the Regal Select Eggshell over that. “Should” made me nervous. But I agree I need to talk to the painter myself, see what the issue is and get the right resolution. My husband is so anxious to get moved in, and he’s the one doing the day-to-day organization because my job is incredible stressful at the moment, but I’d rather stay in an AirBnB for a couple nights, which costs just a fraction of what the painter is charging us.

Unless it's the same paint color, a first coat rarely provides full coverage.

Regal Select has been a great paint in my experience. My daughter wanted a purple bedroom and I used it to put a royal purple over yellow. 1 coat no problem, no primer. Those are both usually things I tell people they shouldn't do but the paint handled it like a champ. I couldn't believe I didn't see any little pin pricks of yellow sticking through.

Yep; I've never been happy with only one coat. Especially with paint that has any sheen, including eggshell.

I know a lot of paints tout 'one coat coverage'. And, yes, they may 'cover' but it's that second coat that gives depth and makes all the difference, IMO.

OP did say the painter had applied 'the first coat' so that indicates he is planning at least one more coat of paint.

Thanks for all the feedback!

I finally talked to the painter yesterday. He apologized for not letting me know that he was downgrading to UltraSpec - he said that is the grade he had quoted and that the Regal Select would have been extra. Well, if I spec A, you need to let me know that before you go buy B, then I can make a decision about upgrading. Sigh... he already had more paint, and given our tight timeline, he didn’t feel comfortable switching lines mid-job in case it caused issues. So today he is doing he entire house with a second coat. I don’t know if that was the original plan, but it is the plan now.

Trim is next. Hopefully that goes well...

Hopefully that's what actually happened. And that he didn't just switch out for the cheaper paint because he didn't think you'd notice.

Is he going to use regal on the trim? If I were doing my own house, I would.

He didn't specify the paint he was going to use in his contract?

@wiscokid I had that thought as well... Of course there was added confusion because he usually does Sherwin Williams but I wanted a specific Benjamin Moore white and asked him to get it at BM rather than matching it in SW.

@jellytoast This is the one guy I let my husband handle on his own, and apparently there was a lot of verbal agreement because the paperwork is completely insufficient. He has also been doing a lot of dry wall and texture repair for us as well, which complicates scope of work even more when the two of them start riffing on things in person.

I know I know... Believe me, it has been a point of contention several times and will never happen again, but it is unfortunate that it is too late with the painter. I do have very specific quotes and agreements with every other contractor, and almost all of them have had me go pick out and pay for the materials myself so I get exactly what I want. Certainly wish I had done the same thing on paint.

@sofaspud The trim is already an issue because I originally went a long with my husband when he said he wanted semi-gloss trim. Then I started doing more of my own paint research and realized I wanted satin instead. Well, apparently the one and only thing this painter did on time was buy the paint, and he'd already purchased semi-gloss. I think it will be about $200-250 if I want to change at this point, and I'm very tempted to do that. He did say he could add a certain type of lacquer to dull the sheen a bit, so he did one room that way for us today and then I'll decide if that's OK or not tonight. As I'm typing that out, I realize it will make touchups difficult and honestly sounds like a bad idea compared to spending another $250...

If the paints are different sheens (which they probably will be) you will likely get flashing, where the top coat doesn't cover the bottom entirely. I would do 2 coats to get proper coverage - his bad, not yours.