I have a question for everyone about painting. What type of paint do you use on your rentals Semi Gloss or Egg Shell? Also do you use the same for the ceiling? The ceiling is Popcorn --76.33.xxx.xxx

Paints are said to have improved over the years. I think that's just advertising so they could raise the prices or paint. Labor for painting has also gotten much, much more expensive. --24.180.xx.xxx

Ask Sherwin Williams. --204.10.xxx.xx

I have a large number of units with drop ceilings which tends to work out well as it's easy to change the ceiling panel or paint it if it's stained. --23.28.x.xxx

Flat paint looks good for about a minute. One bump or scratch or a dog rubbing against it and it's ruined. --173.18.xx.xxx

I’m an anomaly but I’ve always used good quality semi gloss. It’s so much easier to clean and I have had no kiddies touching it up. I just had my personal residence done and used satin on the walls, semi on doors and trim. I would never waste my time using flat paint. --47.201.xxx.xxx

There have been a few times we've experimented with painting the bathroom in exterior paint. Back-in-the-olden-days, that was pretty normal, especially in places with high humidity like where we live. Nowadays, it's not quite in favor, because people worry about the off-gassing. Although there's the dry time, there's also off-gassing that happens for another month or two afterwards as it cures, and off-gassing meant for the exterior of a building vs the off-gassing meant for the interior of a building are two different sets of chemistry. But because we paint our bathrooms ages before anyone actually moves in, it's never been a problem. But exterior paints usually have some kind of mildewcide in them, in addition to being meant for harsher environments, and in my 1920's-1940's places, it sometimes needs the extra help. A modern, newbuild place probably wouldn't need it. But half the time, I forget to pull out the extra paint and just use the regular interior anyways. --96.46.xxx.xxx

--70.166.xxx.xx

We just paint the ceilings with flat KILZ latex primer. --173.18.xx.xxx

--184.57.xxx.xxx

Ceilings get the cheap ceiling paint, white flat latex. If it's a B grade unit then I have the popcorn removed. It starts looking really bad after 20+ years and a few coats of paint. While it's a little messy and requires the floors to be covered with plastic, the entire ceiling can be scraped and prepped for new paint in a little over an hour per room. It's kind of expected on higher end places around here. --99.64.xx.xx

I have not been lucky enough to figure out feathering in semi-gloss paint for touch ups so I use the eggshell. --195.242.xxx.xxx

I used to use different sheens in different areas. It was extra work and no noticeable benefit so I switched to satin. About 5 years ago I switched to eggshell everywhere. It’s a nice compromise and looks nice. I do use only good quality paint. I used Kelley Moore before but switched to Benjamin M. I haven’t had any issues and the quality paint still cleans well. It also hasn’t been an issue in bathrooms. If it wasn’t so much extra work I would prefer the trim to be semi gloss. --162.204.xxx.xxx

Sometimes I have jokingly considered putting tile or come such around all the light switches. Seems people are dirtiest when they are looking for the switches for some reason. --47.227.xx.xxx

Thanks you to everyone who gave me valuable advice. I went with semi gloss. Once again thank you! Ernest --76.33.xxx.xxx

As mentioned by someone else, white paint inside of closets makes a lot of sense. Paint guy at Menards claimed that the Pristine line of Dutch Boy paint is vastly better than the mid to entry level Dutch Boy paints. I paid $50+ a gallon for eggshell and about $60 for semigloss. Used semi in bathroom and eggshell in living space and bedrooms. My prior experience with using DB paint was terrible, but that likely was because I used the lower level paint in their lineup. The Pristine line is really very good stuff. Excellent coverage and rated excellent for durability and resistance to scrubbing/cleaning. Menards paint mgr said that Sherwin Williams is the manufacturer of the Pristine line of Dutch Boy. --174.233.xxx.xx

So there has to be a balance between these concerns. As for painting ceilings- they are typically flat On a class c or lower though? You can paint the walls the same color as the ceiling --173.162.xxx.xxx

Semi gloss on every surface that gets painted: walls, trim and ceiling. Never had anyone complain at all about it. Easy to touch up and easy to clean. --24.52.xxx.xxx

The trade off with cleanliness and using exterior paint for less mildew chances has me wondering. --47.227.xx.xxx

As for closet painting - I take all the cans that I have left over from my other paint jobs that are not Swiss Coffee color and I mix them into about a gallon size blend that I call closet blend. --174.131.xxx.xxx

All rentals get semi-gloss for walls, some of my upper rentals do have some Satin on some walls, ceilings mostly get flat ceiling paint, except for bathrooms. --173.230.xxx.xxx

Again, I have failed miserably with feathering in semi-gloss while touching up spots. --47.227.xx.xxx

Semigloss for all the walls. High gloss for trim. Flat white ceiling. Use tsp to prep walls and trim prior to painting painting..it etches the surface to --86.160.xxx.x