Considering the fact the product familarity was not there, all in all my son and his friend who are not professionals, but paint whole interiors of residential structures often, did well IMHO, cause it could have been a total disaster otherwise. I was in and out if this job, demanding speed and wet rollers, however the 16-18' walls contributed to the issues we had. I was joking that we needed a few Wagner power painter rollers...those ones where the paint would be automatically pumped to the covers. My son kept telling me to take control of his roller and I refused which looking back was stupid on my part. He described what he was feeling at which point I should have stopped the job altogether but was on a mission to get the paint on the walls and get it behind us. Knowing now from what this forum has revealed, I will probably take the reigns now and odds are I can pull off a good result. Two things made me question the product out of the gate...the 0 VOC (which I could give two craps about), and the paint/primer combo (if really legit anyway). Had I known the outcome of the event, I would have jumped on the Regal old formula versus this newer variant, as the distributor is still stocking the older formulation. I would have purchase additional material and stored it under the closest conditions to perfect I could achieve. OPen time of 30 seconds under weather conditions of 62 degrees with rain throughout this job would only seem to help open time....unless I'm missing something there. I could see if I was using a urethane something or other having the humidity help the cure, reducing open time. But even at that, the urethane open time would be plenty long versus 30 seconds of the Regal Select. Well, in the end, live and learn. However, after speking to another reputable distributor in North NJ, I was told I should have had no issues applying Regal Select over flat Ultra Spec 500. I'm sure others on this forum will tell me this other distributor is FOS and incompetent, but perhaps not.
Well, this forum is for professionals only. Obviously in painting that term is loose as there's no real qualifying body for residential painters really, and its quite easy to proclaim yourself as such, albeit maybe some in a few states like California, and PDCA which is not really that relevant.
That said, there's DIYTalk, which is where mods direct most DIY paint questions to. I've given out WAY too much information for a DIYer who thinks painters are all beer drinking slobs who can magically put good finishes on without thought.
Do people still try to "keep a wet edge" with today's latex paint?!. I usually try to make sure my edges are dry before I roll. Also Super Spec 500 is not really a Sealer, it's more of a ceiling paint. At least thats what I use it for. Are you a contractor or just a home owner?
I think it depends on the paint. I think SW is mostly designed more for wet edge style application. Benjamin Moore and Behr (Behr feels like bootleg Benjamin Moore) are definitely not wet edge friendly paints but depending on conditions you can apply them as such. I think it's why people complain about flashing/hatbanding a lot with SW paints, as they apply them to dry cuts, sometimes 2-3 days old over a weekend, etc. Even my SW rep when I told him my technique he said that's a much better technique.
Generally my process (which some people think is asinine but whatever) is try to go one wall at a time, as in, cut the whole wall in, roll into wet cuts, wait to dry, repeat. Sometimes if it's a bigger area or a job without critical lighting/etc, I'll cut the whole first coat in first and then roll, but then second coat repeat wall by wall cut and roll. When I work with other pros they tend to like cutting in a whole house, or even doing cut cut roll roll techniques, which I don't like to do and sometimes it does flash, even if it's just vaguely. I understand doing it their way for the sake of job speed, but I don't like it. I also personally like it as I can apply a heavier cut line for my first cut, then get the roller up there and make it all pretty seamless, no nonsense with a mini roller feathering out your cuts, etc. But it's also nice as if you apply it a bit thick/saggy you can fix it as long as you're not crazily heavy. But having everything wet and drying at almost the same time I like more and feel more confident in.
Regal or Aura if it's drying quickly I'll do cut everything then roll, though. But if it's eggshell over eggshell or satin, I'll go one wall at a time to keep it all wet, as since the surface is sealed it's not going to dry instantly. I think the eggshells and satin/pearl/semi Regal is a little slower drying anyway, I think they say 2 hour recoats on some of those cans. Matte and flat dry quicker.
Obviously it varies but imo wet edge is still an important concept overall in painting. How are you supposed to paint a door casing for example, especially with a fast dry paint like Aura? You need to have a wet edge strategy of inside, outside, middle face. So even if it doesn't apply for cut and roll with some but not all modern paints, it's still relevant imo. Same with rolling, you don't want to just stop rolling and talk on the phone in the middle of a wall and come back 5 minutes later.
