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Should You Paint Your Walls with High-Gloss Interior Paint?

Should You Paint Your Walls with High-Gloss Interior Paint?

Should you take a walk on the glossy side?

Here's a quick recap.

You want your interior walls to look their best, but also to be durable, washable, and easy to touch up. Typically, this would call for a slightly higher-sheen interior paint, like a middle-of-the-road eggshell or satin. Popular options like these provide a pleasant balance of shine, durability, and easier application.

If you go with a glossier paint, like semi-gloss or gloss, the finish is super durable but the application is much more labor-intensive. Imperfections are obvious, both in your surface and/or your technique, making it crucial to invest in serious preparation and have strong painting skills. That's why high-gloss paint is typically used for surfaces like trim, doors, and cabinets.

Insider Tip...

Low sheen paint used to be used for ceilings only since it was easy to scuff and mark. It covers surfaces beautifully, and is very forgiving, but just not strong enough for higher-traffic spaces. That's all changed in recent years as paint formulas have improved. So, if you want a high-gloss finish, go for it! But if you're worried about durability, don't write off lower-gloss paint too quickly. Talk to your painting company about your goals and needs.

Painting a Wall with High-Gloss Paint - What’s Involved?

high-gloss-interior-paint-Oakland-1-edited.jpg#asset:5444

As you can see in the photo above, high-gloss paint covering a whole wall offers a simply stunning look. The sheen makes the surface appear almost liquid, creating a depth that just isn’t possible any other way.

Here’s another example, used in a bathroom ceiling we recently painted.

So, how can this effect be achieved? Here are the steps that led to the dark walls you see above, outlined by one of our talented Crew Leaders.

  1. Drywall Must Be a Level 5 Finish - This means it is flawless and smooth, often involving skim coating to make sure the surface is nothing short of perfect

  2. 2-3 Coats of Primer

  3. Sand the Walls - In this case, we used a sanding block with 320 sandpaper

  4. Wipe the Walls - There can’t be any dust left behind

  5. Finish Coats - 2-3 coats of acrylic high-gloss applied with a sprayer

Should You Hire a Professional for Your High-Gloss Interior Painting Needs?

Yes, we definitely recommend it.

There really is no margin for error; one misstep will create a blatant flaw. It also is an extremely labor-intensive process, calling for very specific skills, tools, and experience.

Let’s Discuss Your Bay Area Painting Project!

The MB Jessee Painting team is ready to help. Contact us today!

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Customer Reviews

“Edy and crew are hard at work. They are doing a great job. Very professional outfit you have. Your crew is a delight. You may use me for a reference!”

— Heidi B
Walnut Creek

“The completed 'Client Satisfaction Survey' we sent in only modestly reflects our total satisfaction with the work. As a retired small business owner, I compliment you on setting 'best practices' that are consistently followed. Everything described in your marketing materials was a reality! The crew is a super bowl team and our neighbors commented on how quiet they were. We are very happy to be a client of MB Jessee.”

— Richard
Orinda

“Very easy to work with, they did an outstanding job with our project of re-painting our painting our kitchen cabinets. Given the scope of the job and that our kitchen is roughly half of our upstairs living area they did a fantastic job of minimizing the mess. Workmanship was top notch, would definitely recommend.”

— Vince Scola

“Dear Matt,You must be so proud of your men! They were fantastic to have around. Polite, courteous and hardworking. I am so pleased with the outcome of our home--in fact, I couldn't be any more pleased than I am!”

— Mrs. S
San Leandro

“Charles finished yesterday and did a fantastic job. We really enjoyed meeting Charles and having him in our home. He is a great guy in addition to his attention to detail in his work, the protection of our floors, walls and furnishings, and his overall interaction with us both. I would be pleased to recommend him to any of my clients.”

— Ken Morrison
Oakland

“In all the years I've worked with MB Jessee, I'm always so impressed by your crews. They are so respectful of everything--you never even know they're there! Except that the paint looks amazing when they're gone. We've had one showing of our home and already have an offer. I'm sure it is because the paint looks so beautiful.”

— Erin T.
Pleasant Hill

“MB Jessee just finished our exterior and we couldn't be happier with our experience. The foreman (Pedro) and lead painter (Ricardo) were incredible to work with: they communicated scheduling clearly, Ricardo was a joy to be around every day, the showed up early every day, were incredibly tidy and did great paint work. The final walk through experience was incredible. Pedro pointed out items I missed demonstrating a clear desire to complete another quality project. I highly recommend them. As others have noted they definitely aren't the cheapest but you quickly realize that you're getting what you pay for. The 3 year guarantee is also a nice touch since there are likely touch up items that will show up after the job is done.”

— Joshua Jansen

“The people at M.B. Jessee are great – from the painters to the office staff to Matt. Talk about leadership from the top.”

— Kevin Ames, Mark Becker Homes

“Today I received a beautiful bouquet from your company. It was totally unexpected and very much appreciated--a lovely surprise. Also today, your crew finished my job. I am so pleased with all their fine work. Richard is absolutely amazing and a total delight to work with. He was also extremely helpful during the paint color process. The interior work in my home far exceeded my expectations. A big thank you to you and the crew for an outstanding job. Thank you, thank you for a terrific job!”

— Barbara
Piedmont

“Hello Matt,Just another notice of thanks to your wonderful crew, Rigoberto, Javier and John. They did fantastic work, with Rigo providing meticulous and conscientious attention to the details and excellent woodwork finishing, as evidenced by the beautiful fireplace. Javier did a fantastic job in the bathroom especially, it looks "brand new," and John always does quality work, both with the interior and exterior. I can tell they care about what they do. Rigo's "punch out" was very thorough, too. I will call again when I need some more work and will definitely recommend your company and fine crew. I also felt as a homeowner, I could leave my house in their good hands during the day and that took a lot of worry from me, they were honest, prompt and reliable. They were also very kind, respectful and clean in their work, very professional. Thank you.”

— Beth Marx & Melissa Kirsch
Oakland

“Many thanks to Rigoberto and Damon and the extraordinary team who transformed my castle in the skies.They are magicians. I appreciate their work very much.”

— Kathleen A
San Francisco

“My entire experience with MB Jesse was very professional. The crew were very friendly and super accommodating of my ridiculous schedule and geriatric pets in the house. The finished product, which was pretty much my entire house, far exceeds my expectations. Would definitely work with them again!”

— Heather Jordan