Help! Is this Eggshell or Satinwood white or neither?

[gixer1000]

I moved into a new build 3 bed house 12 months ago. It is one of a plot of 20 houses. It was unfurnished, but all walls and woodwork (inc. doors) were painted in plain neutral white - not magnolia. We have re-painted the walls in our own choice of soft but contrasting colours. The problem now is that some of the woodwork paint is already in need of touching up or completely repainting due to flaking and/or discolouration. I really like the 'matt' look of the woodwork paint and want to use the same, but I can't find what it actually is. I have been to homebase etc. and they all think it is eggshell because of the very flat matt/non sheen appearance. I have a couple of pics, but obviously the light is a big factor and will make it hard for you to determine what it actually is. I can't imagine it being anything special, as the contractors had to paint 20 houses with it. I was thinking maybe Dulux Trade Eggshell. Any ideas? Sorry about the poor pics.

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[sunshinex]

dulux eggshell is fine. Is the most matt finish availiable, apart from Farrow & Ball who do a dead flat finish. If you want a more matt apperance, you could use a water based/acrylic eggshell.

 

[gixer1000]

Could this be a water based/acrylic paint that was used anyway? I'm just worried about committing to the Dulux eggshell and regretting it because it looks too shiny or too bright white.

 

[Robbie uk]

The only thing with eggshell is that it has an open grain and will let dirt and finger marks into it. These are then difficult to wipe off. The finish looks laike satin wood that has been thinned down. This will take some of the sheen off it. The flaking will most likely to be where a water based undercoat has been used, probably for speed. You always need an oil basd primer on raw woodwork.

 

[SoftCentre]

Looks like instead of coating the new wood with solvent based undercoat they have been on price work/ bonus and have just gave it a couple coats of acrylic primer/undecoat, this is why its flaking, In answer to your question it looks like a white acrylic eggshell.

 

[gixer1000]

Thanks to all the posters so far. The paintwork does seem quite easy to clean, I have cleaned all the marks from the doors with hot soapy water and they look good as new. Would this be the case with eggshell? It's just the architraves that are bad, mainly because of the flaking and chips. As a total amateur to painting, I'm now unsure what to do next. I suppose I can't just touch up the paintwork as any new paint I choose will more than likely look a little different. What can I do with the flaking paint that goes all the way back to the bare wood? What I really need is for someone to recommend me a specific paint to use that would be as close as possible to what I have now and exactly how I should prep and do the job properly

 

[joe-90]

You'll find the painters have used emulsion instead of primer. They do it all the time. By the time it flakes they've long gone.