# Regal select



## Bighead

Just finished a project where we used 7 gallons of Eggshell Regal Select. Linen white over something similar to antique white. Application was a breeze. It dries slower than Aura and has a very low sheen. But coverage sucked. We had to cut 3 coats in some areas. I have the same issue with Aura. At $48 (Select) and $60(Aura) per gallon these products are a real letdown.


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## CliffK

Linen white over antique white in 3 coats, sounds like a real painter friendly money making product!!!! Thanks for the review. How would you compare it to the standard BM Regal Eggshell?


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## TheRogueBristle

I've spread more than two dozen gallons of Select on a couple of projects over past two of weeks, in Semi, Pearl and Eggshell. The Eggshell was in Acadia White and the pearl was in various colors. The only one's I had a little trouble with coverage on the cut was on the first coat with the medium blues. Two coats was definitely solid in each color. 

Frankly I'm starting to like the Select quite a bit. The Semi sprays pretty nice and flows well, with complete hide over unprimed nail patches and excellent adhesion. No need to prime drywall patches if doing two coats on walls. I agree $45 is a little pricey for wall paint, but I think it saves you time a gives a better finished product. It kinda seems to have a lot of the qualities of Aura, but without the exorbitant price and application hassles.


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## Schmidt & Co.

Thats weird, I've been using it exclusively for the last 3-4 months and think it covers great! My crew also likes it more than the old Regal. And _my cost _is $37.43 plus tax.....


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## TheRogueBristle

Not to hijack, but Schmidt, have you seen any need to maintain a wet edge when cutting walls with the Select Egg?


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## DeanV

I want to try select on the next home we are doing, but they might upgrade to Aura.


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## Schmidt & Co.

TheRogueBristle said:


> Not to hijack, but Schmidt, have you seen any need to maintain a wet edge when cutting walls with the Select Egg?


Not at all, but we usually do out of habit. Most time I'll have two guys cutting wall and one rolling. Of course on a small room there will be less guys at the wall, but so far so good.


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## Schmidt & Co.

I should also say that I've been only using it as my wall paint. Trim I usually go with the water base Satin Impervo and either Muresco on the lid or the waterborne ceiling paint.


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## Wood511

You really need to look at the base and the colors and what it's going over. I did an entire interior with Aura this week. Some colors were great, others I had issues. Same paint, but different formulations depending on the colors being added. I talked to the rep and he's going to pass it up the line that this particular color may need to be reformulated - he mentioned putting more white in it.

I'm almost to a point where I can spec different paints for different rooms based solely on colors. 

I've had crappy experiences with some paints, then tried them again in different situations and they perform great. Either way, cutting 3 coats doesn't make that next gallon something to look forward to.


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## straight_lines

I have had issues with it as well. Coverage for me hasn't been that great in 1x base for me either. 3 and 4x cover amazing, but will hatband. Not real bad, but bad enough to make me not want to use it. 

I will do a mini review when I get the video processed. Overall I am disappointed in it to be honest.


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## NCPaint1

That's surprising. I've only used the Select twice so far and it was awesome. Color definitely plays a big part in it. I did some brush outs with semi and couldn't believe how well it leveled. I was expecting it to be mediocre at best.


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## PatsPainting

Out here in California, We have been using the "Regal Select" for the last three years. It's not called Select here just regular Regal 1x 2x 3x 4x instead of 1b 2b ... I think it covers great, never had a issue with coverage. I can't think of one time where I needed to do three coats. 

want to add we still get the old regal pricing - $36 or so a gallon

Pat


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## NCPaint1

Same here pat..$37


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## TheRogueBristle

Dang you guys. I'm paying $45

At around $36 I think it's a no-brainer.


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## straight_lines

$37 and some change for me as well. I will get the colors that really gave me issues, but I do remember the DR was a really deep blue called Old Navy. It hat banded really bad, I was rolling super tight, and keeping a wet edge.

I never could get it right, and just went and bought a gallon of Aura. Maybe I need to try some different naps and see if I get better results. I will post up some pics with the color numbers and see if you guys have suggestions.


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## Lornmastro

I recently had a job. It was to paint over an existing faux finish...was not covering easily....a three coater. Had purchased regal from my bm dealer then needed additonal paint. the closest dealer only had regal select...my bm dealer was too far away. ended up using the regal select in the hallway of a bedroom...regal in the main section of the bedroom. The regal select definitly covered better then the old regal. so regal select does have my vote.


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## ewingpainting.net

I just landed a job that is speced Regal, but what the hell do I care, their paying for it. I've been using more and more of benny these days. Haven't seen any major difference than my preferred. But ya, who cares, if that's what the client wants, you got it, no problemo


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## Wood511

If it takes you 3-4 coats, there will be mucho problemo. I had a client pay for and purchase Behr Ultra Premium Plus and it was a huge problem...bad coverage and the stuff didn't behave well at all. It was just the wrong paint for the job.

What do you guys do in that situation? Let's say you spec and estimate based on two coats - but they pick the paint. What if three coats is "not quite there" and they want a 4th? And presumably the paint you choose would do it in two.

I have a clause in my contract that takes care of this situation, but I'm curious what some of you do?


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## BrushJockey

Any of you guys compare "Ben" to R Select? Seems like about the same except RS comes in matte, which is my favorite wall finish. 
Haven't used much of either yet, but ready to try as replacement for Aura when cost is a factor.


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## dubinpainting

Bighead said:


> Just finished a project where we used 7 gallons of Eggshell Regal Select. Linen white over something similar to antique white. Application was a breeze. It dries slower than Aura and has a very low sheen. But coverage sucked. We had to cut 3 coats in some areas. I have the same issue with Aura. At $48 (Select) and $60(Aura) per gallon these products are a real letdown.


I actually like the Regal Select I thought it covered fine.


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## TheRogueBristle

Wood511 said:


> If it takes you 3-4 coats, there will be mucho problemo. I had a client pay for and purchase Behr Ultra Premium Plus and it was a huge problem...bad coverage and the stuff didn't behave well at all. It was just the wrong paint for the job.
> 
> What do you guys do in that situation? Let's say you spec and estimate based on two coats - but they pick the paint. What if three coats is "not quite there" and they want a 4th? And presumably the paint you choose would do it in two.
> 
> I have a clause in my contract that takes care of this situation, but I'm curious what some of you do?


_If_ they have chosen the paint, I go back to them and let them know the situation. If they want another coat, we see if we can work something out. If we can't work anything out, it comes down to the contract and the number of coats that were specified. I usually don't have any problem going back to the client for a little extra when it is needed.


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## NACE

My experience with Regal Select is that I was given a job to repaint the interior of house for rental. I wanted to try the Regal and see what it's handling and application properties were. The existing surface was a gyp wall previously painted with BM Linen white flat in all rooms. A typical repaint. I tried the Regal Select tinted to Linen White, going over a flat/matte Linen White. The hide was poor. The application and handling with brush and roll was outstanding. Because it was spec'ed one coat, I had to switch to Aura Matte, and Aura Bath and Spa, and had no hide issue over marks left over from the previous renter. That said, the 1X base did not perform for the task at hand, however in the darker color the Regal Select has equally as good hide as Aura, slower dry times, but does not have the burnish resistance that Aura has. The touch up on Aura is better, the recoat times are better, and the spread rate is better over previously painted surfaces. The Aura saved time and material costs in this scenario, however I could have acheived the same result with Glidden Professional Diamond 450 at $28.00 a gallon +/- vs $58. Total gallons used for 2200 sq ft were 6 gallons of Aura. [email protected]$58= $348. Theoretically, Diamond 450 @ $28x6=$168. Time would be the same. Hope that makes sense.


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## b2dap1

I dont like the Regal Select semi- gloss. Aura semi is the best! For the walls its fine. Just like the other 50 different wall paints BM has, fine. Aura is always the best, its like butter!


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## Wood511

BrushJockey said:


> Any of you guys compare "Ben" to R Select? Seems like about the same except RS comes in matte, which is my favorite wall finish.
> Haven't used much of either yet, but ready to try as replacement for Aura when cost is a factor.


I've used quite a bit of ben and it's usually very good. If I'm not mistaken, ben all the way up to Aura all use Gennex? I've heard from a few BM people - store guys and reps - that the more color you put in Aura the better it gets. I have to say I've found that to be true with my very limited Aura experience. I did an interior last week with Aura and the dark green, medium brown and dark brown all covered great and behaved well. The light pink (candy stripe) was pretty bad though...didn't cover that well and wanted to flee the brush quite actively in a bad way. All other factors were precisely the same between colors.

ben has been strong across the spectrum. I could have gotten away with single coating tan over maroon (flat) a few weeks back. It was scary good. I haven't found a reason to use R Select just yet.

Maybe I'm alone here in thinking there is some holy grail of color and behavior magic for paint within certain constraints. I have found combinations that work really well and others that don't. When I finally figure it out, I'm confident they will change everything on me.


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## straight_lines

Mkay here are pics, and the colors that were an issue. You guys tell me if this is acceptable to you. Strange thing is some colors in the same base were fine, the pastels did ok for the most part.

Angular sheen with matte is still an issue, this house has lots of large open windows but a lot of houses do.:whistling2:

I personally painted this kitchen myself, this is two coats and as you can see just won't do. Color is AF 570 a pastel grey-blue matte. 

Crappy phone camera, but it relays the point. 



This is the room I abandoned RS and bought a gallon of Aura, after two coats Regal Select looked pathetic. Coverage was good, hat banding looked like a $20 paint, didn't get any pics this is after one coat of aura.

2063-10 matte 



Below is the cut that lost someone their job, well actually it was them mouthing off saying I was being a nitpicking prick that got them fired. 

Still lots of angular sheen in this pastel.

Color is 955.


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## straight_lines

Continued...


These two pastels did great, almost one coat coverage. No angular sheen issues.

AF 595 


HC 142


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## PatsPainting

It almost looks as if you cut after your rolled, doubt that is the case. One thing I always try to do is have the cut line no more then 1". I Keep looking at the blue grey pics and it also seems the cut is a different color.

Pat


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## straight_lines

So I wanted to post and redeem Select on that grey. Seems it may have been fault after all. Well mine and the paint store for not mixing the paint well enough, there was a ton of solid white at the bottom.

I boxed, stirred, and strained these two gallons, and there was a tiny bit left in one can. When I repainted the room, I came back and this is what it had done.

Pot I was working out of.. 
Click for full size


Click for full size
Pot left to sit for about 20 minutes while I was repainting the room.


Finished repaint, I think maybe my cut bucket had way less pigment than what was in the roller pan originally..


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## NCPaint1

Yep, that'll do it. Most of the dark colors need to be agitated then spun on a gyro mixer. If the store doesn't have both types, extra shake time should take care of it. I always worry more about colorant sticking under the rim of the can, then settling later.


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## b2dap1

I just used Regal Select Matte in a deep red.(lots of tint). When I went back a few weeks later to touch up from the furniture guys it looked like garbage. After I stirred it all was fine. I just dont ever remember a paint doing this in such a short time.


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## NCPaint1

b2dap1 said:


> I just used Regal Select Matte in a deep red.(lots of tint). When I went back a few weeks later to touch up from the furniture guys it looked like garbage. After I stirred it all was fine. I just dont ever remember a paint doing this in such a short time.


I know that many times they do this on purpose. Most paints need to be stirred again after sitting 4-6hrs. When it is visibly separated, its easy to tell that it needs to be stirred. Lots of paints will still look good after several days of sitting in the can. This can lead to problems because people wont take the time to stir their paint because it "looks fine".


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## b2dap1

NCPaint1 said:


> I know that many times they do this on purpose. Most paints need to be stirred again after sitting 4-6hrs. When it is visibly separated, its easy to tell that it needs to be stirred. Lots of paints will still look good after several days of sitting in the can. This can lead to problems because people wont take the time to stir their paint because it "looks fine".


Not only did it separate but it was really thick like mud. After I stirred it, the paint was fine. I wish I had a pic to show you guys. But in the end, it was fine and touched up great.


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## NCPaint1

b2dap1 said:


> Not only did it separate but it was really thick like mud. After I stirred it, the paint was fine. I wish I had a pic to show you guys. But in the end, it was fine and touched up great.


I know, sometimes when we open cans to tint, you can stand a paint stick straight up in it.


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## H2O Paint Chemist

*Color separation, syneresis*

These problems are actually a sign of how well Duration and Aura were formulated. T


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## H2O Paint Chemist

*Settling*

This is actually a sign of how well Aura and Duration were formulated. Their self priming properties come from the quality and quantity of solids they were able to jam into each molecule of water, which is no mean trick. The trade off is somewhat more rapid settling, taking some of the color with it. As noted by previous postings, you can get around this by vigorous agitation. The water floating on top of the can is syneresis, which can also be fixed with agitation.

I've noticed that the better grade TiO2's are more vulnerable to these settling problems, another indication that BM and SW are using top grade ingredients.

All these problems are easily fixed by making the paint thicker, but this would make application very difficult.


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