Oil or latex for interior painting?

[Jeremy Y Uejio]

I'm planning to have my house painted (don't have time to do it myself :-)
and am wondering whether to use oil or latex based paint. One painter
says he uses latex and the other says he uses only oil. Does anyone have
any advice they could share? I'm not planning on painting the kitchen or
the bathroom and am only painting the insides for now (including the ceiling).

thanks,
jeremy

[Suzanne Stratton Heflin]

Has the painter that uses oil given any reasons for why he prefers it. I
don't know of any. One fairly big advantage of latex to the homeowner is
the lack of stink compared to oil based paints.

[tom.balent]

I have painted a number of rooms in my house, and - this is my own
opinion - I think that a good, high quality oil based paint
has a better finish than a good laytex. Of course it (1) costs more,
(2) is harder to clean up, and (3) as mentioned above, gives off more
fumes.

Just my $.02 worth...

[Steve Jeske]

In article <ko0lbq...@appserv.Eng.Sun.COM> ue...@kalani.Eng.Sun.COM writes:
>I'm planning to have my house painted (don't have time to do it myself :-)
>and am wondering whether to use oil or latex based paint. One painter
>says he uses latex and the other says he uses only oil. Does anyone have
>any advice they could share?

I was once told that California has outlawed "oil"-based paints, for
emission reasons. The same person also said that he knows painters
who drive out of the state to buy their paint (which makes what you
heard one say at least possible). I think modern "oil" based paints
are really "alkyd" base, instead. Maybe some chemist reading this can
tell us what the differences are. 8-) Here's all my dictionary says:

alkyd resin
(alkid),
Chem.
any of a group of sticky resins derived from dicarboxylic acids, as
phthalic or maleic acids, in reaction with glycols or glycerol: used
chiefly in adhesives and paints. Also called alkyd.
[ALKY(L + ACI)D + RESIN]

[Steve Jeske]

By coincidence, there is an article in the current (Jan. 92) issue of
Architectural Record which says "California limits VOCs in paint to
250 grams/liter. Typically, alkyd gloss paint contains about 450
grams/liter." With VOC meaning volatile organic compound, the main
difference between latex (water-based) paints and others. It mentions
that the federal EPA has a 1994 deadline to propose (implement? I
forget) national standards for such paint, by the way.

[Roger Vortman]

I usually use latex for both flat wall paint, and for semi-gloss trim paint.
It is true that oil-based semi-gloss paint on trim will last longer, but
having two very active young children leaves me touching up both the walls
and trim paint fairly often. Being able to clean up brushes and mistakes
with soap and water is very important to me. I really hate having to store
and fool with all the really bad, volatile stuff that you need to deal with
oil-based paints. If you don't have kids, and you want to do the best job
that will last for the longest time, then I would suggest oil-based
semi-gloss paint for your trim (and also for kitchen, bathroom, and laundary
room walls and ceilings as well).

-Roger