Trim / baseboard painting - what to use?

[92saturnsl2]

The house I recently purchased needs a repaint, and I'm not sure exactly what I should be using for trim/baseboards and the like.

For the walls I went with Sherwin Williams Cashmere, low luster in the living areas/bedrooms/kitchen and the pearl which is a bit glossier sheen for the bathrooms. Chose a neutral light gray except the bathrooms which I used color.

I intend to paint the trim white (that seems to be the default color for trim), but I'm not really sure what sheen I should be using? I've done plenty of Googling and suggestions seem all over the place. Some recommend matte, others semi-gloss, and plenty of folks prefer high-gloss. What would you guys recommend? The current trim paint seems a satin sheen or perhaps semi-gloss, but it has lots of brush strokes and looks pretty bad as is, so I'm open to change. Any prep work required to remove the brush strokes present in the existing paint, or simply paint over?

Any certain paint type (oil, latex, product line, etc.) you guys would recommend for this application? I prefer to stay with Sherwin Williams as I have a commercial account at work that gives a discount, which seems to match or beat (in most cases) pricing for Behr and other paints found at the box stores.

 

[MParr]

Interior latex in gloss or semi-gloss. I’m not familiar with Sherwin Williams product line. I’m used to using Porter/Pittsburgh/PPG.
This is the stuff that I’ve used and it’s really good.

PPG ADVANTAGE 900 Interior/Exterior - Professional Quality Paint Products - PPG

www.ppgpaints.com

Maybe S&W has something comparable.

 

[skyactiv]

Eons ago, I used Sherwin Williams Pro Classic for white trim work. Oil based. Needed 3 coats but seemed very durable.

 

[skyactiv]

I should have stated I wouldn’t use it if I painted white trim again.

 

[MParr]

Don’t cheap out on your brushes.

 

[reemoeMO]

Most trim is semi-gloss, and is what I used when I painted bare quarter-rounds when we redid our flooring last month. I took a small section to the store with me; their machine was able to match the paint color very well.

 

[Warstud]

I would use semi-gloss because of durability and easy cleanup for baseboard. Same for bathrooms and kitchen.

 

[Danh]

I’d suggest a latex cabinet paint in satin. Cabinet paints are self-leveling and satin will do a better job of hiding surface imperfections that glossier finishes.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Eons ago, I used Sherwin Williams Pro Classic for white trim work. Oil based. Needed 3 coats but seemed very durable.

Back when I used to paint houses, we too used gloss oil based. You had to open every window in the house, that stuff was strong!!

 

[CarLuver]

you might consider using a paint conditioner like flotrenol whne painting trim. it delays drying so the brush strokes flatten out. i just painted my trim bright white in semi gloss. still looks good after 15 years

on the old brush strokes it will be a lot of work to sand them down. i once saw a show where they used a chemical to strip the trim and they found over 10 layers of paint . the house was pretty old though. i would just paint over it unless you must have perfect