I walked into my house today to find that the ceiling had been painted. Unbeknownst to my wife or me the contractor painted the newly repaired ceiling (the old one had popcorn – not the movie theater variety – and been poorly patched by previous residents). We were preparing to paint it ourselves, which is a thankless task from what I can tell.
I bring this up since yesterday I reviewed Benjamin Moore’s Natura line of no VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint. The reason we had gone with the expensive, but nearly odorless paint is that we have little kids and did not want to expose them to the lingering scent of paint. In addition, I find the smell nauseating. When I stepped into the house tonight, I was overwhelmed by an unpleasant smell, paint. The contractor had used a different variety of paint. We have made several green decisions, many of which have proven to be more costly upfront. If I miss any time from work because of headaches resulting from the paint, I’ll know that it was only an upfront cost.
Often it is difficult to look past the sticker price when making home improvement decisions. Offgassing from potent paints is a long term issue that you’ll pay for in the end.