Any oil based paint can be painted over with the proper prep. I have no idea what BM told you about the krud kutter but an surprised they did. A light sanding, cleaning and a quality bonding primer is what you need to do.

Paintguy, Thank you so much for your in-depth response - which of course triggered more questions:) hee hee Trim - After your post and speaking with the SW and BM sales guys I think I'm set on doing a latex trim. It just makes more sense. My trim is very dark. So the SW guy told me to use the All Surface enamel because he said the waterborne Pro Classic cannot be done in dark colors. He recommended using a Preprite Holds Gloss Primer on it and then the All Surface enamel gloss. Do you think that is a low quality paint? I looked up Graham paint - none in Charlotte, NC. So I looked up Muralo. They have it listed at a hardware store here. Could that really be superior to a SW or BM bought from a paint store? Oh and the SW guy also told me no dark trim can be made in a waterborne - he said only light to medium trim colors in waterborne. He also said the painter could put in a float or slow trowl product to allow the spread of the brush marks to spread smoother. Wall color - I totally agree about the chalkiness of flat. Plus I am doing dark rich colors that may mar easily. I used BM Regal washable matte in the last house and liked it. But the SW sales rep told me Duration Home is much superior. He said the finish isn't quite as "creamy" as the Cashmere, but it holds up much better. Also, Cashmere and Duration Home in matte cannot be done in dark colors, only in light to medium tones. He said I had to use Color Accents for dark colors like crabby apple red. He said the dark could be done in Duration Home only if I did it in satin or semi. I don't know if the Color Accents is very durable and it will be in a semi-busy area. And I don't know if it goes on nicely. You mentioned the Duration Home looks "gritty" Does that mean you like the BM Regal Matte better, or do you have another washable choice brand you like best? SW guy says it's not quite as nice as Cashmere, but close. If I go satin won't both look nice? If I use satin in both will the Duration still be more durable? Lastly, we went to see a painters work today. He had a lot of flashing on the medium tone painted ceiling. He said it was a normal issue. It was very obvious around the recessed lights, which they said where dropped down and painted around and it was very obvious at the ceiling to wall cut-in line. SW guy told me that it was because he didn't keep a wet edge and that with a dark color on the ceiling the painter should have the cut in guy go first, followed immediately by the roller. YOUR Opinion? The thing that turned me off mostly about this man's work was the fact that he caulks last in the attempt to make the cut-in line sharper. He says he paints over the caulk, but we saw a finished home and there was no doubt the white caulk could be seen between the cream trim and the light green wall. I thought it looked like a odd way to get a straight line. What concerns me more though is my trim is dark chocolate, so obviously caulking last wouldn't work. This was a HIGH end custom painter, doing million dollar homes! I have never, in all my homes, seen it done this way...is it a new practice? Sorry so long. Thank you again SO very much for the responses!!! Squirt

I would be okay with using the Zinnser 123 (the latex version) to prime oil based trim. If you are painting flat over flat on the walls, there really is no reason to spot prime. In fact, it is really not recommended because those spot primed areas could flash through the flat paint layer. If you really want to spot prime, then use the flat paint itself, not an actual primer. I still haven't found a water based clear coat that I like. You need to apply 3-5 coats with sanding in between to get the wood smooth and I only want to apply two coats and be done. So, this depends on how picky you are and how much time you want to spend sanding and applying successive coats. I prefer and oil based sanding sealer followed by a coat of oil based poly or varnish.

I wouldn't focus "totally" on just the $$$... Think of the "Total $ value" added to the home, etc. >>> I think some people tend to think too "small box" when improving their homes, and get too concerned over the price of a single gallon of product. >>> Yet $$Thousands$$ are spent on furniture, tiles, etc., that can easily be "too trendy", and REDUCE a homes value! If another $100 (or whatever $ amount...) in paint adds "even more" to the worth....just sayin'.... The additional $$/sq. ft. soon become meaningless. Plus, a high-end finish like FPE wears VERY well too. However... CC is a very good finish. It's NOT Low-VOC however. Colors can be tedious to match into this line. The ACE Cabinet, Door, & Trim paint IS Low-VOC, looks very nice, easily tinted to ANY ACE color, and can be sold in all 50 states...CC cannot. ...gettin' off my soapbox now...;-) Faron