Yep...new texture repair areas are VERY porous! * It's like painting over a thin chalk layer, which isn't too far from the truth... * Semi-glosses are pretty sensitive to ANY variation in surface porosity. * Your 2nd paint-coat will look lots better, since the 1st coat is "plugging more holes" (reducing porosity). * I would've done another full prime-coat AFTER all repairs/texturing have been done. This way, surface porosity is greatly reduced, allowing the glossier paints to develope their sheen ON TOP OF the full prime-coat. Other sheen-reducing factors: Pushing paint too thin, so-so quality roller-covers, not laying-off columns of paint...leading to thin areas of lesser sheen. (We go through LOTS of ACE-Royal where I work!) Faron

I don't know how, but obviously I missed this post. :) Hi Susan! I love primitives and I LOVE your tables. I wouldn't change them either. Even if they are repros, nobody else knows right? ha Is it really tall enough for a table?, because I swear it looks like what my g-ma used as a milking stool. It's wonderful. I love the way you painted your pin boxes. Very cute and something I'm sure GD will cherish. I will reinterate on the sealing. I just started using the Thompsons Waterseal in the spray can for outdoor things myself. Haven't used it long enough for a true test, but I use a clear acrylic spray sealer on every project I finish. You can buy it in glossy or matte. If you continue to paint please keep sharing your projects with us. We love anything painted. ~Anj

As klem1 says, rubbing out the lacquer will give the best result and optimal control over the final gloss. Achieving a perfect high gloss finish is not easy, but a slightly burnished look is readily accomplished. Your approach is somewhat backwards vs what is usually done, eg to apply gloss until the final coat, then finish with a semi-gloss or matte. The particulates that reduce the gloss level muddy the finish, so most folks keep them to a minimum, only in the top coat.

Lukkiirish and Paintguy22: thanks so much for hanging in here with me. Earlier today I emailed SW corporate asking if there were any health risks associated with using A-100 indoors and if yes, what is the fix. They say they will respond within 48 hours so I should have something in writing soon. I will update the folks here when I get the 411. In the meantime, I plan to send an email to the GC asking him to verify with the local office that indoor use is an approved use, that it poses no health hazard and that I can sand it and paint over it with any paint of my choice when the time comes. I guess I should send another inquiry off to corporate asking the same exact thing. I'm not out of the woods, but I'm feeling much better. Thank you all again. Honu