Professional painters out there - should I have not insisted on a paint that the painter was not familiar with? A professional painter has to decide whether he or she is capable of producing professional results with the product. That is not your responsibility. Since the painter agreed to the contract and the materials, the painter is responsible for the results. Can the painter sand the runs after the last coat and the finish still look good? Runs and drips are caused by improper application. All runs and drips should always be sanded out after the first coat has dried. If they are not sanded then, the layer of paint builds on the run and makes it very difficult to level it without visible evidence. How much runs and sags are acceptable and still have good quality work? None. If you have worked with Cabinet Coat, what do you suggest? The proper thinning, proper tip size and an HVLP spray system is always required for Cabinet Coat. Michael USING SPRAY EQUIPMENT TO APPLY - If you are an adventuresome homeowner, you may wish to spray paint your cabinets. For the least messy approach, we recommend the use of an H.V.L.P. (High Volume Low Pressure) Spray System. Some paint dealers may rent this equipment to you. The H.V.L.P. uses high volumes of low pressure air to atomize the paint. It has the advantage of producing very little overspray, so you wonÂt be standing in a fog of paint as you work. However, to avoid costly problems, take your doors and drawers outside for painting. Also take the time to mask or cover all surfaces that you donÂt want painted. We found that thinning the paint with not more than 8 ounces of water per gallon worked best. We used the number 12 air cap and needle. The best spray pattern is a circular one, which was produced by using the oscillating setting. Keep the spray gun moving so that you donÂt build up a heavy coat in one spot. If you start to get drips, try two thin coats. Pay close attention to the operating instructions of the spray equipment manufacturer. Wear goggles to protect your eyes and a carbon filter paint respirator to avoid breathing in the paint particles.

Sorry you're having these difficulties!! Yep...roller-lines AREN'T caused by the paint itself!! 99.5% of the time, it's purely "Painter error"! Causes: * Poor technique/equipment... * Overworking the primer & paint... * Pushing coats too thin. "Builders' painters" are used (USUALLY) solely for speed...NOT quality. Many couldn't produce a flawless wall if they were offered a new Ferrari! I'm not a pro painter, but work at an upscale Paint/Hdwr. store. The walls I've done at home are flawless. * I use only the best Roller-covers (Purdy White-Doves or Wooster Pro-Doozs). * Nice stiff-necked roller-frames ) Wooster green-handled Sherlock GT's, with the GT Pole. * Paints: I'm spoiled here! I tint my own C2, ACE-Royal, or Ralph-Lauren, with C2-One primer as my FAVE! * I've even used an FPE color. >>> I'm very careful with technique & prep! * On cleaned/primed walls, I paint a 2.5' wide column, using 4 roller-loads per 8' height. * After doing these 4 vertical "blocks", I bring my unloaded roller to the top of this column & do 3 REAL LIGHT downward "sweeps"...ceiling-to-floor-motion. * This "lays-off" the paint so all stipple is leaning the same direction, and thin-spots/roller-turns are smoothed out. * Repeat this "column-work" around the room. * Keeping your column width to ~ 2.5' ensures you're getting enough paint on the wall!! * Seriously...I cannot find a roller-line or sheen-variation in my jobs at home! Faron

Reblast the walls? If the sheetrock was prepped/primed for the flat coats then the new eggshell coats should go right over the fresh flat coats - no problem at all. In a way, all the 'hard' work has been done and they just need to repaint minus the heavy duty prep. More time and work, yes, but not a huge deal at this point. It's like when people get this far in the process and don't like the color they chose. All the prep has been done and it's just a color change. In your case, it's just a sheen change from flat to egg. No biggie. This post was edited by funcolors on Thu, Jun 6, 13 at 16:47

We just met a painter on Thurs. who was recommended by 2 friends. We needed one side of our home painted after being re-stucco'ed. Also thought I would get a quote for the hallway that I had just taken a week to remove all the wallpaper from. The deal was they would do the walls and ceiling, one wall extending into the family room. It would all be 2 coats, and 2 colors plus white ceiling. Our quote was $ 375. for hallway and $ 375. for exterior ( which included a sealer coat on all painted walls and prep ). Plus we would pay for all the paint used. We jumped at it. The painter and helper started at 7:30am on Friday and worked through until 4:30p and then started at 7:30a on Sat. (today) until about noon and all of it was finished as promised. $ 1000. for both including paint. We are thrilled with it. I will paint the trim and doors myself. It saved my hours and hours of work over the next few weeks or more. BTW...The hallway included 7 doorways that they needed to cut around. If anyone lives in the N.Ca area and is looking for a good painter, I can highly recommend him.