Cherri - "mils" is a term in the painting industry that descibes the thinkness of an applied coating or the thinkness a manufacturer recommends is applied (wet mils) or what is left after the coating dries (dry mils). Mils are usually measured with a wet mil guage. The product data sheet provides this and worlds of other information on just about every aspect of the product for which it applies to. Technical product data sheets (not MSDS) will tell the applicator how thick to apply the product per coat. It will tell you how many wet mils to apply it (mesured while still wet)and will give you a film thickness you can expect after the coating has dried (measured when dry). It will also give you the amount of solids by volumn. This is important because if you have a caoting that is 50% solid by volumn and apply 4 mils of wet paint to your surface - when it fully cures it will leave you with a dry coating film of 50% of the number of wet mils applied. In this case you would have a dry film thickness of 2 mils/coat. If the manufacturer recommends 2 coats - what he is saying is that if you apply the coating with the correct thickness of mils, the finish will perform the way in which it was design. This will also show through when you have color issues. Building layers of color in the proper amount of applied mils will greatly affect the anticipated results of the finished product. You've heard many folks here and around talk about paint performance and about the product not doing what it was suppose to - this is, in some cases, due to poor or improper coating application either in the amount of wet mils applied or in the manner in which it was applied (brushed, rolled, or sprayed). Deep colors (as was pointed out above) have little or no highing power becasue they lack a pigmented base. Deep or ultra deep bases are usually clear and rely on only the colorant that is added for color tone and matching powers - these colors have little or no power to cover or hide and are often coupled with a special primer color that helps the finish deep color tone to cover in three or more coats. Black would be an exception in some cases. Lighter colors have pigmented base matrerials which is how the product gets its ability to cover over light or white primers. Of course there are many other factors but these are basic in nature and easy for most folks to understand. It's like mixing skim milk in your coffee. try using the same amount of half and half or heavy cream in your coffee and see if you can tell the difference in the color of the coffee. Any coffee lovers out there...! Colors that are close - like your whites - are not too much trouble because they have a pigmented base. Your issue was "could you change the color" in the last coat. For a true color match to your chip (and sheen if changing that too)- two coats would do it, one coat might be close but to get the proper color match - one would need to put the correct number of "mils" for the product and color being applied. Hope this helps. Here is a link that might be useful: Wet mil guage - round type

Yes it will work just fine. Primer is primer, whether it's acrylic or oil, both are formulated to accept either topcoat. Michael

If was I going through the trouble/expense of painting, I would give the joints/screws at least another coat of mud and sanding. Typically those "fire coats" are pretty rough and that will telegraph through the paint. Paint won't waterproof the drywall, think of it in a bathroom where it protects against moisture. If you have areas that truly get wet, then use something like FRP for protection/water resistance. The drywall is held up away from the concrete block to avoid moisture wicking up. You can use a baseboard for appearance if you want, I might think about using one of the PVC products instead of wood (and definitely not MDF). PVA primer and a couple of top coats of a mid-grade paint.

Sammy- thanks! I've heard about Gardz- wasn't sure if it was the right stuff for my situation but the pictures you included of both products were helpful as they clearly state that they "seal and penetrate" porous surfaces like joint compound. Excellent! The Roman Rx35 says to NOT use it over oil-based paint :( So I guess that is out. (https://images.homedepot-static.com/catalog/pdfImages/cb/cb15eea9-b75f-4261-ac3a-3bdcd59a0c09.pdf ) Gardz product info says it CAN be used over oil-based paint provided the paint is "slightly sanded" and cleaned first. Yay! That would solve most of my conundrums!!! though sanding such a huge surface area isn't a step I'm looking forward to..... the "nice" wall without all the JC/patches/drywall is pretty big. But I'll do it. One remaining question is about the areas where there are holes/gaps at the edges of the large drywall patch--should the first step be to patch these (using JC/tape etc), or should I paint Gardz over, apply some JC, then paint a second coat of Gardz....I'm guessing, apply the JC/tape first? Final set of Qs for now: when patching the holes where the phone line used to be. is patch compound ("Easysand 5") better than either the pre-mixed JC or the powdered EasySand 45? will any or all of these adhere to the oil-based paint? or better to patch after the area's been painted with the Gardz? I can't wait to get some Gardz and get this project moving along!