"I don't think you can get a nice finish coat directly on top of the bonding agent. At least I had a difficult time, although perhaps a pro would know how. For me, everything slid around too much while you were trying to work it smooth." Sounds like you are not leaving enough material on the wall, possibly using too much water in the mix, and did not allow the bonding agent to dry enough. The layer is about 1/16 to 1.8 inch thick. The mix for skim coating should be about like peanut butter in consistency. This allows it to be pushed out easily but has enough body to be workable. Bonding agents need to set up to tacky before applying the plaster. The water in the plaster will help it soften again and grab. Use of drywall knives also makes covering large areas even more of a chore than it needs to be. A plasterer's trowel makes short work of covering large areas and produces a smooth finish. It takes some practice to barealy raise the leading edge to obtain a good finish. The trowels with the tiny (3/4 inch diameter) handle are not as good as ones with a decent (~1.5 inch) grip diameter.

There really is not a 'wait time' for painting drywall. As soon as the mud is completely dry, it can be painted. It is true that you can use a flat paint to prime, but this is rarely the best choice. Flat paints do not seal. If you are going with a washable paint for a topcoat, a primer is best. If you are concerned about the Aura, then go with the Regal....two coats of Regal eggshell on top of a Fresh Start primer, Super Spec Flat or Muresco on the ceiling. For the trim, I would sand first to dull the sheen so that the primer has something to stick to, prime with BIN or an acrylic bonding primer followed by two coats of Waterborne Satin Impervo, Aura semi gloss, Pro Classic, C2, Muralo, etc...lots of good trim paint choices out there.

I recommend the Zinsser for the entire job. For best appearance, I always sanded existing walls with #180 sandpaper, primed and two topcoats. Michael

Sombreuil mongrel......yes, he used Durabond but I'm not sure if he did it adequately (I don't know anything about it). I know he used it for the first round of mudding (mixed with the ready-to-use drywall compound) but after that I think he just used the premixed. Our garage is not heated but it is insulated. The walls still look great 12 years on. I hope we didn't make a mistake by using drywall in our poolhouse. Anyway, I was at the paint store (supposedly experts) and they didn't think exterior or interior made a difference in this application and told me that oil primers are not what they used to be (they've taken out a lot of what made them so good because of new environmental laws and for lower toxicity, etc.) and that now they are not much better than the acrylic ones. His demeanor made me lack confidence in what he was saying (he didn't seem to know much when I asked for details), but I went ahead and bought an exterior acrylic primer. Someone tell me its going to be OK because I've just cut in the edges!