I've been the paint industry (retail) for almost 10yrs. now...

EVERY time I hear that "claim", it makes me hurl.
It's as vague and meaningless as "Natural", "Wholesome".
You may as well not be saying anything...!

Ask Women how many coats of Nail-Polish they apply!!

I'm a pretty good painter, and have used some damn good paints.
Do I rely on ONE coat?
Not a snowballs'-chance-in-h#ll.

(the ONLY paint I've dared leave at ONE coat is an FPE paint....$45/Qt.)

Paint is LITERALLY at the mercy of who's putting it on, and the quality of their tools.
If 10 painters are putting on a paintcoat, you won't have two coat-thicknesses the same....

See where I'm goin' with this?!?!

Faron

One coat hardly ever is good enough. Most of this marketing is aimed at coverage, and that's not all we care about in order to arrive at the perfect paintjob. If you are painting with flat paint, one coat is possible but if your paint is washable (eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, etc) then two coats is almost always required in order to achieve sheen uniformity.

Just to add.

THERE ARE NO ONE COAT PAINTS

Thanks guys - I was skeptical - but thought I'd ask since this Kilz product "guarantees" coverage in one coat. I have no idea how they would "guarantee" it. I also considered that being a DIY homeowner, my chances of getting it right the first time would be slim.

Now - 2nd question - is it possible for me to get away with only one good coat of celing paint over a ceiling that's not bad at all?

3rd question - sorry - should I cut everything in on the second coat as well, or just use the roller to get as close as possible to my first cut line?

One coat of flat over flat is fine as long as it is a full coat and the coverage is complete. For ceiling paints, I usually apply one coat and see how it looks and give it another coat if it needs it.

Hey Buck-

1) I love the "guaranteed" "One-coat" coverage line...
Sure...ANYTHING will technically "cover" a wall in one coat. What is never said is....how WELL will it cover?!?!?!?
* Again....since how well your coat covers is dependent on many things....ahhhh well...'nuf said!

2) One coat of ceiling paint is POSSIBLE...IF you're using good paint, a good cover, and good technique, i.e. NOT pushing paint too thin.

3) If you've done a good first cut-in, and brushed down a hazy edge, I normally just roll close to the edge on 2nd coat, with slightly lighter pressure on the rollers' edge.
* IMO only...there's a risk of getting TOO MUCH paint @ the cut-in edges, if a 2nd c/i is brushed.
* Even if you're only lightly rolling over the brushed c/i's to add roller-stipple, that's a lot of paint in small area.

Faron

I thought I could get away with one coat of white ceiling paint on an already white ceiling in my bedroom. I was wrong. I would lie in bed and find the spots I missed.

I can't resist this Gray-----

Does someone move the bed around while you're layin' there painting?!?!?!?!?

;-)

I do use a pretty regular pattern though, and do roughly "X"-shaped patterns if I'm rolling a popcorn ceiling. I go no farther than ~ 3'x3' area with a full roller.

(this assumes a good cover like a Wooster Super-fab 1/2" nap for light-to-med-popcorn, AND top-notch Ceiling-paint)

Either I'm lucky....or pretty good...cuz' I've never noticed a skip when I'm done!
(either THAT or my 50y/o eyes are "compensating"....;-) I DO need new glasses badly though!!!)

Faron