A painter at the shop on 5th in Dayton got in my head about primer.
I was at the counter waiting on an estimate when this older painter from the shop down on 5th in Dayton started talking about how he never blocks primer with anything finer than 180. I've been hitting mine with 320 for as long as I can remember, so I argued with him for a good 10 minutes. He just shrugged and said finer grit makes the base look slick but the clear peels off in sheets after a couple summers. I've got a truck in my bay right now that came back with peeling clear, and now I'm sitting here wondering if he was right the whole time. Anybody else spray primer and sand it coarse on purpose, or am I about to change my whole process over one guy's opinion?
That line about "finer grit makes the base look slick" is the part that sticks with me. I see this same thing all over, not just paint. People keep pushing everything smoother and shinier because it feels like progress, like smoother always means better. But smooth and slick are not the same thing, and slick is what you get when nothing has anything to grab onto. Watch how caulk fails on a wiped-down surface or how a patch lets go when the wall was too polished under it. Same story, the base was too pretty to hold. That detail is what decides it, not what the counter guy says.