I am painting medium oak-stained wood closet doors white. I bought Kliz High-Build primer because I wanted to cover the stain color well. I sanded the stained door and now I am done with a coat of this primer, and I think I will do a second coat of primer before applying regular satin white paint.
Should I lightly sand before the second coat to get a smoother finish? After? Hand-sand or use my orbital sander?
Best Answer
I do not think you will have good results if you try to sand this primer, it will leave visible surface defects and clog up your paper. If you let it cure for a month or so it would be sandable with very fine sandpaper.
I know "the ship already sailed" because you already started, but this is not really the best primer for your application. The high-solids content of this stuff is basically for resurfacing problem surfaces, although it does have good stain blocking properties (see technical data sheet). You should use the very best applicators and very careful application technique to get the smoothest prime coat that you can, because your prime coat imperfections will affect the smoothness of your finish coat; it's just the nature of the primer you chose. Do not apply a second coat unless you need to, to cover imperfections of your first coat.
Although there are many ways to skin this cat, next time for cabinets or other fine woodwork consider a shellac based primer if you need stain blocking properties. It goes on thin and smooth when applied correctly and allows for a beautifully smooth mirror-like finish coat. Good luck.