Wanted: Master Painter Advice.?

are you talking about interior painting on walls? if so...

the only reason to apply another coat of paint is if the first coat (not including primer as a coat) did not cover well. if the primer is not showing throough and you are pleased with the appearance then don't bother with another coat. latex paint does not tend tho chip off of walls due to it's flexibility. oil paint chips.

for the ceiling. if it is bare wood...patch and sand holes and cracks, prime it, and paint it as you would the walls. if there is paint (in good condition) on it already, and it is not a drastically different color from what you will be painting it, you only need the to prime the spackled areas and then paint the ceiling as you did the walls.

i hope this helps!

EDIT:

paint comes in different sheens (or "shinyness")

flat being no shine, next is eggshell, then satin, semi-gloss, and finally gloss which has the most shine

flat can look dirty easily and is difficult to get looking clean. i never use it and would never recommend anyone to use it ever...especially if you have pets or children

and of course when someone is paying you to paint their house you want to do 2 coats of paint. however when painting your own house you can save time money and energy by applying only one coat of paint as long as it has good even coverage.

No offense but forget that a first coat of paint exists.

I paint, every day of my life, and Primer should just be accepted as a NON application.

Second, you don't state interior or exterior, but it sounds like interior. My opinion and my preference is NEVER FLAT. I use Satin exclusively. For one thing Flat is more porous, and offers almost no "cleanability" such as Satin does. Beyond that the sheen in Satin is so low level you won't notice it.

The person was correct whether or not stated correctly, most of us, apply two coats of a finish color.

A wooden ceiling, Hmmmm? Is this some kind of wood that suggests a rustic look? Is it simply a plywood ceiling?

Since you're going to PAINT it anyway, regular drywall mud, or wood filler will take care of small nail holes. Without knowing what you define as LITTLE, as it relates to a crack, or how it may run in whatever WOOD the ceiling is, or WHY a crack developed, that too can either be wood filler, or MUD.

Is the ceiling going to be ceiling white? That should be painted, in any case, before walls, and cut with a brush and rolled, just as you will, the walls.

Steven Wolf

Just my two "sense"