TL;DR
Feather sanding is the painter's technique of sanding the hard edge of chipped or peeling paint into a gradual taper so the transition between bare substrate and remaining coating disappears under primer and finish coats. Worked with 120- to 220-grit paper in widening passes, it is what keeps an old repaint from telegraphing every previous failure through the new film.
What it means
Feather sanding is the painter's technique of sanding the hard edge of chipped or peeling paint into a gradual taper so the transition between bare substrate and remaining coating disappears under primer and finish coats. Worked with 120- to 220-grit paper in widening passes, it is what keeps an old repaint from telegraphing every previous failure through the new film. On pre-1978 housing the dry sanding of painted surfaces triggers EPA RRP dust-control rules, so crews use wet methods or HEPA-shrouded sanders.
Where it sits in the glossary
Feather sanding is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
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See also
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