Well ain't that a kick in the pants. I used to swear by the cheap stuff thinking it was all the same, but after reading that breakdown I've got a tube of the old stuff sitting in the trash right now. Guess I was just paying for the brand name all along.

Feel you on this. It's like @lopez.karen made a good point about testing against real outcomes, but if the team's blind spots were baked in from day one, the test is just running through a filter they already set up. Kinda feels like rearranging deck chairs sometimes.

Used to think that was just old wives' tales, but seeing it work changed my mind.

I've used topping compound here for years without any cracking issues.

Friend of mine in south county got hit with almost the same jump, @alice_palmer20. She called the assessor's office and they just said "market adjustments" with no real explanation.