Glossing woodwork...

[Parsnip]

Gents, I need some help.

In the process of doing up the house at the moment - the skirting and all other bits of interior wood (bannister, loft access etc.) are a horrid dark stain colour - it isn't paint as such, looks like a low sheen coloured varnish.

So far have done 2 bedrooms, painting the woodwork gloss white. Next is the living room, dining room and 2 landings, which will need to be done in one go - no separating doors to let me do a bit at a time, so it will be a huuuuuge job.

For the bedrooms, I settled on:
Plenty of sanding, coat of primer then 2 coats of gloss (Dulux one coat - one coat my arse!)
Experimented with sanding, 2 off primer and 1 off gloss, but it didn't quite get 100% coverage (annoyingly close...)

Is there a cleverer way of doing it? (I got shouted down when suggesting I do a few more days offshore on the next hitch to pay for a pro to do it - its more rewarding this way apparently...) Is primer straight onto the old finish (it isn't glossy, but has a wee bit of sheen to it) to save sanding a good idea? Or will this give a horrible finish?

I have contemplated removing the skirting, but for the sake of a few hours extra having to mask around the wood, I think I would do more damage taking it off and putting it back on.

The other elephant in the room is the bannister - its a spindly affair and I know I will resort to sanding it with a claw hammer eventually - any tips? Seriously considering just removing and replacing it.

[crankedup]

You only need primer over bare wood. Undercoat and a top coat is all that is generally required, try a different brand of paint, I much prefer Valspar which I find goes on well and covers great.

Assume you are using a power sander.

[essayer]

I can't advise on the sanding, and I certainly agree about one coat needing two coats, but maybe you need some knot blocker if you take it back to bare wood?

IMO It is much easier to take the skirts off than paint against carpet or the dirty, dusty subfloor !

Also one thing I realised is that nobody ever looks at these things closer than you will.

[steveo3002]

undercoat is generaly cheaper , faster drying and better covering , so use that until the door is uniform white then on with the gloss

[ch427]

Undercoat does help but i find most modern gloss products do need 2 coats.

[alock]

I never got on with Dulux one coat. Always needed two coats and because it was thicker it was harder to apply.

Our new extension has pre-primed MDF skirting boards and I've found that one coat of Dulux Trader Primer Undercoat and one coat of Dulux Trade Satinwood gives a good finish. I've found the Trade range of paints are easier to apply and coat better.

[brianb]

alock said:

I never got on with Dulux one coat. Always needed two coats and because it was thicker it was harder to apply.

Our new extension has pre-primed MDF skirting boards and I've found that one coat of Dulux Trader Primer Undercoat and one coat of Dulux Trade Satinwood gives a good finish. I've found the Trade range of paints are easier to apply and coat better.

This^^^

Just finished decorating myself and would choose satinwood every day

[B17NNS]

Another vote for Dulux Trade