Painting a dark varnished staircase
Discussion
We have a dark staircase and would like all spindles, newels etc painted white. We may leave the handrails as they are for a bit of contrast but that's it. I assume I can't just paint over it with a primer, so what's the best way of doing this? Chemical remover or is heavy sanding and zinnser going to do the trick? Ideally I'll then paint in dulux diamond eggshell to avoid yellowing gloss.
I think it'll need a fair amount of prep. I did similar but with some varnished built in wardrobe doors. The finish was incredible, I thought it was actuallly veneer/laminated board, but it was actually pine, just finished really, really well.
For that I did:
1 - sand as much as possible - on flat areas it went back to bare wood with the electric sander. For the mouldings inside the doors, they were just hand sanded with 40 or 60 grit and then went over them with 120 before painting.
2 - 1 coat of B-I-N, sand back with 120 grit then 2nd coat of B-I-N
3 - sand back and I think 2 or 3 coats of Zinsser Perma-white (only because I had some spare, wouldn't normally choose that)
It came out OK, but if I were doing it again, I'd have used a decent quality undercoat after the primer, as the coverage on the mouldings is still no 100%.
It'll probably have years of polish and cleaner etc on there, so you'll probably need to degrease and really throughly clean all that off. Then give it a sanding to provide a key. Or sand back to bare wood, but that'll take aaages.
B-I-N is good, but a pain in the ass to get a nice smooth finish straight off (or maybe I can't use it) especially with lots of details etc, using B-I-N might make it harder to get a good finish. It does sand down really well, but again, that's already going to be awkward to sand, so the less of that you can do, the better.
Zinsser recommend - http://www.zinsseruk.com/how-to-guide/how-to-paint...
But if you Google painting over varnish, there's loads of different opinions on it, and they're never normally as quick and easy as Zinsser recommend.
For that I did:
1 - sand as much as possible - on flat areas it went back to bare wood with the electric sander. For the mouldings inside the doors, they were just hand sanded with 40 or 60 grit and then went over them with 120 before painting.
2 - 1 coat of B-I-N, sand back with 120 grit then 2nd coat of B-I-N
3 - sand back and I think 2 or 3 coats of Zinsser Perma-white (only because I had some spare, wouldn't normally choose that)
It came out OK, but if I were doing it again, I'd have used a decent quality undercoat after the primer, as the coverage on the mouldings is still no 100%.
It'll probably have years of polish and cleaner etc on there, so you'll probably need to degrease and really throughly clean all that off. Then give it a sanding to provide a key. Or sand back to bare wood, but that'll take aaages.
B-I-N is good, but a pain in the ass to get a nice smooth finish straight off (or maybe I can't use it) especially with lots of details etc, using B-I-N might make it harder to get a good finish. It does sand down really well, but again, that's already going to be awkward to sand, so the less of that you can do, the better.
Zinsser recommend - http://www.zinsseruk.com/how-to-guide/how-to-paint...
But if you Google painting over varnish, there's loads of different opinions on it, and they're never normally as quick and easy as Zinsser recommend.
I did mine last year. Sanded them to give a key. One coat of Zinnser which doesn't look like it covers well. One coat of good undercoat and one coat of gloss. Looks great and completely changes the stairwell.
Apart from where my father in law moved a wardrobe without asking for help and mashed one of the posts...
Apart from where my father in law moved a wardrobe without asking for help and mashed one of the posts...
I did exactly the same thing with our multi spindled staircase which had previously been stained with Dulux deep mahogany.
Now painted white with Johnstons gloss white paint, no preparation at all, other than a quick sand down by hand, applied three coats of non drip gloss paint, looks lovely, completely transformed the hall, still looks fresh after two years.
Make sure there is absolutely no dust around by wiping the spindles with a damp cloth, and definitely use no bristle loss paintbrushes.
Now painted white with Johnstons gloss white paint, no preparation at all, other than a quick sand down by hand, applied three coats of non drip gloss paint, looks lovely, completely transformed the hall, still looks fresh after two years.
Make sure there is absolutely no dust around by wiping the spindles with a damp cloth, and definitely use no bristle loss paintbrushes.
wolfracesonic said:
I think something like Zinsser B-I-N should do the trick there, maybe just give the timber a wipe down with meths first. It's funny stuff to use but it does the job, no sanding required!
You need this stuff. My stairs were almost identical in colour, and having tried painting elsewhere in the house and it bleeding through I thought I was in for the long haul. Someone told me about this (and it's not expensive) but it primes and seals really well.If you leave the handrail a separate colour then consider also leaving the newell cap the same. Example: click As per example you could also sand back the handrail and stain mahogany for the classic look which is what Im doing. Also you haven't mentioned filler, as may have some dents you can hide before painting.
Many thanks for all the responses.
Seems to be some varying opinions on how much prep is needed, but the use of Zinsser BIN seems a common theme. I have used it before but not on a varnished surface and was impressed with it then. I think I will sand as best I can and then use the BIN, followed by an undercoat and then gloss or eggshell. It's the spindles that are going to be a real pain to sand and paint! Not a job I am looking forward to.
Seems to be some varying opinions on how much prep is needed, but the use of Zinsser BIN seems a common theme. I have used it before but not on a varnished surface and was impressed with it then. I think I will sand as best I can and then use the BIN, followed by an undercoat and then gloss or eggshell. It's the spindles that are going to be a real pain to sand and paint! Not a job I am looking forward to.
hyphen said:
If you leave the handrail a separate colour then consider also leaving the newell cap the same. Example: click As per example you could also sand back the handrail and stain mahogany for the classic look which is what Im doing. Also you haven't mentioned filler, as may have some dents you can hide before painting.
Thanks, good idea. I'm also looking to put a lightly striped runner on the stairs like your second link. Just means more painting of the steps themselves.JackReacher said:
Many thanks for all the responses.
Seems to be some varying opinions on how much prep is needed, but the use of Zinsser BIN seems a common theme. I have used it before but not on a varnished surface and was impressed with it then. I think I will sand as best I can and then use the BIN, followed by an undercoat and then gloss or eggshell. It's the spindles that are going to be a real pain to sand and paint! Not a job I am looking forward to.
The great thing about the Zinsser product is that it doesn't require heavy prep (sanding) so if your woodwork is already in good nick, you won't have to do too much.Seems to be some varying opinions on how much prep is needed, but the use of Zinsser BIN seems a common theme. I have used it before but not on a varnished surface and was impressed with it then. I think I will sand as best I can and then use the BIN, followed by an undercoat and then gloss or eggshell. It's the spindles that are going to be a real pain to sand and paint! Not a job I am looking forward to.
JackReacher said:
Many thanks for all the responses.
It's the spindles that are going to be a real pain to sand and paint! Not a job I am looking forward to.
As Capo said if you are using BIN and your spindles are smooth then try skipping the initial sanding and see what how it sticks- BIN took off in the trade as reduced the time they had to do the job as they could do much less prep.It's the spindles that are going to be a real pain to sand and paint! Not a job I am looking forward to.
If you do need to sand/between coats, incase not aware- the flexovit brown-red coloured flexible sanding roll doesn't crack as much as the normal green stuff. Or you could use sanding pads which will contour to the shape easy.
To close this off for those who are interested, after a few months and many hours of work, it’s almost done. Took the following approach:-
1. Sanded all the varnished areas to remove all shine, and the handrail back to bare pine. Took about 5 full days, much of it by hand. While BIN is supposed to stick to varnish, I’ve read a couple of reports of it not working, and as I didn’t want to do it again I sanded it right back.
2. Filled in a number of holes/cracks with wood filler and sanded back
3. Sugar soaped all the wood to remove grease/dirt/dust
4. Taped up handrail, then applied 2 coats of Zinsser BIN. Each coat took 6 hours.
5. After allowing the BIN a few days to properly dry, I applied 2 top coats of Dulux Trade Diamond Eggshell, taking 12 hours in total. I decided on this rather than an oil satinwood, as it won’t yellow and is supposed to be durable. I know it won’t be as durable as the trade satinwood, but hopefully it will stand up well and crucially not yellow. Only time will tell!
Now nee to decide what to do with the handrail, quite like the light colour so may just treat with a light oil/wax to protect it. We also had a sun tunnel installed on the landing with adds loads of light. Overall, it makes a massive difference.
1. Sanded all the varnished areas to remove all shine, and the handrail back to bare pine. Took about 5 full days, much of it by hand. While BIN is supposed to stick to varnish, I’ve read a couple of reports of it not working, and as I didn’t want to do it again I sanded it right back.
2. Filled in a number of holes/cracks with wood filler and sanded back
3. Sugar soaped all the wood to remove grease/dirt/dust
4. Taped up handrail, then applied 2 coats of Zinsser BIN. Each coat took 6 hours.
5. After allowing the BIN a few days to properly dry, I applied 2 top coats of Dulux Trade Diamond Eggshell, taking 12 hours in total. I decided on this rather than an oil satinwood, as it won’t yellow and is supposed to be durable. I know it won’t be as durable as the trade satinwood, but hopefully it will stand up well and crucially not yellow. Only time will tell!
Now nee to decide what to do with the handrail, quite like the light colour so may just treat with a light oil/wax to protect it. We also had a sun tunnel installed on the landing with adds loads of light. Overall, it makes a massive difference.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff