varnishing over varnish?

avfc1874

hi i want to brighten up the staircase that i varnished yrs ago. i think the color is mahogany or teak, i was thinking of giving it a light sand down and then a couple of coats of dark varnish, anyone know would this work out ok . thanks

dodzy

avfc1874 wrote: »

hi i want to brighten up the staircase that i varnished yrs ago. i think the color is mahogany or teak, i was thinking of giving it a light sand down and then a couple of coats of dark varnish, anyone know would this work out ok . thanks

Yep, no problem. Fire away.

fergal.b

As long as it's not flaking off or has white patches where it's lifting you should be fine.





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avfc1874

thanks for advice, i didn't want to waste money if it didn't work

jack of all

Rather than sanding, which could result in rubbing back to bare wood, I would recommend gently rubbing down with steel wool to give a mechanical key for the new varnish. Wipe down with white spirit on a rag and you should be good to go. If there are any resin pockets or knots that are bleeding through it would be a good idea to sand back and wipe down with white spirit before sealing these with a shellac knotting solution.

Alun

I was going to say the same. It's deceptively easy to accidentally take some areas down to bare wood, especially on corners and sharply curved surfaces and then you'll end up with light and dark patches. Unless the existing finish is really bad all you need is to clean and degrease it and get a bit of a key. Wire wool and white spirit are ideal for this.