Painting new hardwood window sills

fizzy

Due to getting my windows replaced, I got new hardwood window sills (mahogany I think).
I would like to paint these in a satin or matt finish - not gloss.
Do I need to use any special primer and/or undercoat on these before painting them?
I was looking at using Dulux easycare satinwood, which says it needs no undercoat, but because I'm starting off with bare hardwood, I'm thinking I might need to put a coat of something else on first?

Also, if I was to varnish them instead (i've tried Ronseal quick drying matt varnish on an offcut) would it be easy enough to sand back and paint down the line?
Varnishing would be easier for me to do - I'm not confident of getting a good finish with paint - but I think they would look better white.

Many thanks

mad m

Well think of it this way, far easier to paint over a previously varnished timber than other way around.

Personally Id go with varnishing as its quicker and with a wipe of a cloth your sorted. Plus varnished timber is easily maintained.

bottlebrush

If you decide to go with painting rather than varnishing, I would recommend Rustin's primer and undercoat in one before painting. I have used it on several pieces of furniture and the results are really good.

fizzy

Thanks for the tip bottlebrush.

Mad M - I know that if I go down the painting road, there's no way back In searching online I had read somewhere that with hardwood the varnish seeps so deep into it that painting afterwards is tricky, but hopefully that isn't true.

Luckily I have a couple of offcuts I can test things out on. So far after 2 coats of clear matt varnish, apart from darkening the wood a bit, you would not know it was there at all, so maybe I'm not even doing that correctly!

Because the new windows are white, with off white walls all around, I just fear that wood window sills (about a foot wide) would stick out a lot. I'm also concerned at what colour the mahogany will end up over time. It's a nice light colour raw at the moment, but I wouldn't be into the traditional dark/reddish mahogany look at all.

deisedeco

You need to apply coat of aluminium primer as it is hardwood

fizzy

many thanks for this info deisedeco

deisedeco

Aluminium primer-white oil based undercoat x2 and 1-2 of ur finish coat of satin or gloss oil based again.

dmc17

I don't find that easycare satinwood to be great. Better off with 2 coats of regular oil based satinwood after using appropriate primer

sawdoubters

clear coat

can you post photos

fizzy

Thanks for the advice about using oil based paints.

I've attached a quick photo. The larger piece on the right is the bare wood, the smaller piece on the left has had 2 coats of ronseal matt clear varnish.

dmc17

This is a piece of mahogany skirting I did recently to give you an idea. It just got 1 coat of sanding sealer and 1 coat of eggshell varnish

fizzy

That's a really nice finish dmc17 - my test board looks rather different! I would want as light a colour as possible though.

So far I had followed the instructions the window installers gave me: sand with medium grit, white spirits, varnish, light sand, damp cloth to remove dust, varnish, light sand (with another coat of varnish and final sand not yet done).

I've never heard of sanding sealer - is it important to use that on the bare wood first after initial sanding? Will that darken the colour though?

Thanks

dmc17

fizzy wrote: »

That's a really nice finish dmc17 - my test board looks rather different! I would want as light a colour as possible though.

So far I had followed the instructions the window installers gave me: sand with medium grit, white spirits, varnish, light sand, damp cloth to remove dust, varnish, light sand (with another coat of varnish and final sand not yet done).

I've never heard of sanding sealer - is it important to use that on the bare wood first after initial sanding? Will that darken the colour though?

Thanks

I just use sanding sealer to seal up the bare wood and it hardens it a bit for sanding.

Another good option for you might be a water based floor varnish like Dulux Diamond Glaze or Johnstones Quick Dry Polyurethane Floor Varnish(possibly a good bit cheaper). I've used the Dulux before for the steps of stairs and find it really good. Very easy to apply, very hard wearing and I've found that it doesn't darken the wood as much as oil based varnish. No under coat or anything required either.

fizzy

Thanks DMC - the varnish I tried was water based, but I can see now that I may need a more hard wearing version - I can even see that Ronseal do their own diamond and premiun versions, and there must be a difference between those and the basic quick dry matt I got.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice - much appreciated