Painting a varnished bannister

Lemo

I have a bannister which has rails with the usual turns and details. It was put in by the previous owners and probably has 2-3 coats of varnish (not too heavy).

I want to paint it white so I need to do something to give the paint a key. Would a light sanding be the best? It will be a tedious job. Another thing I thought of was varnish remover but maybe it doesn't need anything that drastic.

Any tips appreciated.

Thanks.

Victor

White will soon look manky with wear and tear on particular point and not on others.

I imagine a good sanding and two coats should do it.

Lemo

Victor wrote:

White will soon look manky with wear and tear on particular point and not on others.

That's a fair point but we don't like the look of it as it is so the alternative would be to replace it altogether. We decided to try painting it white because replacing it I'm sure would be fairly expensive and we haven't any great ideas for what to replace it with anyway.

mad m

Give the handrail a wash down with some white spirits to de-grease it also before painting.The only thing that happens with painting white over varnish is that if it gets a knock,no matter how many coats of painting you put on it,the under laying varnish can sometimes become visible.But seeing as its a bannister that shouldnt be a problem.

Id get a bale of steel wool(medium coarse) and heavy gloves and give spindals a good rub down and use normal sand paper on handrail.

Dont lash the undercoat on trying to cover it in one go,take your time and spead it out,no matter what it will need two undercoats at least,depending on how dark the bannister went/stained previously.

Lemo

That doesn't sound too bad. Thanks.

Wertz

mad m wrote:

Give the handrail a wash down with some white spirits to de-grease it also before painting.The only thing that happens with painting white over varnish is that if it gets a knock,no matter how many coats of painting you put on it,the under laying varnish can sometimes become visible.But seeing as its a bannister that shouldnt be a problem.

Id get a bale of steel wool(medium coarse) and heavy gloves and give spindals a good rub down and use normal sand paper on handrail.

Dont lash the undercoat on trying to cover it in one go,take your time and spead it out,no matter what it will need two undercoats at least,depending on how dark the bannister went/stained previously.

Medium and fine grained sanding pads are a lot less messy than using steel wool. Easier on the fingers too.

Personally if I was doing this in my own house I'd strip back tha varnish even though it is time consuming....as Mad M said, one knock and it'll kick back the multiple white layers to the varnished wood layer. It depends if you have a lot of traffic on the stair case I 'spose. If you're not that bothered then a medium sanding prior to first coating and then a very light sanding prior to finish coat will provide the best results. Concentarte on the turnings of the spindles as this is where the most "hair" (raised grain) is.

One thing you might consider is using eggshell/satin instead of gloss...this will allow you skip a coat as you shouldn't need to undercoat it (2 UC/1 Gloss as opposed to 2 eggshell/satin) IMO it also looks better and it more scuff resistant, but it all comes down to personal taste.

towbar

Would a wood primer work over varnish or is better to go with undercoat or what is the difference.

Lemo- consider leaving the bannisters varnished and paint the spindles, very popular now. We're hoping to try it.

mad m

Primer is more oily as to penetrate new wood more easily,undercoat has more body in it,more chalk etc.I'd advise you to go with the undercoat if going over previous varnish,make sure you give varnish a good rub down to provide a key.