Painting over varnished balustrade

Newbie2saving

Hi all,

I will be moving into a new house early next year and the balustrade and dado rail (!!!) are varnished in a dark mahogany. I like white crisp finishes. How would I go about doing this? Would I need to sand it down and prime? Someone mentioned burning it back! Sounds expensive and not something I could do myself, could I use chemicals or is a bit of elbow grease with a sander the best option?

Any assistance appreciated....

Thanks.

philbostavros

A few of years ago, we decided to paint our dining room ceiling, which is pine tongue-and-groove boarded (didn't want the hassle of ripping it all down).

A neighbour (old-style painter and decorator) recommended a Canadian shellac which we bought from Leyland (trade branch but they also sell to retail).

This effectively seals the "shiny" surface and prevents the new paint from peeling off).

Only did minimal prep (sugar soap to get rid of any grease) and did 2 undercaosts and a top coat.

Been up about 3 or 4 years and not problems.

Good luck.

keystone

Yes use a shellac based primer. Zinsser BIN will stick to anything as observed on another thread earlier today. You do NOT need to remove the varnish completely but abrade it first to give a smooth surface for applying your BIN.

Cheers

Newbie2saving

Thanks for your replies, the less work the better as I have quite a few jobs to do on this house and it will be my first real attempt at large DIY work! I will look for the products you both mentioned, thanks again.

danofessex

just a word of warning bin is not nice to work with, it doesn't give you much time to work.

keystone

danofessex wrote: »

just a word of warning BIN is not nice to work with, it doesn't give you much time to work.

Its brilliant to work with - how long do you want? It takes 15 minutes to dry and you can be applying the next coat.

Cheers

danofessex

5 mins working time in summer i've found.
zinsser products i would rather use 123 or coverstain, better to work with and can be either cleaned in water or go in my brush mate, also quick drying.