preparing wooden fire surround for painting

Bella-boo_2

I have decided to paint a varnished wood fire surround, I have started by sanding it but not sure how much of the varnish I need to remove before applying undercoat. Also should i treat thr knots in the wood before painting. Any advice please.

Leif

I imagine you simply need to get a surface that is smooth and provides a key for the paint, but I would use primer first, then undercoat, then top coat, assuming the top coat is not self undercoating. If you expose the bare wood, then you certainly do need to treat the knots. Personally I'd treat them even if there was some varnish on top, it only takes seconds to dab some knotting on.