Painting over varnished pine

thehistorygirl

We are selling my mum’s house to move her into something a bit more practical as she gets older. The house needs a bit of tlc before we put it on the market and one of the things that we think will help its marketability would be to paint the kitchen. The trouble is, it is entirely covered in varnished pine tongue and groove, a legacy from the former owner. It makes a reasonable sized kitchen dark and poky. What would we use to paint it? I’m guessing that we’d need something to stop he knots coming through again as well. Any recommendations?

love_lifer

Sand it so you can paint it- the paint wont stick otherwise. Use a medium grade- 100/120. or for a more thorough and time consuming job strip it. former is good though, as long as you clean it after sanding

Loanranger

You will need a good primer. Try Zinsser B I N from b and q.

adandem

Agree, Zinnser. No sanding or primer needed.

seashore22

Another vote for zinsser bin. It's amazing stuff and we used it to do just what you want it for. We used the zinsser and then painted with a satin wood paint and it looks great. It has also stood the test of time, so I would definitely recommend it for a pre sale spruce up.

I did rub the pine down with liquid sander first, but don't think it was necessary at all. Just give it a good wash and use the zinsser.