Painting Woodwork - satin or gloss finish ?

malteser

more questions!

i have always painted skirting, doors, all woodwork in dulux white gloss paint but a friend suggested we try satin paint as it gives a more professional less 'in your face' type of finish. I've never tried it and wondered what you all thought?

Also all the woodwork in the hallways (stairs, understairs cupboard and doors and doorframes) are stained and a glossy finish so i guess i need sand it all down before i gloss white it???? how do i sand? with paper or is there a faster lazy way of doing it as i had preparing and painting wood! I've heard of liquid sander - is it any good??
m

cattie

I always use satin paint as I find it does give a much more professional finish.

Regarding sanding down the woodwork in your hallway etc. you could use an electric sanding machine to make life easier, these are not very expensive & you could probably pick one up for around £10 in Argos. You probably would only need to give the woodwork a light sanding unless the finish isn't good, then use a decent undercoat before putting on the top coat. I've used liquid sander once & found it fine, but you'd probably find it more cost effective to get yourself an electric sander for the large flat areas & for the frames & awkward bits just use sandpaper.

gravitytolls

I too prefer satin, but my favourite is eggshell. It's easy to apply and the finish is nicelu muted, which is great for coloured woodwork.

newfunk

I agree that Eggshell gives a better finish and looks the dogs!!

doozeruk

As a private work only professional we use satinwood about 80% of the time in bedrooms but probably only 20% of the time around the rest of the house! It used to be not so tough wearing as gloss, but things have changed and we rate it as highly as gloss. Although Dulux recommend 2 coats of satinwood we always prefer a proper undercoat and then the satinwood finish.

For the stairs and doors you have two options. The best and most reliable way to do it is give it a very good sand with paper, gets nooks and crannys, then tack rag (to remove loose dust), prime, undercoat and gloss/satinwood. Decorating is all about preperation and if you want a pro finish you need to take the time to prepare the surface, it is laborious I know, but it gets stunning results.

The other option is ESP (or equivalent) Easy Surface Preperation. You simply paint this (usually) clear liqiud on to the surface after a quick sand to remove nibs, let it dry and then simply prime, undercoat and gloss/satinwood.

newfunk

doozeruk wrote:

As a private work only professional we use satinwood about 80% of the time in bedrooms but probably only 20% of the time around the rest of the house! It used to be not so tough wearing as gloss, but things have changed and we rate it as highly as gloss. Although Dulux recommend 2 coats of satinwood we always prefer a proper undercoat and then the satinwood finish.

For the stairs and doors you have two options. The best and most reliable way to do it is give it a very good sand with paper, gets nooks and crannys, then tack rag (to remove loose dust), prime, undercoat and gloss/satinwood. Decorating is all about preperation and if you want a pro finish you need to take the time to prepare the surface, it is laborious I know, but it gets stunning results.

The other option is ESP (or equivalent) Easy Surface Preperation. You simply paint this (usually) clear liqiud on to the surface after a quick sand to remove nibs, let it dry and then simply prime, undercoat and gloss/satinwood.

ESP is marvellous stuff, just used it, for preparing a customers PVC door for painting!!,