My skirting boards and window sills at home are painted in gloss paint, cream I think. I have no idea if oil or solvent based paint was used. Can I paint over this with matte white paint? Or do I have to sand it down first and then repaint? Do I have to sand it down to the wood, or will a light sanding be sufficent?
Matte over Gloss Paint?
- Thread starter panthro
- Start date
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 15,983
- Location
- The land of milk & beans
You will need to sand it to get a decent finish. A light sanding should suffice; no need to go back to bare wood. Make sure you get it nice and smooth though.
Sorry I can't help you too much. All I know is a light sanding is always best for getting new paint to stick to old stuff. A least I found gloss would sort of flake after awhile if you don't sand first. I'm sure someone with more experience will came and post more useful info for you.
Associate
- Joined
- 1 Sep 2011
- Posts
- 955
- Location
- Peterborough
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 11 Dec 2002
- Posts
- 10,900
- Location
- Darkest Norfolk
you do know why skirting boards are traditionally done in gloss don't you? a friend tried doing matt skirting boards and they get marked up and look dirty so quickly its amazing.
My mums house has matte skirting boards and I just found that it looked a lot better and didnt really mark that badly. I may reconsider, but would do them in plain white opposed to the nasty cream colour.
wood is usually painted with oil paints, eg gloss or satinwood and walls and ceilings with water based matt and silk. If your skirting boards are painted gloss you could sand them down and paint them with oil based satinwood or you could try vinyl matt water based but it wiill rub off if scuffed
Soldato
- Joined
- 7 Feb 2004
- Posts
- 3,072
I wouldn't do it in matt, it will scuff and mark real easy, I've just done mine in satinwood.
Don't use water based, I've had to redo all the woodwork I did in water based paint from 12 months ago, it's not durable at all and the oil based paints give a better finish.
I always use a quality brand like Dulux.
Don't use water based, I've had to redo all the woodwork I did in water based paint from 12 months ago, it's not durable at all and the oil based paints give a better finish.
I always use a quality brand like Dulux.
glad I noticed this post, great help 
Just sanding down the varnished skirting, am going to apply Ronseal varnish, satin.
And yes will sand and re-do painted woodwork with Satinwood. When i sand the paint it makes a right mess, a film of dust everywhere.
Glad i covererd the 600t and my new Samsung 700d.
Just sanding down the varnished skirting, am going to apply Ronseal varnish, satin.
And yes will sand and re-do painted woodwork with Satinwood. When i sand the paint it makes a right mess, a film of dust everywhere.
Glad i covererd the 600t and my new Samsung 700d.
do this!
You need to sand the existing gloss surface to key it, then undercoat it. Simply sanding and reglossing will lead to the new coat peeling off easily. Once undercoated, it can then be finished with either gloss or satinwood/eggshell. As mentioned though, satin or eggshell will scuff/mark a lot easier.Cheers
Do you still need to sand it if its gloss over gloss?
Nope, primers are used on new bare timber, basically they fill out the grain of the wood and prevent resin seepage, they tend to raise the grain which then needs to be sanded smooth. Then you fill all your nailholes etc, sand everything down before undercoating. Undercoats are used as bases to cover the primer and build up the surface. Therefore giving you a smoother base for your finish coat.
I have sanded the door frame which was painted in satin (i think as old stuff is not thick as gloss). Do I need to use undercoat to re-paint in satinwood?
Or could I get away with not using undercoat?
Depends on the particular brand of satinwood your using, some are self undercoating. Dulux being one i use regularly at work. Though tbh, you get a better finish by undercoating, as you may need several coats of satin to cover the old finish, particularly if it has any marks etc.