Finding skirting boards paint

[farazfastian]

I want to paint my living room skirting boards/Stair rail with satin walnut varnish. It looks bare wood to me but it has little bit gloss if i look very close to it. So I'm not sure if its wood stain or clear varnish, how can i find this? If its a varnish could you recommend any decent sander up to £50 so that i can sand the existing varnish? or if its wood stain can i paint varnish on top of it?

I'm also gonna paint my wallpaper with matt finish magnolia, do i've to sand the wallpaper? it's already painted with light yellow colour.

Many Thanks
Faraz

 

[sparkwright]

Don't sand the wallpaper, but fill any holes and stick any loose edges down first.

You should be able to tell if the wood has been varnished, it will be glossy/smooth/shiny.

Why get a sander, if you want to add varnish a good rub down with sand paper should do the trick.

If it's unvarnished stained wood you should be able to varnish straight over, but a light sanding may help to remove any nibs.

 

[farazfastian]

Thanks for that i thought you've to take all the varnish/stain out to varnish again and its gonna be lot of work thats why i was going for sander.

I'll try do light rub with some fine sand paper before painting.

 

[sparkwright]

You can rub down old varnish, and it looks terrible. Then a coat of varnish makes it look good again.