Painting doors, door frames and skirting boards?

[matmushroom]

Hi,

Looking for some tips and advice.

Our current house has a lot of dark stained wood doors/skirting, it also has a dark stained staircase. Personally I don't like it, I find it dark and dirty looking and I'm looking to paint them a nice clean White.

So....I'm thinking about painting it all, but not to sure where to start..

1: painting the doors will be simple, but painting the frames and skirting will be tricky. Does anyone recommend using tape to mask the painted elements from the walls...if so what tape?

2: I'm thinking a satin finish would be best, but can anyone recommend a good paint. Ideally (unless someone tells me it's a silly idea) I'd like to stick to water based acrylic paints.

3: will a light sand and clean be enough, should I go further and take it right back to the wood (that would be a massive undertaking) or can I get away with primer first?

Think that's it off the top of my head, if anyone can think of anything else it really appreciate it!

 

[edphill]

I agree - not a fan of dark wood unless in a lovely old house and been there hundreds of years.

1. Standard masking tape you can buy from B & Q will do just fine. I would recommend taping around the edge of the frame carefully and ensuring it is pressed down. Paint on the first coat - and then peel the masking tape off straight away before the paint has dried. If you wait until the paint dries then you will almost certainly peel off a load of paint at the same time!

Then repeat the masking and painting process for the remaining coats.

2. Satin should be fine - just get an easy clean version because doors and door frames always get grubby. You can always go eggshell if you want a more matt finish.

However, as you're painting onto a wood surface, you will need to use a primer/undercoat first to give a base for the paint to stick to.

3. A light sand with a relatively rough grit paper (24 grit or so) will give you a key and then go over with a smoother paper 60 or so) but it really depends on what is on the wood - if it's varnish you will need spend more time sanding, it depends if the stain is hydrophobic or not. Either way it should be fine.

The only other thing I will say is I wouldn't recommend painting stair treads if that's what you intend to do - painted stairs never last and you will end up putting carpet down or sanding them back to wood (or repainting every 3 months!)

Hope this helps.

 

[joe-90]

24 grit???? FFS that's rougher than gravel off the road.

 

[matmushroom]

cheers, chaps -

Can anyone recomend a primer and paint to use?

Id like to avoid oil based paints idealy, but I heard mention of latex or acrilic paints. Are they hard wearing enough?

 

[WabbitPoo]

24 grit???? FFS that's rougher than gravel off the road.

I think you know he mis-typed "240" grit....