Painting over varnished T&G kitchen ceiling

[DrEvil]

Hello all,

Been lurking for a little while often finding answers with a search but not managed to quite find the exact one this time(I can see there is a similar topic but bathroom based and as the quantity of steam is quite different I thought this might warrant a different topic), so hoping for some advice.

I have a varnished T&G panelled ceiling in my small kitchen. I'm doing up the kitchen and would like to make the ceiling white. So I'm planning on painting eggshell over it - which is the first question, will this be ok as a paint for a kitchen ceiling - I am going to have an extractor fan installed. Or should I be using gloss?

Second question is preparing the surface, do I need to sand back the varnish completely to wood or will the eggshell (picked up some Dulux stuff) key to a very lightly sanded varnish. Finally do I need/which primer/undercoat and how many layers of paint do you recommend.

Thanks v much!

 

[pompeyal]

What I found with my old wooden panelled ceiling in the kitchen was a lot of grease from cooking had left its mark and left a thin coating over the varnish, I ripped it down and re-plaster boarded the ceiling, had it skimmed and repainted. as you say you have a small kitchen maybe you should go the same way, or if you want to keep the panelled effect, rip it down and refit new panelling. Trying to clean old stuff is a nightmare and really not worth the effort.

 

[woodfinishes1877]

What about cleaning the entire surface with Joynes Wade Waxless Cleaning Polish? It will definitely remove any built dirt and grime, then you can paint over the top.

 

[Robbie uk]

Sugar soap the ceiling. Flat it off, and give two coats of oil based undercoat. Then finish with Dulux Satinwood. The eggshell is a nice finish but will accept stains and marks. The satinwood has the durability of gloss and will wipe no probs.

 

[DrEvil]

Thanks for the replies!

Robbie, so once sugar soaped, what exactly do you mean by flat it off - I'm guess you mean even any lumps out?

I may be misunderstanding you but can I get away with not sanding and just applying an oil based undercoat on top of the current varnish? Will it key ok?

Noted on the satinwood - think I will go that route instead of the eggshell then.

 

[Robbie uk]

Varnished and stained surfaces do not like being painted. The varnish needs to be keyed by flatting off with sand paper. You dont have to go mad with it, but it will help the undecoat adhere better. Its handy that its on the ceiling and will not get knocked. Varnished surfaces that are painted chip quite easily.

 

[DrEvil]

Cheers for the help all. Managed to do all but put the coat of satinwood on and all looking good so far!