How to paint old varnished pine trim?

11 years ago

Please give me suggestions on the best way to paint the interior trim in my daughter's 1930's house. The trim is pine which the realtor had varnished just prior to the purchase. We started with the living room and foyer. We sanded ever bit of the varnish on five windows, three doors, two cased openings and all of the base and the mantel. Then we wiped it all down with paint thinner to remove the dust. Then we applied an oil based primer from BM (Zinzer?). Now we have started to apply BM's latex semigloss top coat. After spending about three long days, my daughter, my husband and myself, we are more than a little tired and still no where near finished. We still have 16 more windows, all the base in the rest of the house, eight doors and the cabinets plus walls and ceilings! Floors will be "screened" or refinished after painting is complete. Would spraying be a good idea? I have redone several old houses a little at a time and painted them myself but products have changed and spray units are now available which were not available 40 years ago. Please give me suggestions, sand and prime with oil, prime without sanding, sand between primer and top coat, remove doors and paint outside, all suggestions are welcome. Thanks ahead of time.

Comments (2)

paintguy22
11 years ago
The process you are using is pretty much the correct one, though I usually pick BIN for priming when the wood is previously stained and varnished because it sticks the best. Spraying will help you get there in fewer coats for sure and the end result should be brush mark free, but spraying is generally not something a novice painter can just pick up and learn in a few hours. It takes a lot of practice and some good hand eye coordination. I prefer to use an airless because it's faster, but if you want to mess around with spraying, I would suggest trying to rent a HVLP unit because it's slower. Another thing you can try to speed things up is applying the paint with a little 4" roller and then brushing it out. This just saves you some time dipping your brush into the paint so much. The roller helps to get the paint on faster.
bobbie46
Original Author
11 years ago
Painterguy, thank you so much! I had forgotten about using a small roller! That's what happens when you space out your painting tasks over years. If you have any other (even obvious) suggestions, please feel free to offer them. The woodwork we have done does look really good. I may just have to realize I may not be able to do it all. Thank you again.
Bobbie