Interior trims

[Sascha]

 We’re wanting to paint all the trims in our old 80’s house but it looks like the trims have all been stained brown

or painted years ago. Do we need to sand them first or is there a paint that we can use?

[Mathy]

Hi @Sascha - given the age of the house, the trim is most likely an oil based stain/varnish. You have a couple of choices:

1. Light sand and then paint with an oil base gloss or semi gloss enamel paint (Turps clean up plus longer drying time) or,

2. Light sand and then use a water base primer designed to stick to oil base products. Examples: Dulux 1 Step, White Knight Griplock Primer (very good), British Prep 4 in 1, Rustoleum Smart Prime. Then paint using a water base enamel (water clean up plus quicker drying time).

Theoretically Dulux Aquanamel will stick to an oil base finish, but you need to use 3 coats (the first is a priming coat), given the cost, It’s no cheaper than buying a suitable primer and another brand of water base enamel, nor do you save any labour - so it’s down to personal choice, cheers Deb

[Jason]

Hi @Sascha,

Great to see you make your first post on Workshop and receive such a prompt and helpful reply from Deb. We're looking forward to seeing how your painting job turns out. Feel free to post again if you need any further assistance.

Welcome to Workshop. We have helpful members sharing advice and inspiration for your projects around the house and garden every day so welcome to you join in the discussion anytime.

Jason

[Aliciaann]

Hi Sascha
Couple options similar to above answer with some tweaks
Option 1
Step 1 light sand remove all gloss /shine on the trims
Step 2 use either dulux max adhesion primer as an undercoat as it sticks to pretty much anything
Step 3 top coat with product of choice

Option 2
Light sand and recoat with an oil based top coat super enamel wpuld be my choice but downside is 16 hours dry time and oil based smells.

Option 3
Light sand and coat with British paints paint and prime enamel.

Goodluck

[Jason]

Many thanks for joining in the discussion and sharing your knowledge @Aliciaann. I'm sure @Sascha really appreciates the advice.

Let me also extend a very warm welcome to the community. We're really pleased to have you join us and look forward to reading more of your posts soon as it sounds like you have plenty of experience that you can share. Feel free to post anytime you need a hand with anything around the house and garden. And please let me know if you ever need assistance getting the most from the Workshop site. 

Jason