Painting New Wood

[gness]

I've had a banister fitted on the landing and decided to paint rather than varnish or stain it.
How should I teat the wood before painting for the best finish?

Thanks....

[carrust]

Is the bannister hard or soft wood?

[gness]

Soft Carrust

[Maydup]

If you're going to gloss it, you need to sand it down to a really smooth finish. That's the most important stage, then undercoat and 2 coats of gloss.

[gness]

Hi Maydup I've sanded it to silky smooth and undercoated the rest of the hall but wondered if the new wood needed anything else.

[carrust]

1 coat of oil-based primer, good rub-down when dry...the paint raises the grain. Then 2 coats of oil-based undercoat followed by 1 coat of gloss. Or 1 undercoat & 2 coats of gloss. It may require rubbing down between coats.

[tonyav]

Maybe a coat of primer first gness.

[Maydup]

Yes I'd probably prime it first as its new wood.

[gness]

Okay...thank you all. I'll do that. x

[shoota]

'teat the wood'?.........shocked

[Tilly2]

What colour are you going to have, gness?

[tonyav]

Well spotted shoota. I knew I could rely on you.

[shoota]

;-)

[gness]

Look Shoota!! I'm doing well considering parts of my fingers are still in the emergency exit door of the gas company. :-(

Natural Calico I think it is Tilly....house was all done in it by previous owners just before I moved in so I've kept it and done feature walls a bit more dramatic.

[shoota]

Havn't you got an implement you could use then?

[Tilly2]

shoota, the rest of us ignored the typo. Trust you!

[tonyav]

Yes I bet there dramatic all right.

[gness]

Night-stick?

[theshedman]

I would follow carrust's instructions but before you put on the coat of gloss wipe all the surface over with a tack cloth if you want an extra smooth finish. The tack cloth will pick up all the tiny bits of dust that you can't see before painting but will see when it's finished.

[gness]

Thank you for that theshedman........I hate if gloss paint looks bitty and not smooth and it's impossible to remedy once it's done isn't it? So I'll do that first.

[Khandro]

A good tip before any painting, is to wet the banister with clean warm water applied with a cloth or sponge then leave it to dry completely, this will raise the grain (even though you have already sanded it) and you can sand it again, this is less messy than rubbing down of the first coats of paint. On some hardwoods (particularly mahogany) this can be done even three times .