Painting trim

[Evol]

I saw a thread about house painting and it got me thinking this would be a good place to ask.

We have oak trim that my wife wants me to paint, it seems like I'll need to sand everything before painting but is that 100% necessary? There's a lot and it would be a PITA to sand everything first but if it makes a big difference I'll do it.

Any tips or tricks to make it less miserable?

Thanks all.

 

[Team4LongGun]

I wouldn’t do it, have done it in past as my wife wanted it.
But, if you do, I’m sure your trim has poly on it, and paint won’t adhere well. So you can do a liquid sand product, or a shellac or heavy duty primer. A full sand is not necessary, but scratching it up would def help.
I’m sure we have some professionals that would know better, I’m just a not so handyman.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

There are laws forbidding the painting of oak. But if you feel the need to pacify this misses, yes, lightly sand it.

 

[OMF]

Painting trim...less miserable. Hmmm, lets see. "Honey, NO!" = less miserable. Oak trim is one of my least favorite trims to do because it's porous and it just never really looks that good to me when painted. I also don't like to paint trim when it's still on the wall. But if you have to... I'd do a light sanding, then clean really well to remove any dirt/grime, sanding dust, and the usual house dust. Then I'd prime to help fill in some of the porosity and then paint. Or use a really good paint and primer combined. Don't forget the doors. Nothing looks as silly to me as painted trim with natural finished doors.

Painting all the existing trim, casings, and doors is a big job in general. I find it fast to pull the trim and doors, do the prep, paint them, then prep and paint the casings while the other dries, then reinstall it all.

But my advice to just say no is still the best and I stand behind it 100%, and behind you...from a long long ways away.

 

[Wrench]

If you decide to do it.....tape the edge, then rip a quick thin bead of alex, (fingered smooth) to stop the bleed....then paint.

It'll come out like a chalk line.

 

[Jskaanland]

Prep, prep and more prep. I haven't painted stained oak but I did paint for a bit. If you want a full on professional looking job, spackle/caulk, prime, spackle, sand, prime, sand, paint.

 

[kpk]

I've been kicking around the idea of changing/painting the oak trim in my upstairs to white as well. By the time you pull and prep all that oak, would you be money/time ahead just buying new primed trim?? I painted our bathroom vanity, but that prep time filling grain and sanding adds up in a hurry.

 

[30338]

Maybe just do a test in a bathroom to see how it goes? At least she didn't get this idea in October.

 

[maufic]

I just did this same job. If I had to do it again I would pull the trim and put in new painted trim and then just touch it up once it's installed.

 

[TaperPin]

When I worked in Boise, it was possible to buy oak cheaper than pine, so we made a lot of custom trim (and everything else) out of it, with half painted and half not.

You’ll have two challenges, getting paint to stick to poly and filling pores enough so it looks smooth enough for your taste. Cleaning the surface with tsp (or dishwasher detergent) prior to sanding, especially anywhere hair spray or oils from cooking might have settled.

There is no way around sanding every surface so a primer has a better chance of gripping. Small profiled sanding blocks for curved profiles are a must have and reduces sanding effort 2x and produces a better end result. 150 grit sanding marks generally cover ok with most hand painted latex paint, and 220 grit for sprayed thin glossy latex or lacquer.

I’m a big fan of thin sprayed shellac as a primer coat - shellac sticks to everything and everything sticks to shellac. If you’re brushing, regular inexpensive Kilz2 primer sticks very well - one of the few primers that is hard to peel out of a plastic paint bucket.

I haven’t mentioned filling the pores yet, because it’s the most controversial, time consuming, and just a big pain in the ass. Curved profiles might be fine without filler, but flat areas often look odd unless the pores are mostly filled. High build primer over Kilz2 followed by a lot of sanding would work, but it’s a lot of sanding - too much sanding. A lacquer spot filler applied with putty knife will stick to sanded poly prior to priming, but it’s expensive and slow to apply. I like a trowel grade hardwood floor filler after priming - use good quality flexible putty knives as wide as the board and add just enough to barely fill the board, and sand before it’s completely hard. This leaves some grain.

There are other products for filling grain, but this has worked well and sticks better than most water based wood filler. Thin with water as needed to keep it easy to apply. There are some clear pore fillers, but I haven’t used them.

This guy I usually agree with talks about every aspect of painting and repainting:

 

[Forestryguy]

Hardwood should never be painted. If decide on painted trim, hire someone to do it. May change her mind once she sees the cost. Also, have to stand your ground a refuse to do it.

 

[grfox92]

You could scrub it with trisodium phosphate (TSP) and green scotchbright pads. This will break the gloss of the poly and leave the trim a painatble surface.

Painted hardwood tends to show the grain through the paint and looks like crap. You might be able to avoid this by priming it first with the correct primer (ask the guys at Sherwin Williams, they are properly trained and will know.) However this would require essentially painting the trim twice.

You could pull a small piece of trim and do a sample.

My advice would be don't do it. I would personally re trim the entire house with MDF (cut outside and wearing a respirator), before taking on the task of painting oak.

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

 

[Baddog]

Redo with new trim if you want white

 

[Yoder]

What I learned from the house painting thread was that only certified professional craftsman can paint things. I would hire someone immediately and pay them at least $20k. If you don't, there's no telling what could happen.

 

[Djacker]

I've painted all my oak trim and several oak cabinets, just did one last week. I only sanded really rough or damaged areas. All my stuff, except the last cabinet had polyurethane on it.

What I did was, sand rough or damaged area. Apply Aqua Coat to everything I wanted to paint, let that dry, sand it smooth, repeat. Apply Zinsser Bin primer, let dry, sand, repeat. Then paint. Make sure to use a self leveling paint. Finished product turned out great.

It's really an easy task, just range your time.

 

[Amos Keeto]

I'd rather be castrated with a dull pocket knife and no anesthesia than paint!

Wife and me builtnour home in 2002. Metal exterior.
Metal roof.
To hell with painting!

 

[doc holiday13]

Make it less miserable???? Yeah, pay someone to do it

 

[Beendare]

iME its best when Painting over poly or lacquer to light sand and prime first

 

[ben h]

One trick I've found for projects like this is to create fake estiamtes from a few companies to show it's too expensive and not worth it, but you did consider it and think it's a good idea.