Help please Varnished Woodwork

[tint]

Hi .I am wondering if anyone can offer some help please.We are in the process of decorating and I am very keen to paint over the varnished areas in the house.There is orangey varnish on every door/frame and skirting and my husband says we have to live with it as it would be a mammouth job to cover.I cannot bear the thought of having it forever!Looking at some old forum discussions I see that rather than strip it back to wood it may be possible to use a super grip primer such as Zamix.As these posts are a few years old is this still the best method?where can I obtain it?This is likely to be down to me doing to the work so all advice greatly appreciated Thanks

 

[Zampa]

Youll need to give it a really good rub down first to provide a 'key' for the primer then you can use a grip primer such as Zamix, dulux supergrip, blackfriers problem solving primer or zinnseer bin

 

[tint]

Thanks Zampa.
I bought Zinseer Bin today from the Dulux decorating centre. They recommended I undercoat as well before the final gloss coat so I now have some quick drying dulux undercoat also.Can I use eggshell on top of this or must it be gloss?I really appreciate your reply

 

[Zampa]

Hmm...its turning into a bit of a paint cocktail..

I would use eggshell myself if the woodwork is a bit on the old side..the reduced sheen will mean all the little digs and bumps will not stand out so much

Also, the other benefit of using eggshell is, you dont need to use a seperate undercoat..just two coats of eggshell, its self undercoating.

Perfect christmas present for the hubs too!!!

Why 'tint'...do you work in a hairdressers? lol

 

[tint]

Hey Zampa
Apologies for late reply ive been working hard with decorating.Thanks to your advice the woodwork is now coming along nicely.A slow process but will be worth it in the end.
Husband has made a contribution by painting the ceiling in one of the rooms but has managed to get splashes of white paint over a timber beam.Its not a particularly nice beam quite rough texture and has had some sort of stain put on it.For the life of me I cant match up the colour to go over his mistakes.Is there any easy way that you know of to remove the paint?Being a porous surface its sunk in nicely and im afraid to try white spirit etc.
P.S.No im not a hairdresser lol and absolutely no idea why I chose Tint.Another blonde moment I guess

 

[Zampa]

Try brushing some really hot water over it and then going over it with a suede shoe brush..you know, one of those brass things..

I dont read take a break for nothing you know!! lol

It will probably take some of the stain off the beam so get the nearest match you can find and touch it up..using the brush fairy dry around the edges of it so you dont leave a thick line..then paint the whole of one side..you probably wont notice the difference that way

And take the hubs painting set off of him and send him out the garden!