Paint over stained maybe varnished doors and skirting?

Our house is full of dark wood which is pine that has been treated with a stain. I'm not sure whether it is varnish or not but we hate it so want to paint over the doors. I would prefer to use emulsion rather than gloss paint so how do I do it please?Paint over stained maybe varnished doors and skirting?
You would never use emulsion on wood in any circumstances. Anything that has been stained or varnished ought to only receive more stain or varnish and never be painted. This is because if it was done properly in the first place then the first coat of varnish would have been thinned to soak deep into the wood, sealing it against any future wood primer taking a grip, even if it was stripped. And varnish is rigid so if you just rub down and paint it will be prone to chipping. Stain can blead through wood paints.





So although it is poor painting practice people do paint over stain and varnish with varying degrees of getting away with it. If you insist on doing it then ideally you would strip off the old varnish and use an oil-based primer. If you were going to paint over a stain that might bleed then you would use an aluminium primer. Then one or two undercoats, followed by one gloss or two satinwood coats. Only use oil-based paints (that dilute with white spirit rather than water) and only prime if you are srtipping the surface. If you are rubbing down then abrade every square centimetre and go straight on with undercoat.





But it is a gamble and poor painting practice.Paint over stained maybe varnished doors and skirting?
Hi there... If you are determined to paint over varnish then i would recommend a product ....';Zinnser B.I.N.123';.... just read the information on the back of the tin and you will be fine... you will get it at any good paint outlet e.g. Crown Decorator Centre... best of luck ( i like any decorator do not advise painting over varnish)








Frank Decorator 29 years