Hi, Have used these forums many times over the last couple of years, they have been proper helpful in progressing our house renovations so thanks to all. I've now hit a stumbling block so here goes with my first question! We recently had new spindles, base rail and hand rail fitted to our stairs. The handrail and knewel caps we are leaving as oak finish, but the spindles we plan to paint white. When the chippy installed he put in what he said were pre-primed spindles and base rail (magnolia colour), now i've worked with pre-primed materials before (skirtings, architraves etc) and they normally have a slightly powdery finish which will happily accept a coat of paint (waterbased or oil based). The spindles however look more like fully finished, very smooth to touch and almost like a semi gloss / laquer finish and I'm having touble getting the paint to adhere. I tried a standard undercoat on one spindles with disastrous results, then I invested in a tin of Zinsser BIN 123 primer, applied this to another spindle and although the adhesion was better I could still scratch the primer away with my finger nail the next day. Has anyone had any experience of this sort of problem? - Could it be that we've been given fully finished spindles rather than pre-primed? I am beginning to think my only option will be to sand all the spindles to provide a key to accept the paint, however this wasnt the way I wanted to go which was the whole point of getting pre-primed in the first place. I'm not shy of grafting, but I wanted to check to see if I've missed anything obvious before I get the sandpaper out. Any ideas? Many thanks Dan
Hi Dan. I wouldn't have expected a 'primed' surface to be shiny either. As you say, you expect it to be matt and - I know what you mean - almost sticky/chalky as you run your finger along it. And if BIN 123 doesn't adhere securely, then you definitely know it ain't a primed surface ready for a top coat. Any idea where he got the stair parts from?Can you contact them to confirm? Almost certainly these are fully-finished parts. What to do? Sand to provide a key and then prime with 123 or similar just to be sure (do a test piece first) or, if you really think 'sodit - I didn't sign up for this amount of work' you need to have a word with the chippy who installed them. He'll probably know a decorator he can get to do this - at, frankly, his expense...
Thanks for your reply DA, I think you have confirmed my suspicions. Now I need to figure out whether the hassle of getting the guy back in outweighs the time and effort required to key up all the spindles, I already have all the paint needed for the job so its 'just' the sanding down I hadn't factored in.
I've just had some fitted too and used these: http://www.championtimber.com/ProductImages/7128/Large/image.jpg Definitely primed but also definitely shiny like yours! Was planning on rubbing down a bit before painting.
Olimain, yep the finish on those looks almost identical to mine. I'm hoping a very light sand with 120 grit will be enough. If I can get away with a couple of minutes per spindle i'll be happy . Good luck.
Of course the 123 will scratch off the next day, although it is dry in a matter of 45 minutes it takes 5 days to fully cure. Best read product information for clarification. Dulux acrylic primer undercoat is what you want.
As Astra says takes a few days to fully cure, I would have used a Scotch pad prior to applying primer
Thanks for your input guys. Just to update I gave a light sand last night with 120 grit and applied the Zinnser, the adhesion this morning was much better. I guess the time to adhere to a glossy surface takes longer than to a surface with a key. Looks like problem solved though so thanks again.
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