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Painting over stain?

13 years ago

My husband and I stripped our bathroom cabinet, sanded it and stained it. The wood was not absorbing the stain so we re-sanded with stronger sandpaper and stained again. After all of this we are still not happy with the results so we are thinking about painting the cabinet instead.

My question:

What do we need to do to prep the wood for paint? It's been sanded, stained, re-sanded, re-stained. And what type of paint would be best for use on wood in a bathroom (as far as getting wet from sink use).

Thanks so much!

Nik

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Comments (3)

lindam9999
13 years ago
Hi Nik,
I've always painted directly over the stain and have not had any problems. But I guess I should ask if you sealed it after staining.. because you will likely have to get rid of the varnish, or apply a product over top to allow the paint to adhere. If it's straight stain, you're good to go. You may have to sand lightly in between coats of paint to get it nice and smooth. I would recommend just a waterbased acrylic for paint, with a finish of satin varathane. Or.. you could use an oil based melamine paint (but that's messy for clean up!) Good luck and I hope that I was of some help!

Linda =)
paintguy22
13 years ago
I think it is a good idea to use an oil based primer when painting over stain, especially freshly applied stain. It is a stain after all...no telling what may leach through that latex primer and cause problems if not right away but perhaps down the road. Any high quality 100 percent acrylic high end paint in satin or better sheen would be fine.
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wisno
13 years ago
You can use any paint to finish your wood.
But for sink i think the best choice is PU finish. It will cover up better than other finishing material.

Good luck

wisn

Here is a link that might be useful: Polyurethane clear coating

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