Painting Gloss over Varnish - Help

Hi WWF,

I have the envious task of painting about 20 previously varnished timber doors in a vivid white gloss piant. The doors and architraves are quite detailed with lots of curves and crevices.

I have tried shortcutting the prep process by using Flood ESP deglosser without much luck. After a couple of calls to Floods help line I was assured that their product has worked for 30+ years on varnished surfaces however it may take upto 30 days for the paint to properly bond.

30+ days later, I have 2 painted doors that you just have to look at and the paint scratches off. I am now almost at ease with the 5+ hours of sanding I have ahead to remove the failing paint.

I am now seeking ideas (shortcuts) on how I can avoid hand sanding the remaining 18 doors. (The ole tennis elbow/s is not happy)

There are no shortcuts, I would start with paint stripper and remove the old stuff then re paint

As I found out with varnished boats in my younger days. The varnish has to come off as paint never seems to adhere to it.
A heat gun and scraper may be worth a try.

Regards
Keith

20 doors?

take 'em to a commercial stripper.
Then it'll only be 1 to 2 hours per door before they are gloss white

Why not use Prep-sol or ESP etching primer? its designed to go on to surfaces that do not accept paint etc, ie. Glass. Wipe this stuff on, leave the prescribed amount of time, then wipe off, Bobs your uncle (or dust extraction specialist) and paint away. much easier on the hands and elbows.

I found that wiping the surface with metho before painting dows the trick. I am just hoping this wont cuase me issues over time

The metho trick works well on acrylic paints but I haven’t had a lot of success on enamels or other finishes such as some varnishes that you clean up with turps.