Painting baseboards

Finally decided to paint the baseboards in a middle room of a garden apt. This room has no other original details, the walls are Sheetrock, painted atrium white; the baseboards have all the dings and scratches one would expect after 130 years and I’m hoping the paint will help hide them. Any advice on color, either dark or light, that might help hide existing wear and tear and stand up to future abuse? I prefer an overall neutral palette but don’t know which direction to take.

slimc

in General Discussion 1 year and 3 months ago

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justinromeu26 | 1 year and 3 months ago

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so op. keep in mind that when i do this for work, i generally take more precautions than a home owner would have to because i cannot have call backs for peeling paint or bleed through. i really have never had that happen either (I stop and check my exterior work as i drive by houses). but you do not have that worry. not that you want to make a mistake either. the picture did not open. but provided that wood has only some stain on it (and no varnish or nothing waxy or glossy) you might be able to just go over it with the Zinsser Cover Stain. Still sand it lightly to get anything sitting on the surface off.

also, i can tell you something else. if you do like i do and sand after priming and after putting the first coat of paint on, perhaps you do not need the ben moore underbody. i like the underbody as it builds a thick, sandable coat but it may not make much of a difference on this old wood (sorry, photo not working).

the alcohol primer is really to block certain bleed through and create adhesion between unlike surfaces.

you can email me a photo to the email at the address on the website and i will look at it for you.

(so this is your process: sand, tack, zinsser cover stain, coat paint, fill dings, sand dings and sand out imperfection in paint, tack dust, spot prime, coat paint, fill/sand/spot prime/tack again if you wish, coat paint, coat paint). this is the sequence for a better restoration project and sometime the fill/sand/prime goes on a while.

steve
brownstonehomeinspection.com

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 3 months ago

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Dark colors and low gloss. Go lower than semi. . Pearl. Op, i will adress your other questions in a bit.

vanyali | 1 year and 3 months ago

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I like dark baseboards. I can’t see your photo but painting them black could be very striking and hide dings and scuffs better than white.

slimc | 1 year and 3 months ago

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I used Ben Moore drywall primer on the walls and overlapped the top of the baseboard (the can said it was ok for wood too). I will get my sand block and profile sanders ready. I think the photo posted successfully this time. There are no layers of paint just a dark brown/red stain. Given this fact, do I still need two different primer/cover coats or can I simply use the Ben Moore underbody product with all the same sanding and filling protocols you mention?

slimc | 1 year and 3 months ago

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[IMG_1180 Copy](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:XRQK:img_1180copy.jpeg.jpg)

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 3 months ago

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so the photos are not working on here.

if you have old finish or paint on there, the first thing you will want to do is sand the molding lightly. i know, it sounds like a pain in the ass, but once you are on the ground with sanding blocks, it will move fast. to keep it simple, go to 120 grit paper. if you want to complicate your life you can run this 60,80, 100, 120. I would use a flat wood block wrapped in paper on the flat spots and use a sponge on the profile. of course, i have sanding profiles for the curved bits and i recently bought a set on amazon that is really cool.

All over coating projects should always be (lightly) sanded. if we lightly sanded them before recoating, people would not be spending thousands of dollars to strip this stuff today (my mother told me to light sand before over coating moldings when i was a young teenager helping around the house i grew up in).

You are sanding for a different reason. I do not know what is on there from where i sit and if it has hard, old, oil base or glossy paint or varnish and you try to paint over it with latex paint, it won’t adhere as well and it will soon have chips in it from the vacuum cleaner. sanding lightly with 120 grit (some people go too fine, they go to 220 which is ok between coats on a fine finish) gives the primer mechanical bond.

after sanding, dust this thing off very well with a dry paint brush. if you want to be a real pro, run a microfiber cloth over it after brushing the profile out.

since i am not there to see what is on the wood now, you are going to prime first with Bin Zinsser alcohol based primer. Get a new brush for this – it does not have to be expensive. The Bin will add adhesion between the unknown under coat and the next coat of primer. (you can also use the bin as the primer). the next coat of primer should be a regular oil base primer. I use Zinsser Cover stain. it will work fine but if this was really good molding, i would use Ben Moore Underbody. A thin coat. after applying the primer, let it dry longer than recommended. (btw, the cover stain dries fast and i think the ben product is like overnight. not good for business).

Do not sand at this point even though that is what most people do. I don’t.

Now your paint. now a days inside everyone uses Ben Moore latex paints so i will assume that is where you will go. Put a thin coat of paint on. Let it dry for two hours longer than they say to.

Now, if you wish, get some vinyl spackling. of you can use a latex wood filler. if you have heavy dings and dents in the old paint and wood surface that you went over, fill these at this point with a putty knife. let them dry and sand off with a block with 120 on it and if you want a really good job, sand that coat of paint while you are at it.

next, dust it off.

Prime the putty spots with the cover stain. let it dry.

put a thin coat of paint on. let it dry 2 hours longer than recommended. put another thin coat of paint on.

prep (sanding and priming) is the most important steps.

Of course i am available for consultation but i am not sure it is worth it for small things like this.

ALSO, BE MINDFUL OF LEAD PAINT AND WHO MIGHT LIVE IN THAT APT LATER. they want us performing lead tests and wet sanding which in truth produces a fine finish when done with hard paints (not latex). Run a lead test so you know what you are dealing with. if the molding has been in there since the 1970’s and has lead paint on it, you do not want to disturb that but if you have 4 coats of modern paint over that, you might be able to sand lightly without disturbing the lead paint.

slimc | 1 year and 3 months ago

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Here’s a photo of one corner. [Image](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:znRU:image.jpg.jpg)

slimc | 1 year and 3 months ago

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Yes. Your knowledge is appreciated. Please advise.

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 3 months ago

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more important to colors, prep work and priming might help a lot in so far as making what you put on there last long. if you wish to hear what i have to say, let me know (you probably know me as a restoration contractor, so understand i can go into detail here) and i will address this later. i can tell you how to make something that looks less than ideal look good with a little more than minimal effort but not so much effort that it is a full on restoration of the wood.