Has anyone painted over varnished pine?

[zookeeper]

I have a pine wood ceiling in my bathroom which is stained dark orangey brown and looks like it has been varnished.

Iwant to paint it white - I've got a primer to go over the varnish. should I then just use a few coats of white emulsion?

I think you need to sand it, then prime it and then paint over it. Not sure if you can put the primer straight on. I tried this once and ended up sanding, priming again and painting.

Good luck .

Thanks Robie - do you think a quick scuff around with some coarse sandpaper will do it? (she adds hopefully)

and did you use emulsion as the top coat?

Definately give it a good sanding, then a primer and emulsion.

I'd give it a quick scuff with some fairly fine stuff, you're only aiming to graze the surface of the varnish. Then primer, then probably get a longer-lasting finish with satin finish or something else aimed at wood rather than emulsion.

thanks everyone - it's tomorrow's job...

I'd definitely use satinwood or similar and not emulsion - the emulsion would just run off anyway and be impossible to paint.

Can you come round and do mine when you are finished??? please??

My parents did this and it looks great now but lots of preparation to get a good finish.

Sand it, prime it, 2 coats of undercoat and one of satinwood. It looks great.

dont use emulsion

use a paint for wood eg eggshell

Would just oil eggshell not work after a light sanding (keying)?

It might but good preparation and flatcoat will make it longer lasting.

I've put oil eggshell straight on lightly sanded pine kitchen cupboards and it was fine