How much sanding of skirtings needed before painting?

siva26

Hi all,

I'm trying to sand-off my current skirting and paint it to give a fresh look. I'm not able to judge how much to sand. I used a 120 grit sandblock and based on the advise the skirting is slightly dull but not too much. Would that be enough to start painting? I'm afraid the paint won't stick. Should I go for lower grit? 

Also, isit the same technique to sand doors?

Attaching the pic of the sanded skirting

MitchellMc

Hi @siva26,

My go-to product in these situations is Dulux Maximum Adhesion Primer. It's perfect for gloss or challenging to paint surfaces. Simply give the area a quick sanding with your 120-grit paper, wipe the site down and then prime. Using a specialty primer like this takes away all the guesswork.

Essentially, if you're just sanding, the gloss must be removed until the surface appears dull and doesn't reflect light easily. In your top image, you can clearly see the reflection of your flash or light source. You don't want to be able to see clearly (for paint) defined reflections. 

It's hard to tell from just a picture whether your skirting is ready to be painted, but it looks like you've done a reasonable job of removing any sheen level. The door will be the same process. A good indicator is that the skirting and door should have a similar sheen to your walls when ready to paint. Walls are typically low-sheen.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell