Stained trim can look good but sometimes over the years of painting the walls paint can get on the sides rendering it very sloppy looking. The best way to fix this is to paint over the stain. Painting over stained wood trim is a bit more difficult than repainting trim that has paint already on it or is new. There are steps you will need to take to ensure the stain does not bleed through the paint causing discoloration. It may be a bit tedious and take a bit of time but will definitely increase the rooms in the house.

The first thing you must do is determine if the stained trim has any polyurethane on it or not. If there is polyurethane on it then you will need to take some very fine sandwich and run it lightly along the surface just to add a small amount of scuff to it. This will increase the bonding of the primer you will be applying to the stained trim.

Once the trim has been scuffed up in order to seal the stain in so that it does not bleed through the paint a layer of stain killing primer needs to be applied. This stain killing primer need to be an oil based. There are various type of primers on the market, but a slow drying oil based primer will work best.An oil brush with an angled sash will work best in applying the primer Once you have primed the trim it will need to dry overnight.The brush can be cleaned with mineral spirits. Make sure you dispose of the mineral spirits correctly.

At this point any nail holes that are not filled need to be filled with a putty. The best putty to use is actual window glazing because of its non-shrinking properties. Just take a small amount out and ball it up in your fingers and lightly rub it over any hole. Make sure to rub it all off the trim so that the only trace of it is in the hole.

The stained trim is now ready to be painted. Two coats of a semi gloss paint will produce a nice shiny smooth look to your trim. Using an all purpose or latex brush with an angled sash will make the job go smoothly. When finished you can clean your brush with just water and a wire brush. You now have trim that has a completely new look. This is the proper way to paint over stained trim.

Article originally published at Source by Jeremy Berger