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Any painters and decorators on here - Can I just check I am Not going mad.

We have had some new skirting boards fitted and thus they need glossing as do the existing ones to match.

I would just undercoat new ones, sand existing ones and then give the lot a coat of gloss, father in law has convinced my missus she needs to undercoat the lot, what is that going to achieve with the ones that already have a coat of paint on?

New ones - prime, undercoat, gloss
Existing - light sand, undercoat, gloss

This is for the best finish  :)

Stick a sofa in front of said skirting boards

Agree with point one. Waterbased acrylic all the way.

Point two, depends on the condition of the existing coating/substrate and whether the top coat was solvent or water based acrylic.

If the substrate is sound then a very light sand with a fine grit foam sanding block will suffice.

Then if the original coat was solvent based and been applied at least two years prior then two coats will do of an acrylic waterbased top coat. If the topcoat is more recent and solvent based then apply two coats of a solvent based topcoat.

However, if the existing substrate is shyte then you will have to put some elbow grease into making the substrate look decent in which case the above applies with the addition of an undercoat.

We went primer twice, then satin wood twice or in a few cases thrice. (On bare mdf skirts and archs, so no relevance to you at all!  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:)

And on a related note (the reason why I really posted), our trick for walls/ceilings, and we tell everyone this, many times (who's decorating or soon to): spend good money (none of the usual b and q shite) and buy professional grade equipment.

Buy an 18" frame (Purdy), adjustable poles (Purdy) and 3/4" nap sleeves/rollers in 18" (Arroworthy) for top coat and a 3/4" to 1" nap (Purdy Colossus in 12" x 1" was out favourite - 18" weighs a ton in 1" when loaded) for mist coating. Then get a 25L scuttle and liners to save cleaning and paint.

One of us did 4 walls (whole room) one cote in 20 minutes. We work out that for a whole room, inc ceiling, a mist coat (fresh plaster) and 2 coats: was about 2 hours. Both of us did a similarly sized room with b and q equipment over 2 days. If we'd discovered professional equipment at the start, we'd have saved huge amounts of time and mess.

Apologies for going off on one, but it needed saying. :toocool:

Bottom line is, what is the difference in price ?.   

Between retail and trade quiet a lot but that depends on brand and tin size.

Lots, but for the saving in time and stress, it’s worth it and then some.

You can get 5 x 9” rollers and a cage for £12 or something in B&Q and a Harris pole for £4.99. A Purdy 12”-18” frame is about £17, a single 18” sleeve/roller about £10, a scuttle £20 and an extendable pole is about £30. But you’ll cover 2 sq feet per dip with a shit roller and about 4 sq metres with one dip on an 18”.

Sorry for detailing your thread Horlock.

Don't worry, she undercoated them anyway whilst I was out at work!