I am new to painting over stained wood. I have a lot of wood trim, doors and window frames to do. I sanded the wood then applied oil based primer. Now I wonder what kind of paint should I use to paint with. Some say latex paint will work just fine. Here it says it cannot be done. Oh dear! Now what do I do?

Click here to receive email notifications when answers are posted to this question.

Answers

Answered by Karl Crowder, Crowder Painting from Colorado Springs, Colorado

You can paint over stained wood with a latex/acrylic paint as long as the wood is primed first. You did this and you used the correct type of primer, oil base. Now you can apply a finish coat (or two) of acrylic paint.

The only time that a latex can't be used over stained wood is if it isn't primed. It will peel without a primer.

Oil base paint does have some advantages, cures very hard and is very resistant to scratches, but most of the time those advantages are outweighed by its disadvantages, smells bad and takes a long time to cure hard.