Expert: Eileen Cronk - 1/14/2008

Question
I have a table and chairs that I bought unfinished back in 2004.  My husband and I stained the set and coated it with polyurethane.  My question is now that we want to paint it black, what do I need to do to prep the furniture so that it can be painted?  Also, what would I need to put polyurethane over the paint?

Answer
Hi Jennifer
Nice to hear from you.
As I think you understand, the prep work is the most important part of any painting project.
The only problem I see here is this.
The poly you applied in 2004 was probably oil based..correct? I'll bet you remember the smell if nothing else LOL.
And in the 3 years since this was applied, I imagine it has not worn a whole lot.
So you probably have a good covering of fairly good oil poly to try to cover.
If you sand and apply oil based paint there is no problem.
Because you are using black, I see no reason to prime unless you can find oil based black primer which will be great. In our little rural area, I cannot even buy black spray primer but perhaps you can.
If this poly was applied 15 years ago or so, I feel you could sand, prime and apply water based black paint as the poly would be well worn in that time...and I have done such things with good results so don't listen to any "nay sayers" LOL
Jennifer you will have to be the judge of this based on what you know about the poly and its current condition.
Now with regards to applying a poly over the black which I imagine you want to do for durability.
Yes it can be done. It will be water based over waterbased paint or oil based over oil based paint which I'm sure you know.
Personally I do not see that this step is necessary over a good quality paint.
For this set I would use semi gloss paint.
Hope this has been helpful.
Good luck with your project and get back to me if I've missed anything.
Kindest Regards
Eileen