Query re painting over varnished stairs

Hi,

At the moment our stairs bannisters, newel posts and ballustrades are all varnished pine with the threads and risers carpetted.

We are looking to paint the bannisters, newel posts and ballustrades. Wife wants to paint it the same colour as the walls- dont ask!

We purchased the house about 18 months ago and it would appear that there is only 1 light coat of clear varnish on it. What are my options if i want to paint over it?

I have done a bit of research and am getting conflicting views.

Some suggest using a varnish remover such as Nitromors but i would be nervous of doing damage to the wood with all the scrapping etc.

Others suggest using sandpaper to remove the varnish but warn it will be painstakingly slow

A friend who is quite adept at DIY says i will get a perfectly good result if I just lightly sand the current varnish finish, prime it with good quality primer, sand again and then apply two coats of an eggshell finish paint with good quality brush.

Has anyone here done this before and if so what would they recommend.

Any advice would be welcome,

Thanks

Cully

Your friend has it right, lightly sand the stairs to provide a key then paint with primer rub between coats then 2 final coats.

If you use water based paint it will dry faster but I understand from my painter friends that oil based paint is more durable.

Painted my varnished banister a few months ago and did the same your friend has recommend. He's totally right as it worked out perfectly.

S.L.F and Karibou57,

Thanks for the replies - much appreciated.

What grade sandpaper would you recommend using ?

Can you suggest a good quality primer to use,

cheers