Painting closet trim/baseboards
 

My house is 8 years old and am guessing that the trim/baseboards were painted with oil based paint.

When the rest of the house was painted a few weeks ago professionally, the painters sanded the trim/baseboards prior to painting them.

What I can tell from my google research, sanding is required if they painted with a latex paint.

Can I paint the closet trim/baseboards with oil based paint and skip the sanding?

thank you!

My home in Mallory Square, build in 2007, has oil based paint on the baseboards, wood trim and interior wood doors. I have used oil based paint to touch up the doors and trim.

With no sanding, correct?

Do not put oil based paint over latex
 

Never put oil based paint over Latex. 99% of the homes in the Villages have a water borne paint on the trim. I did my painting apprenticeship in the 60s, and painted for over 40yrs. Sherwin Williams makes Pro Classic water borne enamel. I highly recommend you use it. A very light sanding with a sanding sponge should be sufficient.
Len Retired half of Investment Painting Contractors.

I am not sure, but I would be surprised if your house has oil based paint. I would scrape off a piece and take it to a paint store to see if they can tell you what type it is. My guess is water based.

The touch-up paint I received when purchasing the home was water-based clean up brushes with water. You should sand wood lightly aids in adhesion of new paint to old.

Check with the Villages Warranty Dept. They have records of all the materials used in building your house.

You guessed correctly. 2015/2016’ish The Villages switched to latex for trim. Sherwin Williams has a latex which can be applied over oil based paint with no issues or skimming.

Our house circa 2009, according to warranty dept, is all latex inc doors & trim. Doors & trim was semi-gloss. Paint was from Florida Paint. They gave us the color number and Florida Paint duplicated it 100%. Tried a "color matched" paint from Lowes originally when we moved in in 2017 and while it was close it was very obvious on the walls where it was repainted. The Florida Paint was 100% perfect. Bottom line, check with warranty dept,

No sanding is necessary unless you want to even out pealing paint.

Our 2013 vintage house has OIL based paint for the trim, I have the original touchup paint. I would go to Sherwin Williams and get the suitable primer to allow painting a latex paint over oil based paint. Sanding may be involved as I have not tried this yet.

Latex can go over Oil but not the other way around without prime. After you use the oil don't forget the thinner to clean your brush.

Oil or latex
 

You can determine if your woodwork is oil or latex by sanding a small painted area and smelling the sandpaper. You can use latex paint over oil base paint, but it is not recommended to use oil base paint over latex. QUOTE=jayerose;1863464]My house is 8 years old and am guessing that the trim/baseboards were painted with oil based paint.

When the rest of the house was painted a few weeks ago professionally, the painters sanded the trim/baseboards prior to painting them.

What I can tell from my google research, sanding is required if they painted with a latex paint.

Can I paint the closet trim/baseboards with oil based paint and skip the sanding?

thank you![/QUOTE]

Almost certainly your house’s interior was painted with latex, with the walls spray painted and the trim painted with a brush. Oil took a lot longer to dry and cure and off-gas. If it has a popcorn ceiling, as mine does, that was also sprayed. Yes, you can paint the closet trim with latex. I recommend that you spend a couple minutes cleaning off dust or dirt with a wet washcloth, so the paint will stick better. That’s plenty.

You only need to sand if you are changing types of paint. If they are oil based then you can do oil base without sanding.

I think if you call Home Warrenty, they could tell you exactly

Home Warranty has info provided on the spec sheets...ie paint colors and codes. Whether or not the trim paint is latex or oil, they may not know

I have small samples of paint for touch up and see no oil based paint. I doubt they would use such a product since they require solvents to clean their brushes and it is cheaper to use water based products that use water to clean up.

Last year I repainted the baseboards. I assumed that they had been painted with latex, but after applying some, the paint got all mushy, so I quickly discovered that they were oil based. Fortunately I had started with only a small spot, and hadn't bought a whole lot of paint. That was an easy way to discover!!!

This is the best idea. No need to guess.

My two cents worth-for free
Sanding the molding. You are likely to sand only the high spots. I don't know if it is still made there was a product called NO SAND, that would clean the molding and soften the paint. My view, is the old saying if you don't have the time to do it right the first time you will need time to do it again. I would use primer. Logic, you need to clean all the stuff you/we have tucked into your/our closets that and the prep is the biggest part of the job.
Oil based paint? You may have trouble finding it. I think thanks to the EPA. Varnish, I do not like water based varnish as it raises the grain on raw wood. I resorted to marine varnish, it is expensive and it is spar varnish never fully hardens.

2013 Collier house had water based Florida Paints trim

There is an easy way to determine whether oil based or latex paint was used.

Use denatured alcohol on a rag. Rub a spot vigorously and if you are able to remove some of the paint that is proof that the paint is latex. The alcohol is available at any paint or hardware store.

Accurate and easy. Hope this helps.

The paint store in Southern Trace has water based paint made to paint over oil painted trim. After spending many months in a wheel chair my wife had nipped trim and doorways all over the house. I took a piece of the trim to match the paint to them to get the color to match. It matched perfectly and blended perfectly.

If you’re house trim was painted with oil based paint and you want to paint over it with oil based paint then YES you can do that. Just make sure to give it a good dusting. My house is 10 years old and it was most definitely painted with oil paint on the trim. I think that the newer homes are using latex paint for the trim now. Oil based paint seems to be more durable in my opinion.

Solvent Based Paints
 

The EPA started to come down on Painters pretty bad in the late 70s. Less and Less solvent based paint has been used since then. Not only is the clean-up a pain it's very expensive to get rid of the solvents you use for cleaning your spray guns, brushes etc. Water based "ENAMEL" which has the same durability and quality, for "residential" situation has been widely used for years.

We had to be certified and attend classes to us solvent based paints. Our warehouse had to be equipped with Fire Proof cabinets to store the paint and was subjected to surprise inspections.

When I retired it cost me almost $10,000 to empty my warehouse of solvents and paints, before I could sell it. @ MEK, Acetone, Lacquer Thinner. Epoxy, Polyurethane, Etc. Water based paint can simply be allowed to dry up and be thrown away.

I'm not saying you don't have oil based paint I'm saying it's unlikely that it was used in a lot of homes. My home was built in 1997 and is water borne enamel. PS when I started painting with my Father in the late 50s Lucite Latex was a brand name. Sorry about this being so long. I'm Bored. Len the retired half of Investment Painting.













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Call The Villages warranty department. You’ll have an answer in two minutes.

Why in the world would you want to paint base boards with latex paint? Oil based paint is much much more durable, looks nicer on hard surfaces and cleans up better. I had the interior doors and all the trim inside my house painted with one coat of primer/sealer and two coats of Porter semi gloss enamel when the house was built twenty four years ago. It looks as good today as it did when it was first applied. Yes, you will spend a little more time cleaning up after using oil base paint and the cost for oil based paint (assuming it's still available) might be a bit higher but with reasonable care, oil base paint will clean up better and will hold up much longer then any latex paint currently on the market.

They are probably just high gloss latex. No one uses oil based paint inside.

Chances of it being oil is slim to none. An 8 year old house is considered pretty new.

You can paint oil over latex NOT the other way around! No you don’t need to sand unless you need to remove imperfections. Just make sure it’s been wiped down with rag to remove dust/ grime.
Done this many times . Oil base paint is more durable.