Can you sand painted wood

Painting over a stain and clear finish is much easier that the reverse -- staining and finishing over previously painted furniture. For starters, you have to strip off the paint, which is nobody's idea of a fun job. You then have to sand to remove paint residue, being careful to remove as much of it as possible without damaging or reshaping the wood.

The fun starts when you've reduced the piece -- as much as possible -- to raw wood, because staining and finishing will turn it into a different, more appealing, piece of furniture.

Move the piece of furniture to a garage or some other place where messiness isn't a concern. Spread newspaper on the floor and set the piece on top of it. Slather on chemical stripper with an old, natural-bristle paintbrush. You need a fairly strong stripper to remove paint, and it will probably contain methylene chloride, so wear rubber gloves, protective clothing and a respirator. Be generous -- the more stripper you spread, the better. Wait for about 10 minutes or until the paint begins to blister.

Scrape off as much paint and stripper as you can with a paint scraper, then use 00 steel wool to scrub off the rest. Recoat areas that have residue and scrape and scrub them a second time. Wash the entire piece with water when you're done to neutralize the stripper. After you have removed a majority of the dust with the shop vacuum, use a tack cloth or a cotton rag that has been dipped in water and thoroughly squeezed out to remove the remainder of the dust.

Mix the primer well and apply it with a brush or roller. After drying, if the primer looks transparent on the wood, prime a second time. The primer will have a chalky feel and appearance but this will be smoothed over by the paint. For flat surfaces, switch to the roller to speed up the process and provide a smoother finish. Let the primer dry completely, then sand it down before painting. Use very fine grit sandpaper, and apply light pressure to prevent gouging the primer.

Remove the primer dust with a quick brush from the shop vacuum, followed by a light swipe of the tack cloth. For highly irregular surfaces, such as furniture, crown molding, and trim , it is best to use a paintbrush only.

For surfaces that have large, flat areas, incorporating a high-density foam roller will help you get the job done more quickly. Transfer the paint to the wood, dragging the brush in short strokes that run parallel to the wood grain. Keep a wet edge at all times to prevent lap marks. Do not add a second coat of paint during this step, as this can cause the paint to tear.

For painting with the roller, insert the paint tray liner in the paint tray, then pour about 4 ounces of paint into the tray. Gently dab the roller into the paint. Roll the paint up and down the slope of the tray a few times to distribute the paint on the roller pad.

Transfer the roller to the wood. Roll the paint onto the wood, beginning with light pressure only. High-density foam roller covers tend to trap paint in the roller pad, so you may have to gently increase pressure to release the paint.

You can usually achieve an even smoother coat if you opt to sand and paint one final time. Sanding the first paint coat brings down bumps and inconsistencies introduced by the roller or brush. Using grit sandpaper, sand gently by hand, or attach the paper to the orbital sander and run it extremely lightly across the surface. Do not apply pressure to the sander other than the weight of the sander itself.

After sanding, open up the tack cloth, bunch it up but keep it loose, then lightly run it across the surface. Too much pressure on the tack cloth will be counter-productive, as this will press the tack cloth's embedded wax onto the surface. Let the paint dry as directed. If possible, let the piece dry overnight or longer before using it.

Paint becomes more durable after it fully cures. Make a note of where each item was on the piece of furniture to make it easier to put it back when you finish.

Move the item to an outdoor location. Another option is to set it in your shop or garage. If you must sand paint inside the house, put a tarp on the floor to catch some of the dust. Attach to grit sandpaper to a sanding block or palm sander to remove paint. This is coarse grit, so it can damage the wood if you apply too much pressure. Rub the sandpaper over the wood with the grain of the wood to remove the old paint. Change the paper, as necessary. Use a sanding attachment for a multipurpose tool to get into spots you can't reach with the palm sander.

Switch to to grit sandpaper. Working with the grain of the wood, finish removing any paint that remains and work out any scratches on the wood with this medium-grit paper.