I'm going to paint banister and need some help!

You don't need to put poly over the paint. Just lightly sand to remove any shine. Prime any raw wood with Kilz, Bin, or Zinsser primer. Then paint with your color. You can use gloss or ultra gloss for longevity.

When you start to paint the handrail, have the "primer" tinted

at your paint store. For RED, I would use a dark gray, purple or

brown primer. If you use a white primer, you will need four, five

or six coats in order to get RED...not "pink"! Leave the spindles

white and paint the base dark brown...why are you using "red" for

the hand-rail? Black or dark brown would look so much better...

there is a tool which makes this job sooo much easier than brushing - it has a long handle with an 90 degree prong which takes small rollers - think the maker is Richards.

Thanks. I'll check it out. Any idea what it's called? Don't suppose you have a photo?

when choosing your rail color have our primer tinted at 50% of the original color this way you will achieve a nice top coat or you can have them tint the primer with a few drops of black to help blend when using your original color choice.

I always find gloss paint easier to wipe clean.

GIrl! You are already there!!!............Keep sandin', make it look old and weathered. Apply what paints and waxes you have to and you've got it lookin' goood girl!!!!

FIRST WHEN PAINTING Rails USE A GLOVE TO DO THEM. YEP A GLOVE LIKE A CAR WASH FUZZY ONE. You dip hand in paint the wipe rail all way around with glove. It goes on much easier and faster that way. Always. always prime and yes I would add clear coat over it. Then it takes the wear and tear not the orginal paint unless you want the chalk paint look with white showing when it wears. Seems like that is the going thing now days. I myself would never paint real wood unless it is so ugly. Always natural color looks best but your choice.

Me, when I started being the DIY'er and handyman around here, discovered my love of old-fashioned Oil Based paint for ANY wood or outside painting. I TRIED latex paints to be sure, but found sheer disappointment. So I hunt down the Oil-Base Paint for ANY wood project I have. Except for some furniture that won't get hard use. If you use Oil Base paint, OH my gosh... so worth the hassle of having to use spirits to clean up. And the smell too. Oil base takes HARD abuse, lasts forever.

I never use oil based anything. It's harder to get smooth, harder to clean any tools and takes longer to dry. suggest use water based paint of whatever colour you want. I would chose a good make as they are high in pigments and cover well. Make sure you sand to remove the shine of the existing paint and fill all the imperfection with a good foller. Once you are done with the colour of your choice, apply three coat of water based Polyvine. (http://www.polyvine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=13&Itemid=142&lang=en)

They come dead flat, medium or hight gloss. They dry super fast. Although you might think another three coata of something else sounds like a further chore, they are a child's game to apply and are very durable. I even used them on table tops.

Hope ot helps.

You can buy high gloss laytex paint - you don't need to use oil base.