Is it good to use an electric sander to prepare a large glossy finish surface to paint over?

Question

i would like to paint over the kitchen. it has a very glossy oil based paint surface over plaster walls, cieling and wooden/compressed wood cabinets, from what i can see. from my experience, glossy paint needs a good sanding before painting, but as it's a lot of square feet to cover, i find the idea of doing it all by hand daunting. what do you think? also, to my knowledge one must paint oil over oil, especially on wood, but some people insist that one can cover oil with new synthetic paints.

Answer 1

damping will clog the sand paper! i would suggest getting a sanding pad, that screws on to an extension pole, if you don't have an extension pole get one, it will save a lot of time, and stretching when your painting too. use a medium/coarse grit around p80 aluminium oxide paper. the green one doesn't seem to clog as often as the rest

Answer 2

using an electric sander will not hurt anything.  Use a medium grit like 100-150 to sand.  You will need to do some hand sanding if there are any details on anything.  Wipe down all the surfaces with a damp cloth and rinse often.  You can use a latex or acryllic paint for indoor use, sheen is up to you.  If you are not worried about odor, you can use an alkyd paint for the cabinets and other woodwork, but still the latex or acryllic on the walls.  good luck.

Answer 3

go to a paint pro and ask for a bonding agent for paint...the name escapes me but i have a can in my garage...

Answer 4

You can put ordinary water based wall paints over your oil-based shiny walls.  In this instance it is the fact they are shiny that is the problem, not that they were made with oil.  

You need to 'matt' most of the shiny surface so your new emulsion doesn't slide around and can get a grip on the surface.  You can do this with a p120 grade paper or if you decide to use and electric sander a p80 paper.

You are not rubbing down or trying to remove the paint, just dulling/matting it to give your new paint a surface it can stick to.