relatively new home owner here. so this may be a "dumb question of the day" nominee.

but I want to re-paint the trim in a couple bedrooms and bathrooms. quarter round, baseboard, door trim.....that kind of stuff.

when I have done in the past, I just got some plain-Jane white semi-gloss water-based trim paint. latex...and away we go. but this house....the paint looks different. almost "thicker." and although the prior owner left a lot of paint, I only see one (very, very old) white paint. its an acrylic trim paint.

can I paint my normal white semi gloss latex over what is already there? will it cover it and look ok? does it matter? do I need to figure out if its an oil-based or acrylic. and if so, how do I do that?

thanks for any help here. enjoy the weekend!!!

 

Marksr will have the definitive answer but I would try some of my preferred paint in a closet where it wouldn't be really obvious if it were not compatible.

And no, it is not a "dumb" question at all.

 

I should have mentioned...when I am repainting....I am not changing the color. just gonna do white again. they needed repainted because of some stains and such...didn't wipe off.

 

Latex enamel won't adhere well to oil base enamel. To make the switch you'd need to first apply a solvent based primer. It's fairly easy to test and see what type of enamel is currently on the woodwork - http://www.doityourself.com/forum/pa...latex-oil.html

 

so my follow on question is....how do I tell for sure what's already there? I don't have to switch to my normal common white semi-gloss latex. its just what I have always used. if I know for sure this is oil-based, I can do that. someone said something on another site about taking a Q-tip with rubbing alcohol and testing the current paint. ever heard of that?

 

Did you read the link? As far as I know rubbing alcohol won't work but denatured alcohol will dissolve latex paints and is a common method for testing.