Best way to sand/strip/brighten up this banister

Rainbow_Butterfly

I am moving in a couple of weeks and have 10 days in between getting the keys and my removals date. I am going to spend this time decorating the new house,it needs painting everywhere, it seems much easier to do it with a totally empty house. I would also like to do something with the banisters which are very dark and not in very good condition. The first two pictures below show the banisters in question (the pictures were taken quickly when I went to view and arnt very good, I apologise)





This picture I randomly found online when googling the new road name, it is from a house for sale a couple down from mine, exact same layout throughout, and I think their banister looks a million times better than mine, and with the living room so small makes it look bigger too.



I dont really have any idea where to start or how long it might take so any advice would be appreciated. I am finding conflicting info on the net as to whether it is best to sand or use a chemical stripper.

Thank you.

WestonDave

With the detailing on the top and lower parts its going to be very hard to sand them, given that you probably need to take them back to bare wood (unless you want to paint over with white paint or go for a darker stain). However inevitably using a chemical stripped will raise the grain in places which will need sanding back if you want a smooth finish. The other danger in sanding is that you get tempted to be too vicious in order to get it done quickly at which point you end up with flat spots and generally ruining the shape of the rail. The other potential advantage of using a chemical stripper is that you can put it on, and then go off to do something else whilst it does its thing - which might help you maximise what you get done in your "window"

ormus

sanding is always preferable to chemicals. i would only use nitromors in an empty house.
be aware that if dark stain has been used, then you may never get the lighter wood to show through again.

painting it white is another option.

MsAnderson

You could remove the handrail and ballisters and buy new pines ones and stain/paint them. Then you would only have to concentate on stripping the stringer and poss the newel posts.

Or, I have used a striping product that spreads on like butter and you wrap in a cling film type thing. You wait 24 hours and the cling comes off with the butter and the layers of paint. It only needed a damp rag to life the odd bits of butter off and made a fab job. No idea what the name was, but google might.