Best way to strip a bannister

paul2468

My bannister and hand rail have been painted that many times they are due a strip....wife wants the bannister posts and handrail stripped back to the bare wood and then varnished..we are going to leave the spindles white....can anyone tell us the best way to go about iy...cheers

ormus

heat gun and a scraper. then lots of sandpaper. and or wirewool.

paul2468

ormus wrote: »

heat gun and a scraper. then lots of sandpaper. and or wirewool.

Would you say that would be better than the gel type stuff that you can paint on

ormus

everyday.
i hate using chemicals and esp indoors. dangerous and messy. (ok in an empty house).
esp if you have children or pets.

square_bear

This job takes a lot of time and effort to get it looking right.

It's to your advantage that the paint is quite thick because it makes it easier to strip with the hot air gun and scraper.

I usually use the Nitromors paint remover on the awkward areas.

sparky40

Having just stripped 2 bannisters and a handrail (3 storey house) I can say this is a time consuming tedious job. However once it is finished it will look fantastic.
Our bannisters etc were the same as your (lots of layers) and the easiest way i found was with a heat gun and a few different shaped scrapers (Highly recommend a triangular shavehook) then for the small tedious bits as a previous poster said use nitromors.

My main advice would be to stick with it and dont give up!!!!

PhilThom

Heat gun scrapper and plenty of time. Don't rush it and you will get a better finish.

gmgmgm

Consider buying new spindles vs the cost of your time...

HelenDaveKids

We did the whole house!! Heat gun and nitromors being my best friend along with wire wool. Make sure you wear rubber gloves with nitromors and cover smoke alarms when using heat guns! Used Danish oil to protect wood when finished. :beer:

Pig of a job but definitely worth it. Must confess to getting doors dipped.

Frank_E

I stripped some of my doors until a mate at uni said he worked part time at a place that dips them.
It worked out cheaper and less hassle gettig them dipped.