Paint Stripping

moments_of_sanity

I have finally got around to stripping the paint work from my bannister rail and would like to remove it from the existing wood work that runs either side of the stairs. I am planning to return it to 'natural' wood.

Now for the background, when I bought my house in 2002, it had been rented out for some 15 years and I think every year the landlord had come in a 'freshened up' by slapping a coat of white paint on all the door frames, bannister rail and surrounding wood. I have spent about 2.5 hours this afternoon sanding down the bannister rail and have completed about a third of it, my question is am I better to get some liquid paint remover, or even a heat paint remover or should I just continue to remove the paint with sand paper? Again, same question for the wood either side of the stairs- may just 'give in' and buy new door frames as the one's we have aren't great.

Any help would be grateful, thanks

ormus

i used a heat gun and a detail sander.
it took me two weeks to do it properly.

pain in the ar se, but worth it in the end.

ps
i dont like chemical strippers indoors.

moments_of_sanity

ormus wrote: »

i used a heat gun and a detail sander.
it took me two weeks to do it properly.

pain in the ar se, but worth it in the end.

ps
i dont like chemical strippers indoors.

Thanks for your response, I will see about getting a heat gun in the next couple of days and see how that goes.

martinthebandit

Chemical paint stripper every time for a job like that, just make sure the hall is well ventilated.

Leif

Careful you don't burn the wood with the heat gun.

For better chemical strippers than you get at B&Q try here:

http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/I_want_to_remove.htm

I tried NB-610 on an architrave and it is brutal stuff. Within minutes paint was bubbling. It is also a bit brutal on skin. They sell trial packs so you can see if it works on your paint. I would not use this unless you can wash down the banister i.e. you don't care about carpets and other paint.

ikati5

I bought a heat gun to strip my stairs of many years of thick gloss paint. I found that it was really fumey in an enclosed unventilated area and made me feel bit woozy.

I changed to nitromors, which is bit potent but had less effect on my ability to stay concious!

Nikkisun

I've just finished mine - took nearly 4 weeks altogether!! Used a heat gun, orbital sander and detail sander - now looks great - tried using paint stripper on the bottom stair and it turned the wood a horrible grey colour!!

moments_of_sanity

Nikkisun wrote: »

I've just finished mine - took nearly 4 weeks altogether!! Used a heat gun, orbital sander and detail sander - now looks great - tried using paint stripper on the bottom stair and it turned the wood a horrible grey colour!!

Thanks Nikki -other posts have mentioned about being careful not to burn the wood, did you find this was a problem at all?

Have you any photos to share?

Nikkisun

as long as you keep the heat gun moving there's no worry with burning the wood - have got no photos at the moment but will try and take some in the next couple of days

tyler80

I've got this to look forward to in the coming weeks, current house has half a century of accumulated paint on the woodwork it seems. Will be going down the heat gun route initially.

timmmers

Soda blast it all. You can rent the kit and it's baking soda used...maybe wet to stop it getting everywhere. They use them for graffiti and fire damage too.