Re-painting the stairs / advice

[skhudy]

1920's house, I'm stripping the white gloss paint on the stairs and stair skirting.

It's previously been stripped and had some kind of varnish or stain applied to the bare wood, and since gloss painted (badly) over.

I'm planning on stripping and sanding the posts, skirting, and replacing the spindles and hand rail with new.

I'm comfortable painting the new wood - primer / undercoat / satinwood

My query is the 100 year old wood. I'm going to sand and fill any nicks, how best to prep / paint this? it's unlikely i'm going to be able to get all the stain / varnish off.

Thanks in advance!

 

[blightymam]

I would do exactly what you say, fill in holes and sand to provide a good key - ready for paint with at least an undercoat too. You don't need to take every bit of varnish off.
Just one mention tho, and that's to make sure someone else really has previously stripped it as it could be lead paint under there with a house your age. We had a dark brown, well, we presume was varnish under layers of white gloss and it was lead. The joys of older property huh?!

 

[Grenage]

If lead is a concern, there's at least one internet-based UK-based lead paint testing company. Prices weren't too awful- I think about £15 a sample

Of course it could be argued that if you treat all paint as the old lead paint, you'll be fine, and save money.