Stripping skirting board : should I give up?

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Hi all - I started sanding down the skirting boards in the living room & bedrooms 3 weeks ago. In some places, the paint has stripped down to bare wood, which is in good condition. In other places there are layers of gloss, which is just not shifting.

I know that I need to prime the bare wood and I can then undercoat and paint the whole skirting. However, if there are areas with old gloss on, this is going to create an uneven surface.

Do I fill the areas that are not even (most of the skirting) or just give up and have new skirting fitted? The bedrooms have been plastered, will it ruin the plaster to pull the skirting off?

Am slightly losing the will to live and think life is too short to be faffing around with skirting board. Any ideas will be very welcome. Thank you
 
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If it is your intention to repaint the skirts there is no need to remove all the existing paintwork, try something like 80 grit paper and give the existing paintwork a good rub down feathering any edges where the bare wood is. The idea is that you should be able to run your hand across the surface and feel no difference in depth between the painted surface and the exposed areas of timber. If you achieve this a light sand with around 120 grit should give you a good surface to apply your paint to.

You will then need to apply a knotting solution to any knots within the bare timber and then apply two coats of a primer/undercoat lightly sanding between coats, then another light sand and you will be ready to apply your finish coats.

An alternative to the knotting would be the application of a stain block paint prior to the undercoat and finish coats.

Dec
 
Thanks Dec, I'll give your suggestion a go. I'm not finding sanding the skirting much fun....much prefer painting, where you can see the result of your work.

I'll try what you've suggested though. I'm decorating the whole house top to bottom and am finding that I'm getting stuck on rubbish jobs like this, which are taking forever.

I suppose there's no quick solution with DIY and it's just a lot of elbow grease. I'll give it another couple of weeks. Then I'm going with the other suggestion of replacing.
 
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Wizz over it with a cheap belt sander. Laminate? That went out years ago.
 
I've got a cheap 'mouse' sander. It's a lot of noise but not a lot of action and just couldn't cut through the 25 years of gloss.

I can't afford real wood flooring unfortunately and I don't want carpet downstairs as the back door comes straight into the room (and the carpet would be wrecked).

The laminate down at the moment is awful (although I'm sure it served a purpose). Bright orange and 'lifting' all over. I can't wait to get rid.

Is there something between real wood and laminate that would be better?
 
i prefer the the skirting over the top as it looks better, also with being raised up it helps hide any damage done while removeing the old stuff. its also relatively cheap if your just getting plain pine or you can also get the pre-primed mdf stuff just as cheap.
 
But it usually pulls clods of plaster off the wall that will need repairing (and redecorating) and you need the ability to cut the new stuff accurately or it'll look a mess.
 
hmm. I'm trying to avoid more work. I just know that if I rip the skirting board off, most of the wall will come with it (knowing this house). I've just had the bedrooms skimmed and I can't stand the thought of having the living room plastered too.

Right. Tomorrow I'm going to get some of that 'grit' paper (I'll ask someone in B&Q) and I'll give it a go. I've got Dulux primer / undercoat and satinwood all ready. I don't mind putting the work in if it's going to look OK.

I'll also google floorings if laminate is now 'naff'!!
Thanks all - appreciate your help.
 
Get the expensive green 60 or 80 grit paper and a sanding block. You'll have the sanding done within an hour. Don't get cheap yellow paper - it's useless.
 
You don't say what you've been using to try to remove the paint.

Hot air gun?

You may regret removing the old skirting board very early on...
 
Well. Hoofed up to a local DIY shop at lunchtime and got some 60 grit green sandpaper.

It's taken me just over an hour and I've got the skirting boards in both bedrooms down to bare wood!!! It's taken me 3 weeks with normal sandpaper - and I've just done the job in an hour!! Why didn't I know this sandpaper existed??

Feel v positive today and will be sanding the skirting in the living room tomorrow. Skirting looks great and is ready to prime for painting. I'm so relieved they don't need to come off. They're dead smooth and I'm really pleased.

Living room will be harder. Previous owner seemed obsessed with nailing things to the skirting, got my filler ready though.

Thanks to all of you. I don't mind hard work - just need to know what to use....

Bare plaster in bedrooms and I'm itching to paint it. Going to get this house in shape. Might need more advice from you all, watch this space!

thanks again
 
why oh why when people strip finishes do they not use paint stripper. You can buy an eco stripper water based thats harmless, no burns, no odours - just brush it on in a thick coat on ALL the skirting, leave it from 30mins to a hour or so, go have a cup of tea, come back and scrape the soft paint off with a paint scraper then repeat until stripped. Supplier is Natech (in Staffs I think) sandings effective but boy what a job :(

actually edit that, sanding a finish off can wreck the job if you are finishing with a clear varnish.....
 
Never used paint stripper and I'm quite wary of chemicals (there's always an odour, no matter what they say). Used solvent remover on old PVC sealant and found the fumes horrendous. And it was really messy to scrape off (although it did a great job).

Also trying to work around furniture and am completely paranoid about my leather settee - one splash of paint stripper and it's an expensive trip to DFS.

I'll be painting the skirting white so all's OK. I'm really pleased with the finish and anyway, think of the calories I'm burning with sanding!! :D Bonus!
 

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