Help with painting a stair bannister

[ridingmrdarcey]

We have a georgian property and the bannister and ballustrade has some detail on it. Having tackled a small piece it has about 12 layers of paint on it. What will be the easiest and fastest way to strip it back? Or should I just accept it will be a labour of love that will take months and just my mother in to do it?

many thanks for any suggestions.

 

[tommyl18]

have you tried a decent watt heat gun if the paints quite thick should peel away quite easily then ull need a small detail scraper to scrape the paint off the detailed areas

 

[Nige F]

there are special strippers that you apply and leave like a poultice Never had to use them but you`ll probably find in a " period home " website. Gotta be worth it . I love Georgian architecture

 

[Donkmeister]

I saw one of those poultice ones being used on some really intricate cornices on Grand Designs - looked like it was working well.

Have you considered paint stripper? Nitromors do one in a yellow can that is certified by the guild of master furniture makers (something along those lines!), so if you want a bare/oiled/varnished wood finish it's a good bet as you won't scorch the wood.

 

[cocoots100]

I would avoid using the heat gun. There is a high probability that the lower layers of paint (pre 60's) would contain lead, therefore the application of heat would release lead particles into the air.

Either Nitromors (expect several applications) or any possibility of getting a carpenter to dismantle the stair wood and get them dipped?

 

[sarahw]

I would avoid using the heat gun. There is a high probability that the lower layers of paint (pre 60's) would contain lead, therefore the application of heat would release lead particles into the air.

Either Nitromors (expect several applications) or any possibility of getting a carpenter to dismantle the stair wood and get them dipped?

You can purchase masks that will protect you from this vapour, but the last one I got was about £18 in Screwfix.

The amount of work involved i nthis to get a good result will be massive! You'll spend a longtime stripping eac bainster and then have to sand then afterwards. If you're tempted down this route at least try it on a single spindle first and I'm sure you'll see what I mean

I've never used paintstripper but that's the route I'd go down if you don't want to paint over them.