skirting renovation advice

[raf300]

I am in the process of renovating my house and I am tackling the skirting boards and doors.

A lot of the skirting looks original and covered in 3 to 4 layers of paint. I am looking to paint them white but want to get a nice finish. I have just skimmed the bedrooms and want nice skirting to match the finish.
I know I won't be able to achieve a perfect finish that comes with new skirting fitted but a semi decent finish of existing skirts would be nice.

I would like to know is it best to spend the time to strip back with a heat gun or rub down the existing paint.?
Also would the finish from bare wood be similar to rubbing down painted skirting?

I have experimented with a heat gun and stripped back the 3 layers of paint which took about 1 hour to do 2.2metres of skirting.
As opposed to sanding which is a quarter of the time.

Also the hallway and landing are poorly varnished (very thin) can I just rub this down and undercoat and then put a topcoat of satinwood?
I am thinking of using Johnstones Joncryl primer/undercoat and then Johnstones acrylic satinwood.

Any advice would be great.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48162547@N05/sets/72157633495897340/with/8738212301/

You can see from the pictures s I have sanded the existing skirting, and also stripped some of the it.
Also you might be able to see where I have rubbed down the varnish in the landing. I used 120 grit on the varnish and 80 grit on the painted skirting board. I have rubbed the until it feels smooth as before sanding it felt rough.

 

[Pigeon85]

If you are able to sand the skirting smooth then you will get a good finish, i would only consider stripping then back if they were absolutely covered in runs and lumps and bumps.

Bit late now but you could have removed them before skimming and gave them a good go over with a sander.

 

[raf300]

Hi Pigeon85

Yeah I realized afterwards that I should have taken them off before skimming.
However I bought a bosch mouse sander and a Ryobi 1/4 sheet palm which have both been very good and I can achieve a very flat finish on the skirting with minimal effort.

Also how long should you rub down a door with an electric sander?
I spent about 10 to 15 min max on one side with an electric sander and some manual sanding, using 80 grit sandpaper to get the existing paint flat. ?

 

[Pigeon85]

There is no minimum or maximum time for sanding, just until you take the shine off and get a flat surface. I would only really use a sander on large surfaces just to save my arm.

 

[emilybronte]

I agree with Pigeon. Sanding is probably your best bet unless it's a listed building or something in which case it might be worth taking the original skirting back to its bare wood.

I would however use the Johnstone's water-based undercoat though, not the Joncryl. The latter is cheaper but not as good.

 

[paulsheldon7]

You could always go with something like these

http://www.skirtingboards.com/pvcu-skirting-boards/white-pvcu-over-skirting-boards-5m-lengths.html

They wouldn't need any painting and you wouldn't need to take the old ones off!