I am so bad a titling blog posts. Anyway…
The tread stripping was finished a few weeks ago. But we had an issue with the railing. Well, two issues actually. One was that the previous ownersn had painted the railing with bright white latex paint right on top of yellow-ish oil based paint.
Latex paint doesn’t stick to oil based paint, it just sits on top and waits for something to rub it, at which time, it will roll up and peel right off.
The second problem was that they just did a horrible job painting it. It was so streaky and bumpy that oils and dirt settled into every ridge and it was impossible to keep clean.
Because of these two issues, just painting over it wasn’t an option, all the layers had to be stripped off for a fresh start.
Pin it for later.
My favorite way to remove paint is with a heat gun, because it’s chemical free and fast (and it’s fun). If you haven’t used a heat gun to remove paint, it’s pretty simple. You point the gun where you want to start scraping, turn it on and wait for the paint to bubble. When it bubbles, you scrape it off with a plastic putty knife. Easy peasy.
If you have a straight path, you can go slowly, heating with one hand and scraping with the other and get whole sections done at once.
For grooves and hard-to-get-to areas like the second photo above, what worked for me was this: warm the area with the heat gun, then turn the gun off and let the wood cool for a couple minutes. Go back with your scraper and get a corner started, then you can just peel it up with your hands.
(A note about using the heat gun though, don’t hold it on one place too long or have the heat higher than it needs to be, because you can scorch your wood.)
Once it was all scraped, I gave it a light sanding, cleaned it up and it was ready for fresh paint.
And I didn’t get any pictures of the whole railing stripped. Oops. But here it is with it’s nice fresh paint. The baseboards going up the stairs also got a fresh coat and caulk between the trim piece and baseboard.
Now I just need to touch up the risers and the stairs will be finished. Finally!
This is the heat gun I use, and I love it. It has two span feeds and a temperature dial, so you can really fine-tune the amount of heat, and how far it goes. As long as you use it properly, you won’t scorch your wood, and you won’t ruin paint finishes on nearby surfaces because it’s blowing too hard.
You’ll usually just need a light sanding afterwards unless you’re going to prime and repaint.
Great job, I never knew you could strip away the paint just by using a heat gun!
Yep, it really is the best: no chemicals, no having to open windows, avoid the area, wait… It’s so much faster, easier and cleaner than using strippers.
If you do want to use a heat gun, be sure you test for lead-content paint first (very common in old houses) and use a low-temp heat gun & a fume-rated mask. (I stripped a door once before I knew to be cautious, and the fumes were really nasty.)
Great job! A fresh coat of white paint always makes a statement.
Such a simple change like paint can have such a huge impact! You did a great job Christine! Love your house 🙂
Thanks Doreen!
Wow wow wow! Looks so good.
I need a heat gun!
Nicely done! Love the painting…
I’ll be going to Home Depot in the coming days and I have to ask them if I can rent a heat gun now. I want to take all the old paint off the doors in our apartment because I’ve seen peeks of how beautiful the wood is under it. It shouldn’t be hidden!
Good idea! It’s weirdly fun. Have you heard of Fat Lama? Not sure if they are in your area, but you can rent things from other people in your town. If Home Depot doesn’t rent them, you might be able to try that too.