wooden railing

[Chas12]

Hi, My 1923 house has a wooden railing where the handrail has been painted a number of times, and the last 'job' was a very poor attempt at an antiqued grain. The newel posts are the same. The bottom one is loose enough that I want to remove it, but the one at the landing is solid, and has its base extended down to a point where I don't want to play with it. I want to get the finish off the handrails, and I don't like strippers, I prefer to use a scraper. I would however, consider having the pieces dipped if it is the only alternative. Under the handrail are 2 starwheels like we had on drum brake adjusters. I'm guessing that if I loosen those, I might be able to free everything. The balusters are fine. My other alternative is to paint the handrail. Has anyone seen that done? Its a traditional house, so I would think a dark color like a black or brown would be appropriate? Thanks!! Chas

[Guess who]

That's the only alternative aside from stripping. I painted ours not dark, but a light brown. That also meant doing the stairwell window frame, the baseboard up the stairs and along the hallway, and the upstairs hallway doors and frames the same light brown. Walls are a

*very* light hint of brown, as if you'd put just a drop o chocolate into a full bag of milk. A nice effect, much improved over what it was. I also did the entrance woodwork the same colours for continuity.

I don't know what it's called, but I came across some really cheap brushes that look like a BBQ brush, but with the end bent about 20 degrees. I used them to paint the posts, getting around and behind. Keep going back to check for and smooth out any runs. In order to do that without a lot of smearing and smudging, I did every other one, let them dry, then did the rest. Be patient. It took days to complete this.

Hint: Put down the new carpet *after* you've finished the painting. I saved some time and effort there also. I got the pros to do that and a couple of downstairs rooms at the same time.

...and you thought it was going to be simple.

[Guess who]

That was only where they met the upstairs wall, of course. Further down, I wandered back and forth to each side, painting with a regular type brush. Anyhow, you get the picture.

Another note: Mine had some sort of varnish finish on the newel post, and after applying a coat, there was some streaky "spackling"[?] where the paint wouldn't cover. That took a little extra ...a bit of fine sanding etc., and an extra coat. Like I said, be patient. The end result is great.

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 08:18:50 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, "Chas12" quickly quoth:

Try a heat gun on them with your scrapers and wire brushes. Then use plastic wool (scotchbrite) on them with lacquer thinner to smooth 'em before repainting. IMHO, there's no going back to woodgrain on that one. Once painted (if it wasn't sealed with a clear finish first, and

99.999% weren't) the paint in the grain is not fully removable.

Alternatively, heat/scrape and use a small amount of Citrustrip and scotchbrite to remove the last of the paint before repainting.

[Guess who]

I don't know if we're looking at the same thing, but you'd have to be a contortionist to do that in my old house. The bannister runs all the way to the top, so halfway it meets the top-floor wall, with not enough room to get behind and do a thorough job of any sort like that. There'd still be a gdawful mess to clean up.

Wherever I could get at them easily, I removed any wood pieces and stripped them outside then painted, then replaced them with touch-ups later.

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 13:09:57 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Guess who quickly quoth:

Ah, no -wonder- they're badly painted.