How to un-paint these railings

last month

Just bought a house and absolutely hate the dark grey railings. They are light oak under the elephant grey. They were just painted, so hopefully the paint hasn't totally cured. I'm trying to figure out the best way to strip the paint without damaging the freshly stained stairs. I can't imagine how they thought this was going to look good or why they chose to paint stain grade hardwood.

The goal is to paint the spindles white since stripping them would take forever, and stain the railing to match the treads. Is it even possible to cover the grey paint with white? It looks like we could take the whole banister down and strip everything in the garage, but I'm not sure how complicated that is. Any ideas on how to undo whatever this was supposed to be?

I'm thinking heat gun, but not sure how I could adequately ventilate.

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HU-653955979
Original Author

last month

I'm not going to learn to love it. It's an old colonial house, it wasn't meant to look like something from Ikea. It's definitely coming off.

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Comments (13)

Valinta
last month
I would learn to love it until I had the funds to replace. Personally I think they look nice. Too bad they were painted in the first place.
enajasereht
last month
Add a runner on the stairs to take away from the railing a bit.
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PRO
HALLETT & Co.
last month
Sure you can use chemical strippers to take off the paint but unless you are careful and cover everything and tape it off you risk damaging the steps. Have you used paint stripper before? Have you refinished furniture? It isn’t hard just time consuming and tricky if there are pets or kids in the mix!
HU-653955979 thanked HALLETT & Co.
cat_ky
last month
You can repaint the spindles white. Sand them well, and use a good quality primer and then 2 coats of good quality paint. If you want the banisters stained, I would mask everything around, including your floors, and carefully apply a good stripper. Its a lot of work, and it could get a bit messy, but, with proper masking, it is do able. I agree, stained would be a much better look for your house.
worthyvess
last month
Maybe you need to take them apart, in order to strip underneath the railing? Seems like a monumental undertaking.
Maybe replace the spindles?
Chris MacDonald
last month
last modified: last month
Second the learn to love them comment... sometime love hurts. Maybe see how much work it's going to take to strip/sand a couple spindles and you will be forced to love it. That is ALOT of work!!!
enajasereht
last month
Just saw this before and after banister on an hgtv episode. Maybe elephant gray is the new black. I do like the runner though.
cat_ky
last month
I agree with you, I would want it back to stained too. I would also want the spindles back to stained, but, that is a whole lot of extra work.
Debbie Downer
last month
Good example imho of seller wasting time and money following a fad and trying to anticipate whims of a buyer... and then the buyer doesnt like it. There have been a few buyers here trying to undo their painted brick exterior as well.... which unfortunately is pretty much a lost cause.

OP - first I would try to see if it scratches or sands off easily. With any luck they did a poor prep job and it wouldnt be too difficult to remove. If there is a good layer of clear finish under the paint then youre in luck - should be able to sand and get to good wood underneath. If paint has gotten into pores of the wood then its more of a PITA to remove. If you do resort to stripper, do a very thorough painstaking job completely masking off stair treads so stripper cant possibly drip on it. Be sure to use good quality painters masking tape that forms a good tight seal. And then just take it very slow in small sections, being careful not to do dumb things like getting stripper on your shoe and tracking it around the house (been there, done that LOL).
Chris MacDonald
last month
I didn't completely read the initial post, thought you wanted to strip the entire thing. Paint spindles white and hire a decorative/faux painter to do the railing in whatever species you like. done right, no one will ever know the difference between wood and faux. I would also suggest, if you don't want to get sucked into passing trends, cover all your walls in ship lap... ceiling to, hell do floors also... ship lap, ship lap, ship lap will never go out of style LOL.
Nancy Bailey
last month
Agreed, ship lap might be worse. There's no ship lap or barn door anywhere, so I may have dodged a bullet there.
cat_ky
last month
Part of the time, it is realtors that advise the seller to do this stuff.

How to un-paint these railings

HU-653955979
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Comments (13)

Valinta

enajasereht

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HALLETT & Co.

cat_ky

worthyvess

Chris MacDonald

enajasereht

cat_ky

Debbie Downer

Chris MacDonald

Nancy Bailey

cat_ky

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How to un-paint these railings

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