Sanding

So I decided to paint most of the moulding, spindles, toe kick on the stairs downstairs. I'm the last of the mohicans' to have original unpainted wood but you know what? After 14 years, what started off as charming has now become dark and old and dreary.

I need a change. In my younger days I might have tried to take it on myself, but I'm thinking that might not be such a good idea LOL. Just wondering if it is possible to hire someone to just do the SANDING? I don't want to spend a lot of money on this and I'm still a pretty good painter but its the sanding that I don't want to do.

Has anyone ever done this before? If so, who do you get to do it....the painting people or some generic carpenter? A handy man?????

Are you sure sanding is necessary? I'd pick a section, clean the wood with a diluted TSP or other solution, and paint it. See how it looks.

cynny973 said:
Just wondering if it is possible to hire someone to just do the SANDING? I don't want to spend a lot of money on this and I'm still a pretty good painter but its the sanding that I don't want to do.
Has anyone ever done this before? If so, who do you get to do it....the painting people or some generic carpenter? A handy man?????

Paint prep (i.e. cleaning and sanding) is a good 80 percent of the time and effort put into a paint job. Personally, if I wasn't willing to do the prep, I'd just hire someone to do the whole job, as there won't be much in the way of cost savings.

Think about what Red_Barchetta posted. A cleaning may do the trick. If you want to up the ante, wipe the wood down with a liquid stripper appropriate for the finish and see if you fall in love with it again.

Another reason to try sanding a bit of less visible wood yourself is that it may clear up your problem without having to paint over the wood. Often what has darkened is not the wood itself but the finish, and you may find that sanding and re-finishing lightens things up enough without permanantly (you cannot unpaint the wood, ever) changing the finish.

Tsp, followed. By a liquid deglosser... You may have little to no sanding after. Good luck!

In Maplewood, we had a nice staircase, visible from our foyer. The spindles had been painted white. My wife laboriously sanded them and the bannister, down to the wood. It took her 11 months!

You probably don't need to sand much if any of the wood (only areas where there is damage that needs to be filled with wood filler before painting). But you should use a good primer and find out what kind of finish, if any, is on it now before painting. In an old house, it could be any one of the following: shellac, lacquer, oil, varnish, or polyurethane. The way to find out is to find an inconspicuous area and try the following:

1. Rub with a rag dipped in denatured alcohol. If it becomes sticky, it is shellac. If so, and it is old, it probably contains wax, which would cause problems with the paint adhesion. In this case, sanding won't help, but a couple of coats of Zinnser BIN (a dewaxed shellac based primer) will fix the problem before putting on any paint.

2. If not shellac, rub with a bit of lacquer thinner. If it becomes sticky, it's lacquer. Also clean with a damp cloth, add a coat of BIN, and paint over.

3. If neither, it is either some sort of varnish or it has no film finish. If it's somewhat shiny, assume it's varnish or poly. You can also clean this with a damp cloth, but if it's too glossy, you may have adhesion problems with regular wall paint. Use a coat of BIN over the varnish. It it's high gloss, I would recommend a light sanding with 150 grit paper to knock down the gloss a bit before priming and painting.

4. If it's a very matte finish, it could just be oil or possibly no finish at all, but that's unlikely. Don't clean this with a damp rag because you will raise the grain, making sanding necessary before you paint. Clean it instead with denatured alcohol, then prime and paint. Primer is especially important as a first step in this case, because the water in the latex based paint can also raise the grain on unprotected wood.

We also have natural wood and it was varnished with a very dark coating many years before we bought the house. Initially i tried cleaning with vinegar, baking soda and ammonia cleaning solution and using light grade steel wool.(less abrasive than sandpaper and works when wet)

It worked to clean and lighten but not enough. We ended up hiring Willburs painting to do the whole job, they sanded and restrained. Turned out very well. Highly recommend them, not sure if they do just the prep work.

Thanks to everyone for all the good advice. I'll let you know what we decided to go with and how it turned out!