Type of staircase

[Gareth Hughes]

I'm not disagreeing with the logic at all, but the relevance.
There was no mention of leaving things exposed, that's purely a mere assumption about someone else's views/intentions, and we all know where that leads... :wink:

This forum is great for questions being answered and solicited advice being given. But staying on topic is hugely important.
I'd agree it's great to see another property being restored, but equally when your first post is met with unnecessary criticism off topic from what you're asking, then does that encourage folks to bother sticking around to ask a second question?

It wasn't the OP's first post by several months (I'd have been a little more cautious if it had been), and without some context being provided by a poster it's never harmful to mention that the often-still-fashionable "bare everything" look is not authentic. Edit, indeed it tends to lead, six months later, to the 'how do I stop brick dust falling all over everything, I'd never have bought an old house if I'd known this was going to happen' thread.
This is not a forum for strict adherence to a "here is my question, please only answer that and do not mention anything else related to the topic" approach.

 

[MatthewC]

As I am paint stripping there is a gooey substance under the paint and I don’t know how to get rid of it? I can’t use heat as it just burns and gets more runny.

That sounds like the stuff which we had on several Victorian doors - it just gums up all sandpaper, doesn't it? The friction melts it! For flat surfaces I found that the best way of getting rid of it was a heat gun and scraper, and a Stanley knife to clean the scraper after EVERY stroke (Yes, I did hold all three items at the same time, and I only have two hands). Then when that's done, I removed the residue with a Stanley blade in a scraper holder held at almost a right angle to the item, and attacking it with vigour! Architrave etc is more difficult.

 

[Kearn]

As I am paint stripping there is a gooey substance under the paint and I don’t know how to get rid of it? I can’t use heat as it just burns and gets more runny.

That sounds like the stuff which we had on several Victorian doors - it just gums up all sandpaper, doesn't it? The friction melts it! For flat surfaces I found that the best way of getting rid of it was a heat gun and scraper, and a Stanley knife to clean the scraper after EVERY stroke (Yes, I did hold all three items at the same time, and I only have two hands). Then when that's done, I removed the residue with a Stanley blade in a scraper holder held at almost a right angle to the item, and attacking it with vigour! Architrave etc is more difficult.

Bahco scrapers have become absolute essentials for me. The 625 is good for small detailed areas, with a range of blades - flat, points and rounded. The 625, with extra handle for larger flat areas especially when you need to apply some more two handed effort!