I live in an old house and much of the woodwork was originally stained and varnished, then later painted with oil-based paint, followed by latex paint, often multiple layers of each. The surfaces were not sanded and prepared properly between finishes and the result is a cracking, peeling mess.
Rather than apply another futile layer of paint over it, I chose to strip off all the paint and varnish using a heat gun and putty knife. Of course, I am having to do this one room at a time; otherwise, I would cry in agony at the sheer overwhelming nature of the project. Oh, wait! I think I did that already, shortly after moving in! Seriously, I was quite overcome early in my days of home ownership and did not really know how to cope. I tried some dripless paste stripper with marginal results. Then, my dear father (who knows how to fix just about anything!) suggested a heat gun. Ahhhh... what a delight! The paint just glides off effortlessly, well almost effortlessly.
Stripping the woodwork is still a big job, but not so overwhelming as before. Once the woodwork is stripped, I lightly sand to smooth things out, caulk, prime and paint. The photo above also shows how the door hardware has been painted. As I work my way from room to room, I am also stripping it. Once the hardware is stripped, I repaint it using Rustoleum primer and Brass spray paint. I think it closely replicates the original finish.
Voila!
