Stripping the paint off stairs

[Uller]

I am hopeless at any form of DIY and would appreciate some advice.

We currently have painted timber stairs in our Victorian terrace - upstairs is all bare floorboard - not polished or fancy, but they work for us. The pale blue (!) paint on the stairs is getting worn and scratched by our dog running up and down them and is looking awful. We would like to strip the paint off so they are just bare floorboards like the upstairs.

Is there any way of doing this that is a) as 'ish' as possible and b) will allow us to continue using the stairs as the only bathroom is upstairs!?

My limited knowledge tells me we can use a heatgun thingy, chemicals (which doesn't sound very 'ish') or sanding (which sounds like rather a lot of work) - any suggestions for the best way to go??

[Clara]

I'd sand but let a machine do the work. How old is the paint? I'd be thinking about taking precautions against breathing in possible lead too.

[Annpan]

I would maybe use a heat-gun to get the thicker paint off, then sand it... a belt sander might be a good idea depending on how much pain there is to remove.

Don't use the chemicals, they are disgusting and stinky and not very safe to use with your dogs around - at least with a heat gun you can lock them in a room for an hour... or get the OH to take them on a long walk.

[pumpy]

If it's emulsion, why not hire a sander for a day? If it's a thicker gloss,then i guess that a hot-air gun & a scraper would be your best bet. But,either way, make sure the place is well ventilated.

[Uller]

Thanks guys

The top layer that we can see is emulsion - probably painted on the day by the previous owners when they were selling the house to spruce things up a bit. I'm not sure what would be underneath - there don't seem to be too many layers as it is wearing through fairly easily.

There would be no problem with ventilation - the house is open plan - which means the dust would get everywhere........