Thread: Painting/Sanding Advice

Originally Posted by Damienol

Ok, this job is back to the top of my priorities and I am still researching an effective way to do this.

I have tried hand sanding with sand paper and steel wool and it is far too much hard work.

I have tried machine sanding with my Festool iron head sander and while it does 80% of the job it does so at the expense of the sanding pad. As a result I am likely to go through hundreds of dollars in pads.

I optimistically tried the Flood ESP product and that was a waste of time. As expected....

The Festool linear sander seems like the only option. A very expensive option.

Ideas please.

four options

just paint over the over-spray -- only you will ever know


strip the skirtings from the walls and take to a commercial paint stripper.
There'll be one somewhere in Brisbane.


strip the skirtings and sell them on here.
buy and install new ones and pain to the desired colour


mask the walls and apply a strong paint stripper by hand -- you will need
1. very good ventilation
2. PPE -- particularly your eyes and any exposed skin
3. to protect the floors



if you go with the Festool linear sander you will also need to buy the custom profile kit.
Also the sander has quirks that take a bit of experience to overcome -- it has tendency to grab, which is related to how it is held and the pressure you apply.


Fein make a profile kit for their multi-tool



then there is this generic kit

Cut to the chase and you have two options. Either find a suitable binder/ sealer or remove the coating
Painters I use prefer the Zinzer over the ESP, I would give it a try.
Failing that you are going to need to remove the loose coating. You could try a paint stripper or heat gun and a profiled scraper or steel wool. Or maybe a paint thinners and scothbrite to remove just the overspray ?
Another option if the skirting is nothing special is just replace it with a new one and start again. You could go up a size so as to cover any wall damage.

Thanks elanjacobs, Can you confirm the brushes you posted above are the best for the job?

I have never seen brushes like that before. Worrh a crack if all else fails

Originally Posted by Damienol

Can you confirm the brushes you posted above are the best for the job?

Nope. I have no idea how well they work, I just know they exist

Hi Arron, I suspect the ESP didnt work as it is not designed to make existing paint adhere better. Rather, it is designed to make new paint adhere better, in particular, gloss surfaces.

Thanks Ian, It is useful to understand that that those multitool accessories exists.

Tonight I tried a basic metal scrapper and it worked a treat. The concave surfaces are still a challenge. I think if can find a suitable scrapper to get into the curves then I have the answer. Suspect I have about 4 hours of scrapping ahead of me.

Carbatec has various curved scrapers that might fit

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Carbatec has various curved scrapers that might fit

Indeed they do

This should do the trick - https://www.carbatec.com.au/handtool...ex-scraper-set

If I understand it correctly, the walls were sprayed with “plastic”paint and the overspray is onto a gloss paint, not sure with a water based gloss but I have removed “plastic” paint from bricks, aluminium window frames and enamel gloss paints using a cloth balled up and methylated spirits, it is not instant and requires a little rubbing at first but it does come off fairly easily. This was done on a house where the previous owner had never heard of masking tape or cutting in. As to how old the paint was, couldn’t tell you but it certainly wasn’t new.

Not sure how it would go over the water based enamel, but as the water based enamel tends not to allow things to stick when used on shelves it may work ok.