Putty or Spackle for stair rail and latex chip/peel repair.

RickDel

Hello, I've been baffled by this for a couple weeks and would like some advice.

I have four stair handrails I'm preparing for painting. They all have two coats or latex over a coat of primer. I attempted to sand them down, but the latex heated up and started to peel back. I stripped two rails to the bare wood, one rail sanded cleanly without stripping, and one sanded well over 3/4's of the rail, but the top layer of latex peeled back in a 6" spot. (ATTACHMENT Photo 1)

So, what do you recomment to repair this 6" shallow imperfection where the paint peeled/chipped back??? I experemented with some M H Readypatch spackle and it looks and feels smooth as glass; however, I'm not sure the spackle will hold up under the latex on this type of surface.

I also have some Crawford's Putty, but that stuff is a little harder to apply and I'm not sure I can thin it to the 1/32th depth of the missing latex I've peeled away.

Additionally, there's another spot on my stairs that does appear to have been repaired with spackle. It's showed up when I stripped the paint off. It seems to have held up well under the paint so far, but now that it's exposed it crumbles away when I scratch it with my fingernail. (ATTACHMENT Photo 2)

So if the answer to my first question is to use to spackle, my second question is, can I just put new spackle over the old spackle to repair the gouges and cuts I created when stripping the paint off?

Thanks!!

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RickDel

Bump.....

pucks101

I say if you're having success with the M & H, keep using it. 2nd question, I say yes, if the area you think was previously spackled is solid, no problem going over it again. If it's weak or damaged, sand it out first.

RickDel

pucks101 - Thanks!