original ornate fireplace painted over - how to get rid of the paint properly?

[passionsrunhigh]

Is it a specialist job (and how to find a specialist), or can I strip the paint myself without damaging the wood finish? I think it's pine underneath but don't know. The paint is really thick and white and it really spoils the delicate carved flowers! I'm not against painted wood esp pine, but ther must be at least a way to paint it delicately, if stripping won[t work - or possibly it's best to lightly glaze the wood as I don't like the pine's 'dusty' finish? please advise.

You can buy paint stripper that you mix into a thick paste. You plaster this on, about an inch thick, cover with bin liner (to stop it drying out) and when you peel it off, the paint comes off too. If the paint is really thikc you mayhave to repeat the process.

I did this a while ago with a painted metal fireplace and it worked better than anything else i tried. Sorry can't rememebr the name but it was in B&Q.

I did mine with Nitromors and a scraper/steel wool.

We did all our skirting etc with a heat gun and scraper. Was really quick. Didn't come up well enough to leave wood without ALOT of sanding, but gave a nice surface and finish when repainted.

thank you for replies!
better, did it leave a smooth finish or has it 'eaten' into wood surface?
What would you do with matt pine onve stripped? glaze or paint again but thinly (I think paint would always be awkward as there are ornate flowers raised from the surface).
Never operated a heat gun !

betterwhenthesunshines

there was someone asking about stripping the woodwork round a staircase the other day. I couldn't think of a method that wouldn't be dirty, dusty and hard work. Do you remember if it was hard or expensive with that paste?