I wanted to post some after photos and thank everyone who took the time to comment. It turns out that the wall was "indented" when we removed the chair rail so my DH has spent several weekends to build it back up with joint compound and texture it to blend in with the walls. It was a painfully tedious process (first trying to do it by hand, then with a sponge, then with spray-on compound that dribbled everywhere, and finally with a trowel lightly loading dabs of compound on). If you look closely you can still tell, but it's not as glaring as it was several iterations ago. Suffice to say, we are thrilled to be done with sanding, priming, texturing, and painting! Now, I need to figure out what wall decor to put up as the removal of the chair rail makes it a much easier space to deal with! Any and all advice would be appreciated. I was thinking of doing a photo gallery near the front entry, but that is a HUGE wall and I don't know that I can put photos high enough where you can still see them but not so low that the wall looks off-balance. Forgive the quality of the photos, taken without a flash on my iPhone.

Hate to be Debbie Downer but If you are a newbie at refinishing - you couldnt have picked a more difficult project due to the intricate nature of a staircase railing ..... as opposed to something flat like table or door. I would see if I could negotiate something with w professional - ie if I was to do the grunt work of stripping off most of the old poly maybe he would give a discount for doing the final futzing with stripping/sanding and applying the finish. If you arent a newbie, if you know how tricky it is to get into all the tiny nooks and crannies and can get your hands on or canfashion some tools for getting in to the small places then what the heck, go for it - it can be a labor of love and so it takes you a while - a post every weekend is a realistic goal. Of course it would be better to do this before the treads are refinished - that goop has a way of getting everywhere If it was the old hide glue you could disassemble it to refinish but I dont know if that's possible with modern glues.

Not to be mean but I think you're making a Big Mistake. Dura Seal is meant to be applied over perfectly sanded raw wood. Any coarse or cross scratches will show as flaws. It will be very difficult to remove all the old finish from the deeper recesses. If you don't have all the old finish removed, the new will not absorb. These could be touched up with a glaze or marker between poly coats though. Wherever there is end grain, the wood will soak up the stain and turn quite dark. These would need to be pre-sealed to control absorption. The control mechanism for penetrating stain is that the wood absorbs as much as it can and the rest is removed mechanically. This characteristic is attractive for floor finishing. The stair treads need to be done like the floor for durability. These other components aren't walked on, so a glaze type of stain is suitable. Since you're doing areas that can easily be sprayed or brushed, that would be a better method. When I am refinishing someone's floors, I always advise them to engage a painter that is competent in using a spray or brushing stain on the other stair parts. In your case, you won't get a perfect match but you can make it slightly darker to complement the floor and pick up the color in the softer grain. For fun, remove one of the rosettes the handrail brackets mounts to and try refinishing it to see how difficult it is and how it will turn out. Then imagine doing it while it's still attached to your wall, multiple times. Imagine the mechanics of stripping and sanding all the finish just from the bottom newel post.

jhmarie, my husband came home and said" stop the madness", as I greeted him with face mask, protective glasses, and head to toe "dust". He's bringing home sanders from our shop (we own a contracting business, NOT painting). And then, we tried a small area of primer, which led us in a whole new direction as we realized that these "spindles" will not lend themselves to being painted the light color (as the little areas between spindle and rail/railing will absorb inconsistent paint..hard to explain), so maybe the java gel stain is in our future? Oh my, what a journey! But then, I know, harpists spend 90% of their time tuning the harp, and 10% playing.