The booklet that I sent you is pretty informative about the process that you need to go through to protect yourself if you are removing paint etc. They aren't complex, just things that you have to be aware of.

We live in a house built in the 1920s and I did most of the reno myself so I had to get pretty informed about it all. One door I stripped had 16 layers of paint on it!

My preferred method in the end was wet sanding. I would use a bucket and then let the bucket dry out (so I had 2 - one that I was working with and one that was evaporating ITKWIM) and put all the residues in an old paint tin which at the end I disposed of in the paint area at our tip.

To be honest - I'm pretty carefuly about things like this and I didn't find it too much of a drama. I was happier doing it myself than employing someone because quite frankly I didn't trust them to do as good a job and I didn't want there to be paint dust flying about the house that I was living in.

Have a read of the booklet - it was really informative for me. And I think there is also a helpline that you can ring if you have any queries.

Oh, and yes - if you want to get a good surface at the end it is always best to sand etc first to get a good surface.