Moldings

[b_m_hart]

My house is over 100 years old (one of the few in SF that has pre-1906 quake documentation).  Back in the 30s they jacked it up and added a floor below, and the garage / basement underneath that.  In between then and now, there are goodness knows how many layers of paint on the moldings and window sills.  I realize that stripping paint is horribly time consuming and a lot of hard work - but am curious to see what tips you guys might have.  Once the kitchen remodel wraps up, I've got a bunch of other little projects, but I really, really want to strip all of the moldings (which are not flat) and around the windows. 

Tons of nasty toxic smelling paint stripper and a good wire brush?  Make a matching sanding block and get my workout on?  I'd ask 'hire someone?', but nah, what fun would that be?

 

[semenza]

Hi,

    Well , you could try the LS130 for the moldings reviewed here . And if you do have some flat areas or nearly flat the RAS115 . I have not used the LS 130 for stripping, but I am pretty sure someone else mentioned that it worked well for them. 

Seth

 

[Per Swenson]

One question,

Once you have the moldings stripped is the plan to repaint
or are we striving for bare wood, stained, varnished?

per

 

[Eli]

Try an infra-red paint stripper. You can buy it, hire it or build one. There's plans in them thar interwebs.

 

[Tim Sproul]

If the moldings don't have fine details, you could use a sandblaster to strip the old finishes.  Sandblasting is messy but very fast.  It can be a disaster in incompetent hands though......whereas chemical strippers generally can't be overdone.

 

[b_m_hart]

One question,

Once you have the moldings stripped is the plan to repaint
or are we striving for bare wood, stained, varnished?

per

One nice clean coat of paint is the desired result, not the 6(ish?) muddled coats that currently afflict them.

 

[jaegerhund]

I'm not up on my lead paint removal regulations and such but if you are worried about this (and even if you are not) , the preservationist people are messing around with steam to remove paint.

I would suggest sanding with the RAS 115, Rotex, or deltex93, etc.  but I guess a lot of this depends on the condition of your material and how ornate it is and how much of the original detail you want to maintain ------ over aggressive sanding might cause problems you do not want.

Justin

Moreover:  Check outhttp://historichomeworks.com/hhw/video/spr-video.htm  for a video on steam paint removal.
               

 

[Per Swenson]

Well B.

In that case, I would go with the infrared or heat gun with a scraper combined

with the the ls and ras sanders.

Bare stainable wood is a whole 'nother predicament.

And more like work. No heat no chemicals.

Per

 

[dirtydeeds]

bm hart

i work on buildings of the age you are talking about and older.  ok, so the walls i deal with are brick

but

its second fix (trim) carpentry we are BOTH dealing with. the question you have to ask yourself

is........................... what is the "look" you are after

if you strip the paint off the original trim, you will probably find that the joints are rough (and filled with putty)

now here comes the question 

what was CALLED "paint quality work" 100 years ago was done with timber that would now be classed as "high quality" by today's standard

i worked on what is now a VERY expensive house last year

it was built in 1906, but it was a "cheap house" in 1906

the owners diliberatly removed all the paint from all the trim (leaving all the rough joints)

this INCREASED value of the house by 100,000 pounds (200,000 dollars) because the "1906 paint quailty" wood was far better than anything used these days

in spite of the "rough carpentry"

 

[b_m_hart]

Very interesting information, and food for thought, for sure, thanks. 

I think that the look that I'm going for is "not many, many sloppily caked on layers of paint, with big globs here and there".  I'm still mid-kitchen remodel, and have yet to do a bunch of other work, so this isn't exactly tops on my list right now.  However, it's on my "I should get around to this eventually" list - you know, the stuff that is mildly annoying, but only because I've noticed it and it is under my skin.

 

[Bill Wyko]

Beware of lead base paints. Use a respirator.

 

[b_m_hart]

Absolutely.  In fact, sanding down some of the bulging plaster and killing the visible seams from wallpaper is what prompted my first Festool purchase.  The rationalization was that it would minimize what would get into the air, and linger... so there would be fewer worries for the fiancee and puppy.

Now, if only I had a little bit of self restraint when it came to the continued purchase...

 

[Overtime]

There's a new tool opportunity here somewhere ? and a lot of work no matter which direction you go.

I'm also thinking the IR heat thing - Buy $ or make one . Lots of time and detail work. After a few months of scraping scratching and sanding patching prepping and painting you will be rewarded with that nice sense of accomplishment. And you will be a restoration expert. The local historical homes society will be very proud of your efforts. The sharpness and detail of the original moldings will brought back to life !

Or you could slash and burn - Remove and replace by getting a W&H molder or Shop Fox molder. Have a set or two of knifes made for the profile.
Think of the enjoyment that will be had  ;D by milling your own stock to the very same shape of the original stock.
OK so it might cost a little more.  : But hey you will become an expert at millwork, have a new tool and still get credit for restoration work without messing with the old lead paint. Oh yea almost forgot - you got to install it, more work time and tools. Kapex 

I have been replacing some old exterior and interior trim on our home periodically. Some exterior stuff is, has rot and or layers and layers of paint pealing chipping. It has been much better to just remove and replace where possible. And some interior trim with so many layers of paint that the detail on the millwork , if any was no longer visible. There have been times when I have wished I had a molder. But I have managed to replicate or come close to original millwork so far without. But then our house was not built in 1906 and is not full of ornate millwork.
  Next I will be removing and replacing standard brick molding, about 50 yrs old, caked with paint. Miter joints opening up etc. It is much less work just to rip it out and replace. And brick molding is cheap compared to most millwork. Easy decision to make here - not expensive or very time consuming.

Good luck on your project.

 

 

[Bill Wyko]

I'd have to say, Moulder machine and a redo would be my vote. You still have the machine when you're done, then sell moulding to your neighbors once they' have seen yours. I hear there's good money in that biz.

 

[Cannuck]

With an old house, with many layers of paint, I've found this to be the best method.

All you need is a couple of high quality paint scrapers (one flat/one or more profiled), with a lots of sharp new blades.  4-sided blade ergonomic paint scraper
Lever-bar scraper
Shave Hook Scraper

With some elbow grease, you can scrape the majority of the layers off, to pretty much bare wood, quite easily. 

It may take a few hours for you to get the technique down, so that you're not damaging the wood, and working efficiently, but after a half a day, you'll be amazed at how well it works.  This is largely effective because of the lesser quality paints (lower adhesion) than todays paints.

You can finish up with a couple of good sanders.  I used a random-orbital, and a detail sander for the "corners" and tight spots.

Do not use a heat gun! Do not use chemical strippers! They only gum it up, and then the scrapers don't work effectively.  That's been my experience.  I was able to salvage a 112 year-old Yellow Birch stair case (3 1/2 stories) that had been painted, with about a week and half of labour.  It was natural finished wood at the end. 

 

[Chris Hughes]

IMHO, I disagree with the "cannuck".  I've worked for most of my adult life in historical restoration and we have always used heat guns and heat plates.  I t takes some practice but it is the fastest technique I've encountered.  The infra red solution sounds promising.

 

[b_m_hart]

So I pulled one of the pieces off (to take it somewhere to try to find a match), and it looks like it's redwood.  I'll have to do some stripping, but it looks decent enough.  Is redwood expensive to replace?  I can't seem to find prices anywhere on the interwebs so far...