Rescuing original wooden shutters and frames.

[Lime]

Apart from the last post I agree with Nemesis in the main.
Some jobs need time rather than quick fixes.
Painting on top of paint protects the wood.
Stripping paint all off can cause damage if not done correctly that will mar and mark the wood permanently.
Don't do it if you can't be bothered to do a good job.
That means taking time and care over it.

 

[Nemesis]

How very strange Lime - I responded and part of my post has vanished... which makes yours read rather oddly.

It seems we have a new censor (unnamed...) roaming the board deleting posts he doesn't agree with.

Worrying.

 

[Pete Keane]

Thank you all for the replies.

I plumped for using a hot air gun on a low setting to strip the paint between the shutters and the frame. The paint came off easy - found that the gap was filled with polyfilla, so used a thin scraper as a blade and removed that.

The shutters had then been nailed from the frame into the shutter, cut through them with a dremel bought yesterday (this is starting to sound like an advert!!) and freed the first one about 20 minutes ago - slight mishap as there was one nail unspotted which damaged some beading when prised open.

Shutter opened perfectly first time! The latch is in perfect condition - the rest in the house are all worn.

I reckon the kitchen was put in in the early '90s, but I think this shutter was probably closed some time in the 60's or 70's (the shade of green inside the shutters has that look, in fact its a nice colour - we may take a sample down to the paint centre to match up!).

This is the only set of shutters still sealed up, so this is a one off job. I have a real sense of achievement, howvere, one shutter has taken 3 whole days so wouldn't want to do many more.......

Will do the second one this week, if I can work out how to upload images will try and post before and after.

Decided on nitromors to strip off rest of the paint, but will be taking the shutters down to do it.

Regards

Pete.

Ps Only have 4 kids, who would want 6 eh?

 

[skier-hughes]

1. Shutter opened perfectly first time!

2. I have a real sense of achievement,

1. That must be a first..........

2. That is great, I find it a real buzz.

Good luck with the other one.

 

[Penners]

I find it a real buzz.

Steady, Graham, steady. Over-excitement isn't very British, you know.

 

[DaveBrigg]

Last week I spent over 8 hours scraping layers of paint off of wood panelling on one side of a window seat. All the edges came up crisp and clean, like the day it was made. Unfortunately there was not enough time to do the opposite side.
The side I had stripped needed priming and two coats of paint, whereas the other that was just given 10 minutes sanding was fine after a single coat. It's now virtually impossible to tell which panel had all the work. There's a moral in there somewhere.

 

[skier-hughes]

But you know and that's what counts!!!!!

If I came to visit you'd be worrying all day long whether I noticed the side you'd sanded, whereas if you'd been able to carefully scrape each side you'd be able to enjoy a pint or two in comfort :lol:

 

[Ian Bond]

Sometimes it can be worth scraping paint off, as I just discovered with my skip rescue door.

The beading around the panels on the outside face didn't look right - gappy, badly seated and pins protruding right through the panel.

When I prised one of the beads off, I found the original paint finish beneath. So I took all the beading off that side, and it looks right now. Raised and fielded panels on the 'good' room side, plain panels and frame on the outside.

The door had been ripped off its hinges and split (stiles just 1 inch thick). And it's the only original interior door I've got, since previous owners had removed all mine. Still, this is one from next-door-but-one, and I reckon it's original late 1830s so at least it's got a good home now.

edit - it's going to be repainted of course.

 

[Nemesis]

Lovely door - well rescued!

 

[Ian Bond]

Ta Nemesis.

I'm going to paint the door (as it should be) - thought it would be easier to repair stripped of paint. Perhaps next time I'll try repairing with the paint on - it was a horrible and time consuming task.

Great to read about Pete's shutter success - it is a real bonus when a job goes well like that, and (almost) makes up for the other ones that take 4x longer than expected.