To strip or not to strip...

[overlander matt]

A few weeks into the start of a house project, the question of paint stripping needs to be addressed... With plenty of sash windows, shutters and doors, it will be a long old process. The joiner asked why not just paint over the top but with the usual multiple coats of old paint, I would prefer to start afresh... Will this be a decision I regret? Do most people strip old paint to achieve a bare wood finish or to start again?

Having looked at a fair few of the 1640 odd posts on here about paint stripping, it sounds like doors and shutters could be sent for dipping, leaving me with just a major Kling strip project on the fixed timberwork.

The previous owner decided to strip and varnish all the woodwork in the main hall, stairs and landing. With just a thin coat, I hope this won't need to be fully stripped. I have attached a photo of a typical door which is in need of a few repairs.

I guess the main question is should I embark on the major stripping project now? I figure a day or two of stripping each week should put a dent in it...

Any suggestions much appreciated.

Matt

 

[Craig89]

I had great success stripping 100 years of paint off a bay window with a heat gun and scrapers, slow process but did a good job. I tried a sample of "Peelaway" but it was just too messy for me, it also requires neutralising after if you intend to paint again. Having items dipped I believe can disturb any glue in the joinery if there is any there to begin with, but I have no personal experience of this and am considering having my internal doors dipped myself

 

[Abi Cott]

Kling strip is fabulous stuff, BUT you need to wash it off well beyond what you think or the next coat of paint bubbles. A reality I have learned to my cost. If getting the pressure washer out isn't an option and you are planning on repainting I would be cautious with it.

Dipping can make woodwork go fibrous and obviously only works on removable items.

Hot air gun is arduous. I reckon I can clear a 12" x 12" section in no time if it's flat, but with mouldings it's significantly less.

I'd happily paint that door no stripping required. But where I have paint so thick it is obscuring the detail of the moulding it just has to be stripped or all the detail and workmanship is lost.

If you come up with an option 4 please share because I have bloody tonnes of woodwork that needs to be stripped and I'm losing the will to live with the hot air gun

 

[overlander matt]

I read a thread on here (from Kearn I think) about door dipping options and I believe the resulting doors turned out to be ok. I have also heard about the glue softening up and the discolouration of the wood as potential problems. It turns out I have a spare set of shutters I will try these out before committing to more.

Interesting about the Klingstrip - I had not considered needing to use a pressure washer… Given the timbers I plan to strip are internal and hard to remove then you are suggesting I find an alternative to Klingstrip… Sounds like I need a hot air gun too.

 

[MikeG]

Please don't dip your joinery. It can destroy the glue in the joints, which ends its useful life. It also raises the grain of the wood, giving it a driftwood-like appearance.

You don't need a pressure washer with Klingstrip. You can just wash it repeatedly with a sponge, changing the water often.

 

[Abi Cott]

You don't need a pressure washer with Klingstrip. You can just wash it repeatedly with a sponge, changing the water often.

I washed my front door with copious amounts of water with a sponge, I then left it bare for a couple of weeks during which it was rained on, I then repeated the washing process with another 3 buckets of water.

I've got bubbles all over it, and it's now on the list of jobs for this summer.

 

[kreyszig]

I washed my front door with copious amounts of water with a sponge, I then left it bare for a couple of weeks during which it was rained on, I then repeated the washing process with another 3 buckets of water.

I've got bubbles all over it, and it's now on the list of jobs for this summer.

Did you neutralise it with vinegar beforehand as well?

 

[overlander matt]

Kling strip sounds like a pain for internal work that will later be painted... Use of a pressure washer is not really viable internally. I had thought a decent rinsing off with a sponge would have done the trick but seemingly not from the above feedback. That sounds a bit disappointing given how much paint there is around a sash window with shutters - even with the shutters removed this looks like a lot of work for a heat gun...


Thanks for the advice.

Matt

 

[Abi Cott]

I washed my front door with copious amounts of water with a sponge, I then left it bare for a couple of weeks during which it was rained on, I then repeated the washing process with another 3 buckets of water.

I've got bubbles all over it, and it's now on the list of jobs for this summer.

Did you neutralise it with vinegar beforehand as well?

No I didn't and I think that was my mistake. The supplier information suggested it wasn't necessary, but I think it would probably have helped. I also used a water based paint that may have compounded the issue, but the experience has left me cautious of the product. It is a fantastic stripper, mind blowingly good at stripping thick layers, but needs using with caution I think.

 

[livias]

Be cautious about using a hot air gun. Old gloss paint contains lead and the hot air gun will vapourise it
Keep windows wide open, preferably work outside, wear a mask and wash your hands before eating

My great grandad died of lead poisoning and it is not a pretty death. Not saying that you will die but it will not do you any good

 

[88v8]

Jottings from many years of paint removal:

It's quite a thing, paint stripping. Here's a US site with some fancy tools
https://thecraftsmanblog.com/the-best-paint-stripping-tools/

Now, internally I would only strip paint if it is badly adhered, or as Abi says, if multiple coats have filled the detail of mouldings.
Or if it's preventing windows from shutting properly.

Dipping is for dummies. It can be very destructive. It depends who is doing the dipping -= the longer they leave it in the tank the easier the paint will come off, less work for them but your irreplaceable joinery is destroyed. They may do one job well and cock up the next.
The only thing I'd consider having dipped is louvres, if I had any.

Hot air guns are fine. Your stripping tool
https://www.amazon.com/Crown-336-7-Inch-Shave-3-Piece/dp/B001C06BKU/ref=sr_1_18?keywords=paint+scrapers&qid=1556094090&s=hi&sr=1-18 (sorry we seem to be in America again) needs to be kept sharp with a fine file, they lose their edge. You see those have different profiles.
Start at the bottom and work up, so you're not dragging the tool onto cold paint. That blunts it.
If you're on the flat, work from bare wood towards heat, same principle.

But hot air guns are not fine near glass as you can't see the 'flame' and it's very easy to crack the (old) glass. So either use a heat shield - but now we need tape to hold the shield - or a small blowlamp.
This is good. There are cheap versions, don't bother....
https://www.sealey.co.uk/product/5637175123/micro-butane-soldering-torch

Now here's a point; you don't have to strip the whole of a piece. With care and a small blowlamp you can just strip one edge. With a heatshield you can strip a small area.
Then if you are into a corner, a detail sander can help blend in.
Saxtons https://www.saxtonblades.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=sanding sell all the sanding doobries you may need. I have a Ryobi multitool, just because I have other Ryobi tools, others are available. If you never used one, compared to hand sanding they are a miracle.

Paint stripper... I used some on a car in the 70s, repainted with Brushing Belco. After a few weeks it bubbled. Grrr.

Ivor

 

[MatthewC]

A few weeks into the start of a house project, the question of paint stripping needs to be addressed... With plenty of sash windows, shutters and doors, it will be a long old process...

Dead right! I stripped 5 (roughly 5ft x 3ft), two over two sash windows, plus a pair of one over ones (4ft x 16 ins) and they took ages. It had to be done as the putty was dead and the glass was barely held in, a couple of panes were broken, most of the cords were rotted and the brass pulleys and catches were awful. A fair bit of wood repair was required as well. I used a hot air gun and scrapers, then a sander. I only lost two panes in removing and refitting the old (mostly wavy) glass, but I started with the largest so that I could use slightly damaged panes on later smaller windows. NB 2 over 2 are much easier than your 6 over 6, as it's the corners that are really difficult!

However, although it took a few summers - each large window was a two week job (elapsed) from start to finish, about 30 man hours of work - it was well worth it. The windows look really good and the visible detail of the mouldings is lovely.

If your windows are in a similarly bad condition, then you should bite the bullet soon, but if they are otherwise OK, I would leave them until you feel up to it (like, years). I suggest doing the worst or largest, and seeing just how long the stripping takes you. In my view it was only a small part of the job and was almost therapeutic. If the glass and putty in mine had been OK, I would still be doing one per year...

 

[CliffordPope]

Sometimes it's actually easier to strip a thick layer of paint than a thin one, just by using a dry scraper. Once you break through to the original, probably lead-based and immoveably bonded to the wood, perhaps through a flaky sction, you often get a good long run in one go. I use a combination of a narrow flat scraper, held by the blade close at 90 degrees to the surface, and one of those triangular based scrapers having a variety of curves, drawn backwards.
Then you can use small amounts of paint stripper on a fine brush targetted at stubborn sections.

 

[Kearn]

My dependable tools for removal of various substances are Bahco furniture scrapers. The 665 for larger flat areas, particularly if some pressure is required. And the 625 for more detailed and precise removal with the triangular blade and also the pear shaped. The round blade is the same as the large end of the pear so no need for all three.

Well well worth the investment and the blades pay for themselves very quickly.

 

[overlander matt]

Thank you for sharing your valuable experience on this subject. I suspect I will need to revise my optimistic forecast for the amount of time stripping will require and I will have to prioritise the jobs that need to be done this year while we make the house habitable... Anyway, I have just ordered some new stripping tools and heat gun. I will let you know how I get on.


Matt

 

[Abi Cott]

Make the back of something your first project with the heat gun, you get much much better at it with practice. You wouldn't think it matters, but having started with a door and then an 8' x 8' wall and I'm now onto my second door, your technique definitely improves. You strip it cleaner and with less effort.

 

[Toby Newell]

I have an article on here, I think, on stripping and on my website.

I would always strip cheap stain-in-varnish finishes, it doesn't look very well applied. If you can sand it and it's friable and doesn't melt that's your quickest option, otherwise try and find a solvent dipper and stripper this damages the wood less. You can still buy proper DCM solvent stripper from proper wood finishing merchants like Jenkins and Mylands, much better than caustic klingstrip for varnishes although klingstrip is better for thicker paint layers, especially if you can remove the doors and lay them flat.

 

[Flyfisher]

You can still buy proper DCM solvent stripper from proper wood finishing merchants like Jenkins and Mylands . . .

That’s interesting - is that because you’re professional? Would they sell to DIYers?

I remember when DCM was removed from Nitromors some years ago, which really reduced its performance, but I found it could be bought online quite cheaply so I (rather unscientifically) just added it back. I bought it here: https://apcpure.com/product/dichloromethane_99_9_acs though I notice they now have a notice saying it is restricted for ‘certain applications’.

I guess it’s a bit like creosote - DIYers cannot buy it anymore though farmers/smallholders can, so they ask you if you’re a farmer or a smallholder . . . . :wink:

 

[plasticpigeon]

I got the very average quality pine doors in my house dipped as I was loosing the will to live with all the stripping. Some were ok, some panels split and warped. The wood looked rough, and to get a good finish at least 4 coats of paint is needed, 2 undercoat and 2 topcoat. If you can rub down decent old paint then you can get away with 1 coat unless you go for a big colour change. Someone had painted a very thick coat over dirt and grease so it pealed off and flaked so I had no option. Your doors look good. Leave them, there is other stuff to do. If your windows have decent but tatty paint I would advise to rub down and repaint, maybe replacing the parting and stop beads with ones with seals if they done already have seals in them. Rub down wet with wet and dry paper in case of lead paint.

 

[overlander matt]

Thanks for the replies. In recent times, there has been a limited amount of paint stripping taking place to surfaces that have been heavily painted next to walls requiring re-plastering. It's mostly coming off with a heat gun without too much trouble.

The hallway/stairs/landing has been stripped and varnished in the 1980s. I will probably sand here and repaint assuming I can get a decent finish. The doors on the whole do look ok in the Georgian part but in the Victorian part there are a few heavily painted 4-panel doors which will require some more effort. I am tempted to try dipping one or two but this work is not even on the radar at the moment...

I am very conscious of the risk of exposure to lead in this work. Has anyone any experience of requesting a test from their GP? I did know someone who worked as a joiner for the National Trust who had regular blood tests to check lead levels. With two young children who will move into the house when work is further on, I am very keen to see as much old paint removed from their bedrooms as possible - essentially two large sash windows with shutters. The lead water piping will be moved shortly too.