Stripping Paint

[adam prochaska]

I want to remove 100 years of paint from 7 interior doors and various original millwork. I have considered having the doors dipped, but have been told that it loosens the joints and can ruin them. Stripping everything by hand seems like it will take months. Does anyone have any experience in this area? In regard to stripping the wood at home, what is your preference - paste or heat gun? Has anyone used that new infrared product ..."the silent paint remover"? It's expensive but might be worth it in my situation.

Thanks for your help!!

[Ronald Nelson]

Hey Adam,

I made a homemade version of the Silent Paint Remover and it really works very well. Like you, I had to strip exterior doors and woodwork with 97 years of paint on them. I was able to strip an entire door on one side in 15 - 20 minutes, and the paint was really thick. The Silent Paint Remover covers a larger area than my setup so it would work even faster.

Good luck with your project.

Ron Nelson

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I have used a torch on old latex blistering it right off the building in big 3 and 4 foot sheets in an outdoor app. I also used my Porter Cable Paint stripper on old oil based paints.

I HAVE used heat on indoor trim with success.

Indoors on furniture and doors I have never used heat because I fear it'll warp the wood. I can't use the Porter Cable paint stripper cause it's just too rough. That leaves me with hand held stripper tools and paint stripper solvents.

I'd take the doors off their hinges lay 'em on saw horses and take some aggressive stripper chemical to 'em.

[David G Baker]

I have used chemicals to strip doors that had many coats of paint on them, I found it to be time consuming and very labor intensive. If I had a lot of doors to strip I would contact a company that uses the dip and strip method to get information about glue joints, etc. My Dad and brother had a small dip and strip business for auto bodies that did a great job as long as all of the non-ferrous metal was removed. The dip method removes paint in places that hand stripping can't reach. 7 doors is a lot of work and you may find that there are newer methods that won't bother the joints.

[Jim Becker]

Do understand that you may be dealing with lead-based paint, so you need to take care relative to the methods you use to remove and dispose of the paint on your doors, etc.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Do understand that you may be dealing with lead-based paint, so you need to take care relative to the methods you use to remove and dispose of the paint on your doors, etc.

Or in Cliff speak: don't tell any one and don't eat it.

[Pat Germain]

I've never stripped an old door, but I've stripped many layers of paint from old furniture and windows.

I had good luck with basic stripper. I painted it on and let it work for awhile. Then I took a large taping knife and scraped the paint, all layers, right off. When I let the stripper work, it took me down to bare wood the first time. I then used the stripper once more to remove any tough patches here there. This was followed by a light sanding.

Overall, I have been very pleased with chemical strippers. The newer, fumeless varieties supposedly work even better.

[Wes Bischel]

Adam,
About ten years ago, a friend took all the doors in his 150 year old home in to be chemically dipped. It had been suggested having one done to see how he liked the results - but he did them all. All of the doors came apart and had terrible grain raising issues. He spent months repairing the doors only to be forced to paint them again. Maybe as David suggests, new processes are available, but I would be cautious.

I have used heat guns to remove exterior paint with little mess. It was slow since we were using low temp guns (so we wouldn't burn the place down), but it did work well.

FWIW,
Wes

[Randy Denby]

Or in Cliff speak: don't tell any one and don't eat it.

Too funny !!!! Just made my day Cliff.....

[Jim Becker]

Or in Cliff speak: don't tell any one and don't eat it.

I would think that you have to add "Don't breath it" to your list to be a bit more complete, Cliff. Lead is nasty stuff...