How do I remove paint from the wood trim inside my house and restore the trim?
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Answers:
The process is pretty labor intensive but it can be done. You will need a couple of good flat bars and a claw hammer to remove the trim with out breaking them. Take your time and work the flat bars in behind the nails and move along a length.
After you get them off you will want to set up plastic and newspaper to capture the paint and stripper.
You should test the paint to determine if it is lead base because the disposal is spendy. You can buy a lead test swab from most paint stores.
Apply the stripper to the wood and after it blisters the paint scrape it off with a palstic putty knife and wipe the knife off on newspaper or rags. You will likely need a couple of coats. Follow the instructions but when you are done you should just wipe the trim down to remove and residual stripper and then prepare for staining by a quick sand job to prep the surface.
The best stripper that I have found that is avaiable to the general public is Jasco Fast Acting or Jasco Epoxy and paint remover.
WARNING: The stripper is really HOT, so be sure to wear rubber gloves and eye protection.
Before you embark on a wood refinishing journey, you should first determine what kind of trim you currently have. If your trim is a nice hardwood, it can be a worthwhile endeavor, but if you have a cheaper softwood such as pine, poplar, or possibly alder, it may not be cost efficient. The cheaper woods will be full of dings, dents, and scratches (once the paint is stripped, they will become very apparent) that will compromise the look of your trim once stained. In addition to stripping your trim, you will have putty and sand all the problem areas with the appropriate wood putty, but you are starting to pile on a list of things to do for trim that didn't cost that much in the beginning.
So, if you have oak or another hardwood trim, it can pay off because harder woods don't dent or scratch as easy, making the refinishing process far less labor intensive. I would encourage you get an idea of the total amount of trim you would be re-finishing and getting a quote as to how much new finished trim would cost to simply replace it. Stripper, Sealer, Finish, Putty, and tooling can quickly out-price buying new trim.
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