Best way to strip Victorian front door?

jendav

Hi there,

I'll be renting out my house soon, and front door needs some serious attention as it's south facing and paint work is extremely faded and tired. Ideally would like to get the whole thing stripped and repainted. Not sure whether easiest option is just to get it professionally dipped and stripped (and if so, is that expensive?), or can I DIY? Money is an issue, but so is safety as it very probably has a layer of lead based paint in there somewhere. It's not in brilliant condition so would it handle the dipping and stripping process ok? But not in such bad condition that I'd want to chuck it and get a new one, iykwim.

Thanks heaps for all help/replies.

Leif

I can tell you from experience that if possible don't strip, just sand down. It is quicker, and unless you go back to bare wood, you won't need to prime. I consider stripping paint to be one of my most tedious and unpleasant experiences this year. If however you need to strip, due to lots of paint coming off, then I found the Eco Solutions paint remover worked well for oil paint on wood. You paint it on fairly thickly, then leave it overnight by which time it should have removed most paint. It does take a long time, and if some paint has not bubbled up by then, leave it and it might lift, or just put on more. It is sold at shops like B&Q, but not all stores or so it seems. I found it worked better then Nitromors, albeit much more slowly, and without the nasty and poisonous smell. But it is tedious to use, not all paint lifts, you will have to scrape (I use a flat Harris scraper), and the wood takes up moisture, so you probably need to let it dry a bit before priming.

If there is lead paint on the door, then either use a respirator, or strip!

macman

If the wood is sound, rub down to remove any loose paint (a delta sander is probably good for a Victorian door if you don't want to do it by hand), fill with wood/exterior filler for any small blemishes, undercoat and gloss with a suitable exterior paint (I use Dulux Weathershield). No need whatsoever to dip and strip, it dries the wood out horribly, and may loosen the glued joints.
Using a chemical stripper on a door with mouldings is a tedious and messy process and really isn't necessary-you only need to remove loose paint, nothing else.
Putting a modern door in place (even a repro) will devalue the property.

ormus

never mind the nasty chemical strippers, use a heat gun.
then a quick sanding down, and just paint it.

Aberdeen_Painters

Ideally you would get it dipped,however being a front door this is probably not viable as the doors are dipped in acid then washed down.Even if you got the door back the same day it probably wouldn't fit because it will be slightly larger due to the water rentention but this subsides as the door dries.Also as Macman ahs said the doors will dry out big time to the point the mouldings may require refitting.

Sand with 60 grit to remove the paint,use a flat 4" piece of wood to sand evenly on the flats.Once the guts of the paint is off move to 80grit and go over everything then repeat with 120 grit.The reason for this is to close the grain,60 grit will scratch so you need to work to finer grit to close the grain.Take care when sanding the joins where the vertical stiles meet the horizontal don't put vertical sanding scratches on the horizontal stiles and vice versa,Use masking tape if you're not confident.

Once you're happy apply a thinned down coat of undercoat.Now if you see any minor blemishes fill them now,use car filler,it's the same as quality woodfiller but works out cheaper,same product.We do it alot on higher end work.If ,as will be likely you need to sand places on the moulding use a piece of wooden dowelling rod wrap 120 grit around the dowel because it is curved like the moulding you are way less likely to dig in,sand lightly on flats use a flat piece of wood with 120 grit around it.Get all the filling done at this stage.Once all done go over the door with 180 grit,even 220 for a very fine finish.Apply a further coat of undercoat,sand with 180\220,one final coat of undercoat(you will have basically sanded off your primer during the the process of sanding down your filler) and sand with 220 when dry,tack cloth then apply your finish.
If the weather is hot do not paint in direct sunlight,panelled doors are done in a specific order panels and internal moulding in the panels,INNER vertical stiles,horizonal stiles,checks(narrow side of door where hinges are) long vertical stiles,job done.If the internal colour will be different from the external the hinge side goes the same colour as the internal side door colour and the external colour goes on the remaining check with the locks.
You can add some boiled linseed oil,a little turps(white spirit) to the paint to buy you more time to work with it.With the new VOC regulations paint dries alot quicker so by adding these "ingredients" you basically get the older,better formulation,do not add too much boiled linseed oil as it will cause premature yellowing just a drop or 2 will be ok.

jendav

Thanks everyone - this is a brilliant help. We're going to do a test run on our back door first, just by sanding a bit and painting over. If no good, will look to stripping but appreciate what you say about it causing shrinkage of mouldings etc. Thanks so much - really appreciate all your advice.

muskoka

Sounds like a great tip from Aberdeen Painters....hmm I'll be trying that