Advice required

[Howlong]

Hi I'm new to this Forum.

I'm restoring an old house and have discovered all the windows and doors are red cedar, with at least 4 coats of enamel & Acrylic paint over the original shellac.

Can someone advise which is the best method to (a) remove the paint, and (b) remove the shellac.

The ceiling are 14 foot, its all double brick, and there is a window above every door, so there is also lot of oregan door jams and architrave timber work to get back to original.

Thanks.

[seriph1]

hi and welcome to the forum! Yours sounds like a great house. I must check where colinroobie is........ If you could take some pics and post them here that'd be great. There are several methods for stripping cedar though being a tannin-rich material care really has to be taken to avoid caustic burn. This turns the timber irretrievably black. Shellac can be removed with Metho I believe. Paint is another story - Will you be repainting them afterward? I actually used Oven Cleaner to remove the paint from a Red Cedar Bedside cabinet once and it worked fine though I made sure to have plenty of water on hand to wash it down..... sounds bad I know but it did turn out very nicely and finished up a treat. Either way, elbow grease will be needed aplenty. Let me know the overall condition of the home and what if anything, you will need restoration wise as I may have some contacts for you.

have fun