Restoring painted Aus cedar skirtings

[microcorys]

Our 100yo house has 10inch cedar skirtings which we are stripping the paint off with some success using a heat gun. The problem we now face is sanding the complex profile of remaining paint prior to polyeurethane or similar. I am thinking the shape of a random orbital sander looks promising for getting into the tricky bits. Any thoughts before I go out and spend the hard-earned?

Cheers.micro

[Aussiebruce]

Be very careful with that heat gun. I have seen serious fires started with painted dry old ceder and heat guns.

you might have better luck carefully using a paint scraper for the fussy bits. one of the type used for the fussy bits on fine old furniture. These type usually have several different shaped replaceable blades that can get into the grooves and fit the contours of the curves.

Then there is always chemical warfare - can be expensive and will need to be used in conjunction with a good scraper.

[Gumby]

A Random orbital isn't good at getting into tricky bits. They are excellent for flat surfaces and you should get one anyway. Otherwise, elbow grease and maybe some dowel which you wrap the sandpapaer around will get into the curves etc.

[journeyman Mick]

Micro,
you could try this: prise a bit of the skirting loose and lay it horizontal. Place some glad wrap over it, maiking sure it's right in all the fiddly bits with no wrinkles. Get some plasticine and make a rectangular dam, sized to suit your hand, or maybe a 1/4 sheet of abrasive. Mix up some casting plaster or cornice cement and pour in the dam. When dry, pop it out, voila! a sanding pad profled to your skirting! Wrap a bit of paper around it and go for it.

Mick

[craigb]

Whichever way you look at it, it's a bugger of a job and there ain't no shortcuts unfortunately.

[julianx]

Micro,
you could try this: prise a bit of the skirting loose and lay it horizontal. Place some glad wrap over it, maiking sure it's right in all the fiddly bits with no wrinkles. Get some plasticine and make a rectangular dam, sized to suit your hand, or maybe a 1/4 sheet of abrasive. Mix up some casting plaster or cornice cement and pour in the dam. When dry, pop it out, voila! a sanding pad profled to your skirting! Wrap a bit of paper around it and go for it.

Mick

What an ingenious idea, I think I'll try that next time I'm faced with that problem. Casting plaster might be a bit soft though maybe builders bog or resin or some sort of latex product.

[Harry72]

That sanding block sounds like a good job for some fibreglass and resin.

[ian]

Two things:
ONE given the age of the house that paint you're bussily burning, scraping and sanding off will be almost certainly contain lead and possibly cadmium. The amount of heavy metal you release as fumes and dust will probably only make an adult sick, but it could be real bad news if you've got kids underfoot. An alternate option is to remove the boards and send them out to a commercial paint stripper.

TWO Festool make a linear sander for which you can make custom sanding pads. If you go this route make sure you hook the sander up to a dust extractor. Festool will suggest one of their models but there are others, such as Fein, which are probably as good.

No, I don't work for Festool nor do I sell their products, I'm just a very satisfied customer.

[powderpost]

A method I have often used to strip old painted french light doors is to resort to paint stripper used with a brass brush from one of those cheap import stores. For the stubborn bits, grind a hacksaw blade to conform with the shape and use the blade as a scraper. Cedar can become brittle with age so be careful. Modern paint strippers are not as savage as they were, but are still not pleasant to use. Read the label and be careful

[Tarty]

I've used stripper and a homemade scraper (hacksaw blade, copper tubing split lengthwise, etc) then a synthetic scouring pad on similar types of profiles whith some success. Cleaning the gunk off properly can be a pain, but using the scourer and water (if possible) is a good way around that. Allow to dry thoroughly and lightly sand with a fine paper and cork block or a high density foam block.

[seriph1]

There are safe chemical products that guarantee to remove paint without affecting high tanin-content timbers. This might be the next step prior to excess use of that other non damaging liquid - elbow grease



Steve

[scottski]

Try using steel wool and metho when you have removed enough of the paint with the heat gun. They were probably first finished in shellack and then painted over the top. The remaining paint should come away with heat and metho and steel wool. Just don't apply heat with the metho around

[Toymaker Len]

Be wary of sending out to a commercial stripper (er...much better if the stripper comes to your place, better still and amateur stripper) they will often just toss the lot into a caustic bath and it comes out all fuzzed up and the surface so ruined you have to sand about 5mm off to get back to good wood.
An architect here in newcastle was restoring an old two story mansion years ago and among other things he had a french polisher there for four months restoring the cedar skirting boards and other wooden bits. I should have gone in and had a sticky beak but that was pre my interest in wood.

[Ashore]

Micro,
you could try this: prise a bit of the skirting loose and lay it horizontal. Place some glad wrap over it, maiking sure it's right in all the fiddly bits with no wrinkles. Get some plasticine and make a rectangular dam, sized to suit your hand, or maybe a 1/4 sheet of abrasive. Mix up some casting plaster or cornice cement and pour in the dam. When dry, pop it out, voila! a sanding pad profled to your skirting! Wrap a bit of paper around it and go for it.

Mick

Mate that is one of the best tips i've heard in a long time
Sure beats removing all the boards and using a stanley 55 with the correct cutters to skim profile
rgds





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