Back to Wood Stripping

I skip any plaster work this weekend and focus more on wood stripping. I want to get the bulk of the wood stripping done before moving on to any more plaster just because the chemicals can get messy and there will be some splash on to the plaster. Before I put more plaster down I want to make sure all the chemical stripper goo doesn’t stain the fresh plaster. The baseboards are in pretty good shape, so I focus on the door and window frames.

The doors and windows still have a good amount of paint left to strip.

Because the baseboards are in good shape, I end up splitting my time with applying the stripper to the window and door frames, let that do its thing and then continue work on the baseboards. For the baseboards, I do a light coat of the chemical stripper and then scrub with a scouring pad to try and remove any of the remaining white paint haze. Then another scrubbing using stripper after wash to clean off the chemical stripper. Then I jump back to the door/window frame and remove the loosened paint with picks or a scraper.

Baseboards are pretty clean, while door frames still need some work.

The window frame is in pretty good shape, but still spots of paint in the corners.

When the baseboard dries from the after wash, I then mix up TSP and water and do another scrubbing of the wood using that. The TSP seems to help remove the paint haze and sludge, but it is slow going. The TSP is effective, but still requires lots of elbow grease to get a clean finish.

Stripped door and baseboards.

Baseboard washed with TSP.

Clean baseboard, dirty door frame.