Return to the Paint Forum | Post a Follow-Up

 o
Old interior doors - stripping, sanding, finishing?

Posted by ritamac (My Page) on
Wed, Mar 6, 13 at 7:22

Looking for advice, direction, tips, any wisdom.

I am repainting a 60 year old house, and I'm down to the interior doors. I thought about buying new doors, but I really want to save these original, heavy, solid wood doors. I've taken them all off, and as I started to sand, paint started to peel off. I realized that the top 2 coats were probably put on without any primer in between, and the bottom 2 coats are probably oil based (and probably lead) paint. I've moved everything outside to a garage, and started to use chemical stripper to get the paint layers off.

Still, this is going really slow and messy. It looks like I'll have to scrape as much as I can using the stripper, then sand with a belt sander and orbital sander before I can begin to paint. I really didn't intend to take them down to bare wood, but I almost am having to do this in order to get a smooth surface.

Any tips on doing this?

Thanks, rita


Follow-Up Postings:

 o
RE: Old interior doors - stripping, sanding, finishing?

Sounds like you got it. Now it is just hard work. Be VERY careful with a belt sander


 o
RE: Old interior doors - stripping, sanding, finishing?

If the orbital sander is a really good one, then you shouldn't even need the belt sander. You can really do some good skid mark damage with a belt sander.


 o
RE: Old interior doors - stripping, sanding, finishing?

I find that I do better with a heat gun and scrapers rather than a chemical stripper. I use an orbital sander and a Dremel Multi-Max oscillating sander.


 o Post a Follow-Up

Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum.

    If you are a member, please log in.

    If you aren't yet a member, join now!


Return to the Paint Forum

Instructions

  • You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
  • Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
  • After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
  • It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
  • HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
  • No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
  • If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
  • If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.



 
Click here to learn more about in-text links on this page.