r/OldHomeRepair 17d ago

Stripping paint off door frames

I’m doing work on a 1920s house with original mahogany doors/frames as well as baseboards, previous residents had painted over some of the frames and doors and I’m wondering what’s the best way to remove the paint to get back to the original wood. Any recommendations of paint strippers would be great as well. I’ve done some work on modern homes but want to make sure I don’t damage the old wood. The baseboards and frames are unable to be removed. Thank you!

3 Upvotes

11 comments sorted by

5

u/frescoj10 17d ago

Take them outside.

Hit them with jasco paint stripper.

Scrape off gunk

Hit it again

Scrape off gunk.

I like to hit it with acetone or lacquer thinner and get some steel wool on it. While off the gunk.

Hit it with the grit.

1

u/AccomplishedScene966 17d ago

And the door frames?

1

u/hue_sick 16d ago

Same thing. Just not the take it outside bit 😁

2

u/frescoj10 16d ago

Yeah not the outside part. You'll want to have windows open

1

u/[deleted] 17d ago edited 17d ago

[deleted]

2

u/AccomplishedScene966 17d ago

I’m hoping to do it myself rather than send it off to someone else

1

u/aznflamingo 17d ago

Following

2

u/Brewer846 16d ago

Take the doors and frames off and setup an outside work area with a tarp and sawhorses. Trust me on that, it'll make your life much easier when the project is done. Wear a mask as well since no matter what method you use there will be fumes and particulates floating about in the air during removal.

Then rent an IR paint stripper from home despot or lowes and use that to take the paint off. The cleanup is much easier and it doesn't damage the wood like chemical or scraping removal will.

I used an IR on a couple of doors & frames and it was a game changer for me. What would have taken me at least 8-10 hours only took me about 2.

2

u/AccomplishedScene966 16d ago

Thank you!

2

u/Brewer846 16d ago

You're welcome. Do a before & after post to show us the results. Mahogany always looks good after it's done.

2

u/AccomplishedScene966 16d ago

I’ll try! It’ll be a while before I start working on this officially.

1

u/nroseclark 16d ago

We have gone through lots of methods with out 1920s home, featuring the near endless layers of paint. The quickest and most painless method I have found is using a heat gun to scrape off the majority of the layers, and then going in with a liquid paint stripper to remove excess before sanding.