So a little back story. My house was built in 1897 and for the most part is pretty unmolested I live in elgin il. and my house is only 3 blocks from where the Elgin watch Factory once stood and originally 2 brothers who where machinist there built this house then a doctor at the elgin mental health ( nuthouse) lived here so it's got some cool little history . I stripped the plaster walls to repair all the cracks and soft spots. I stripped the base boards and what not with heat and scrapers but the mouldings around the openings are super brittle compared to the other rooms I have done and restored. Is there any suggestions for a really good stripper. There is atleast 8 layers and I know it might take a few times to get them down to wood., But the head and scrapers are just not cutting it for me.

 

Oh wow, I am absolutely no help with home repairs, but I could very well help with driving this thread straight into the gutter.

 

Are your baseboards yellow pine, oak, or some other species?

-ben

 

I've done many restorations in Chicago on just as old houses.
Truthfully most of the strippers are garbage these days. Even automotive strippers are garbage.

Believe it or not heat is the fastest way to strip the boards. Just make sure do it outside with plenty of ventilation.

Another thing I did was take a board to a custom trim place. Either they had a knife already cut or we paid to have new trim boards cut and replaced with new popular. (If they are being painted)

The place I used the most was in front of Home Depot on North Ave. Not sure it's still there it's been about 10 years since I've done any work in Chicago.

But yeah there is no real magical strippers that are worth anything anymore. EPA took out the good stuff.

 

Its more than likely lead paint so be careful not to sand and make lead dust, thats the killer. I dont know of any chemical strippers by name but they're are a few out there you can buy at your local home improvement store. Id try some and see what happens.

 

The citrus stripper I tried just now seems to be working good. But will take a few rounds. I'm ok with that . I don't want to remove the trim because again it's really brittle and I'm not the most experienced at this. I enjoy the work but it's also a learning process for me. I don't know what kind of wood they are but I know most of the wood from siding to floor joist are cedar I believe.

 

@ fun71 I know how to have a good time with strippers

 

You are definitely a wild man with knowledge of strategic bill placement!

 

I'm just not going there... Old houses have their challenges, but the end result is usually worth it.

 

Cool. It has outlived Oldsmobile.

 

I've worked on a lot of heritage houses with that style of trim.
Whats your end goal with it? Repaint? if so, why strip all the paint off only to put it back on?
There is no easy way to go short of replacing it as close as you can. Looks like a flat wood board with a panel molding wrapped over the top. "Bolection Molding"
If you do decide to take it off it will break apart. You will find all sorts of great big nails holding it in place. Nothing like what is used today.
Strippers are messy and will take multiple coats. Heat guns work but the work wreaks of burnt paint so much that the house will hold the odor. Do it outside if you can.

I think you would need something like panel moulding 132

 

I started using Citrus Stripper back in the 90's and have yet to find a better product, but it is still a lot of work. With the oak floors maybe you will get lucky with oak jamb areas and window trim. If not oak, you really need to weigh out if the time exerted to strip will be worth it in the end. Sometimes painting a complementary trim color will look just as good, in my opinion. If you have a lot of previous sins on the plaster walls, putting texture in the paint is a good option.

 

There are steamers, maybe try them.

Also, the trim is probably going to have to come down to work on it fully and better. You need to see how things are underneath it, too.

 

I did 2 rooms already.in the past 9 years but this one is the biggest and so far hardest. I mainly want to strip it to bring the sharp details back to the trim. It seems the citrus stripper is working pretty good so far. It will need coats but honestly I only get a few hours here and there to work on the room so it works out good to let time work for me . Everything is in pretty good shape. Not doing a full demo or restore job just trying to rejuvenate what's there the best as possible least evasively as possible. As far as finishing the plaster walls I'm a body man so I'm actually pretty good as sanding mud and flowing the patches out pretty good. I'm sure I got alot to learn but my approach as mentioned is to be as least evasive as possible while bringing life back to things. When they updated the electrical they patched in the sections they used 5/8 drywall and all the outlets look 3d lol. In the other rooms I went to much thinner dry wall shimmed out from the lats and smoothed it all out.

 

I had a friend whose wife had more money than sense. She sandblasted an antebellum plantation house in Thomasville, Ga

Bad plan. 20 years later You can be sitting in a room and star dust comes from the cracks between the boards

I live in a 1896 historic home [shotgun house with additions] and I chose to replace the molding with new [except the 3 mantles ]which were a PITA to strip and restore

Good luck

 

I’ll help!!!!

 

I've been involved in paint removal jobs as a paint rep a lot, none are easy or fun but there are a few tips that may help some.. If you use a solvent based stripper(this only works on solvent stripers) try one that has more than 7 % methylene chloride content, more is better if you can find it I'm not sure what is a viable these days. They are activated as they evaporate if you can slow the evaporation down they will work longer and better/ deeper on the substrate. If a sheet of plastic drop cloth is laid on the wet stripper it will dry much slower and soften many more coats of paint. On difficult jobs hydrogen peroxide can be sprayed over your remover really super charge your stripper. This application is VERY volatile and can be dangerous, it is a accelerator and is used to remove deep seated stains in hard wood.

I have found the citrus strippers though safer to be on the slow side and when I was in the business to slow for most commercial strippers, they used mostly sodium hydroxide products with pressure wand in dip tanks but that's not what we are talking about here....Tedd

 

Have you tried Jasco, not sure of the effectiveness of it now but it used to work good,

 

What I learned. I really like the citrus strip. It's not the fastest and I was not keen on using it but it was the cheapest . For me this is a pick at it little by little project. I did one section it the opening let it sit with no plastic and 24 + hours later it was still soft but not super gummy so the mess was really minimal. I just needed to scrape and catch it and into the garbage can. I been plugging away at this project since January and the goal is to have it done ready to furnish by October. I think I got enough time. Anyway I appreciate the suggestions and they really helped me be more careful actually hearing the experiences. Disregard that big section of previous repair that looks half scraped. It seems someone blocked off the once used fire place and it was actually done decently so I have to blend the corners into that wall and repair what I messed up. Live and learn.

 

+1 for the Jasco but if careful is the priority stick with the citrus. A heat gun will help enormously.

 

I will give jasco a try as well. Still experimenting to see how much time and what not.

 

Time wounds all heels, or however the saying goes. If you've got time, sometimes incremental is best. I just restarted my woodworking as it's warm enough, but I'm just making a stereo rack. 2 more coats of poly on the first half of the shelves to go....

 

Only use Methylene Chloride stripper outdoors where it is well ventilated, using rubber gloves for hand protection. Do not breathe the vapors, it is a carcinogenic, and very nasty. I worked with it years ago.

 

you're on the right track with the citrus stripper ,It will be a tedious job ,but being a body man you're used to that .i agree on not trying to take any trim off. you will open a can of worms .Often times in those old houses all the base and trim went on before the plaster and lathe ,so disturbing the trim will make a mess of the plaster.i love the character of these old houses and too often people try to make them modern by replacing much of the old materials.good luck with your project

 

I always put Saran type wrap over the stripper after applying it.

 

I haven't been covering because it seems to dry really slow. I'm trying to get it when it's still somewhat soft soni can scrape it and make less of a gooey mess. So far it's worked. The one section I been working in took 3 hours so far like an hr an evening . I can live with that. I just gotta get on a regiment.