Paint removal

[Windows]

I’d like to remove the paint from old sash windows. Top layer of paint is in pretty good condition. Other layers of paint have probably been built up over 100 years unless someone previously removed it all and started again. What do you recommend? Non-toxic paint remover that turns everything to easily disposable sludge would be good given possibility of lead. I used a citrus fruit based remover once that worked pretty well. Anyone used similar?

 

[Cabinetman]

Can’t help with a stripper I’m afraid, just to relate I once had a house that had once been the school in our village and under the paint was what appeared to be a layer of putty, it looked as if it had been painted on as a sludge, I presume it was used to try to extend the life of the windows. They were pretty old and in the main it had worked.
Ian

 

[Mike G]

Anglia Lime Company developed their own paint stripper in the 1970s, and it's really effective. It's a thickish paste which you smear on with a pallette knife or paint scraper, cover with cling-film, and then take off 24 hours or so later. It takes most of the paint with it, and softens the remainder. I can't find it listed on their website, so give them a ring in the week (01787 313974). It was developed specifically for listed buildings, to be as gentle as possible on the timber.

 

[Windows]

That’s interesting Ian. Was the putty the first layer next to the wood? How many layers of paint were above it?

Thanks for the tip Mike. I’ll give them a ring.

 

[Trevanion]

I bought a load of Paramose the other day which works well on metalwork, though it is quite toxic and burns like crazy if you get it on you.

I'm not a huge fan of strippers on woodwork as they can leach into the wood and become a problem down the line when they begin to leach back out and affect the new paint, particularly in the corners of joints. Possibly the more modern politically-correct strippers are less liable to do that than the older ones that contained the Dichloromethane, or the Lye dipping technique which also could cause problems.

 

[Cabinetman]

That’s interesting Ian. Was the putty the first layer next to the wood? How many layers of paint were above it?

Thanks for the tip Mike. I’ll give them a ring.

Yes first layer, on top of that were countless layers - green and then white, which protruded onto the glass by nearly an inch all round the small panes ( 8x10’s ?) old glass and I chiselled it all off leaving a tiny little square piece as a reminder.
Back in those days before I knew any better it was a blowtorch and scraper.
Must remember to use that as an excuse for ... anything and everything!

 

[Windows]

So maybe removal with a heat gun is a better approach?

I burnt my elbow on some Nitromors when I was a kid (very slight contact so just painful, no permanent damage), so I’m quite cautious using chemicals like that.

 

[Mike G]

The heat gun approach is hard work, and can scorch the surface of the wood (and crack the glass). Worse, I would worry about the vapours released, remembering that the paint will almost certainly be full of lead and other nasties.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

That’s interesting Ian. Was the putty the first layer next to the wood? How many layers of paint were above it?

Thanks for the tip Mike. I’ll give them a ring.

Yes first layer, on top of that were countless layers - green and then white, which protruded onto the glass by nearly an inch all round the small panes ( 8x10’s ?) old glass and I chiselled it all off leaving a tiny little square piece as a reminder.
Back in those days before I knew any better it was a blowtorch and scraper.
Must remember to use that as an excuse for ... anything and everything!

Near my office, there is a door into a storage area from a yard. This is an 1830's English Heritage property. The door has just been repainted. It was a 4 panel door, with the panels flush with the framing, and a bead down each side of the panel to visually disguise the movement gap. Many years of painting have clogged these features, and now the painters have applied a styrene based filler over most of the door so that it is flat. Well, I say flat, it looks like one of those 70's textured ceilings. Next winter or so I imagine that will discover how the door was designed to deal with wood movement without the frame being forced apart when the panels swell !