Anyone ever try to remove paint from Oak trim?

[logan09]

Only place I could think of to ask this.

Long story short my house was half *** renovated before I bought it. All the trim work inside the living room was replaced with oak. Well, when they put sheetrock in, they used a spray gun to paint the walls and very poorly if any masked the trim So, now there's white paint over most of the trim.

Knowing that oak is a very grainy wood, what are my best options for trying to remove most of it? I'm taking into account that I do NOT want to remove it to do this.

 

[Wood'nMetal]

Any of the gel based paint strippers will work fine. There are even some that are no-fume, eco-friendly.

I just had to do this on a desk we bought. Let the stripper sit for the required time and used a plastic putty knife to scrape it off. On some of the detailed areas I carved an old credit card to match the routed profile and it worked great!

Like you, I was dreading it but it was actually no problem.

 

[Falcon67]

Thanks for this thread, we have the same issue in the master bath with paint on the dark stained oak wall cabinets. I'll be in HD in a few days, will look over the gel strippers.

 

[logan09]

I have used the gel strippers and they ****. Or at least the ones I have used. For some reason the aerosol based ones work better. What brand did you use? Only place I can get it from is walmart or Ace. Only stores I have.

 

[Wood'nMetal]

I've never used the Soy-based but I've heard good reviews. I think it's called SOY-gel?

I've used the Jasco line of strippers most recently.

 

[Kurt4440]

If the oak has a clear coat on under the paint, you should be fine. If the oak has paint directly on the open grain, you will probably need to use a brass wire brush to clean the grain while the stripper of your choice is still wet.

 

[jmarkwolf]

When we built our house we had custom bare oak banisters installed.

We liked the stain color of our Merillat kitchen cabinets, so we bought the "same" stain from the cabinet maker, and applied it to the banisters.

Bad move. It turned ugly opaque orange and looked like hell.

We were able to remove it entirely, basically by just sanding, and restained with something different. It was almost a perfect match to what we wanted originally and looked great. Still does 20 years later.

 

[Stuart in MN]

If the oak has a clear coat on under the paint, you should be fine. If the oak has paint directly on the open grain, you will probably need to use a brass wire brush to clean the grain while the stripper of your choice is still wet.

This is the big thing - if the oak trim was already varnished before the paint went on, it will strip off very easily.

 

[Riverside]

You may want to sand or scrape before using stripper for the low spots and soaked-in paint. Otherwise the stripper creates paint goo that gets drawn into some of the clean areas. Oak can be challenging with paints and other finishes.

 

[jhelrey]

If the paint is latex, just use water and a plastic putty knife. Lightly wet it, let it sit, scrape.

 

[djjsr]

Goof Off removes latex paint easily. No sanding or scraping. Use a small amount on a rag and test a small spot to be sure it doesn't hurt the finish. I recommend not using the spray. It will screw up the paint if you get it on the walls.

 

[rsanter]

If the oak has clear on it you may want to try on an area low to just take a blade and see it it will scrape off

Bob

 

[jethrodawg]

I know this doesn't help you OP, but my first house has stained trim and after that I said never again. Painted white trim for me.

Too many issues keeping the stained oak trim looking perfect.

 

[PWC Repair]

When we bought our house all the trim was painted, with a few coats. We opted to pull it all and replace with new. A few coats of wood floor poly with steel wool rub in between makes it nice and shiny and easy to clean.

 

[logan09]

Forgot about this. It does appear to have a light clear coat on it. Maybe I will try some warm water on it to remove it, or some non harsh chemical. I just can't understand why someone would put such money into trim and then ruin them. Just like all the glue on my hardwood floors :/

 

[southalabama]

Good stripper and lots of elbow grease