The hell that is paint stripping - bit of a pickle

[Sabee]

Good evening!

I would appreciate any advice!

Bear with me

I started sanding my skirting gently to get it reading for primer etc but realised I needed to get it tested for lead, as the house is old. I did half a metre before realising this, then waited a day or so for the tests to arrive - no suprise - there is lead in the paint.

I was resigned to just priming it with zinsser 123, but I noticed my husband (while priming the walls) had painting a few inches of wall primer over the skirting.

As we thought it was the wrong kind of primer (the normal primer) for the skirting, (which has thick, yellowed gloss layered over) I thought I would try wet sanding to get it off, but it was too laborious as there are lots of grooves (more detailed skirting).

Then literally the devil put it in my head to try paint stripper.

I bought this gentle one which I was going to try. I tried it, it works but needs two applications, leaving it overnight each time. I had given up on it as who has the time for this.

My idea was to put it on, leave it for a brief time, and that way I would be able to remove just one layer of the primer.

Of course, I forgot and I left it for longer, some parts overnight (I had only used it on the top part of the skirting, now everything is one huge sticky nightmare.

I have to keep on scrubbing with my metal scourer, it is tacky, sticky, comes off unevenly and I even tried sanding with sandpaper, wetting it, it has totally changed the texture.

It is currently patchy, bits of wood showing, patches peeling - I waited for it to dry and it still feels rubbery/tacky.

I’m not sure what to do

I really don’t have time to strip it using that useless paint remover or any other product. I just wanted to peel off the primer . Nor do I have time to hot gun it.

Can I wait for it to dry and wet sand it again, with proper wet sandpaper? I’m not sure how deep the paint has been affected.

Any advice would be most gratefully received. My back is killing me

Sorry for the typos and bad punctuation etc

www.wood-finishes-direct.com/blog/paint-strippers-often-fail/

I stripped painwork but used a heat gun,
Don't decorate in a hurry, take your time and do it properly.

To be honest, we wanted to get it done while my husband had time off - long work hours and kids at school after hols is challenging…

I didn’t mind it if it was just freshly painted, even if it was thick… which is why I didn’t consider fully stripping ..

Thank you for the link - I will look into the products they recommended if I can’t sort this out any other way.

I think if the paint stripper you describe is the one I’ve used, I found the scouring pad/metal scourer to be worse than useless and have no idea why they suggest it. I also tried a scraper, which didn’t really work. I ended up using a shave hook to scrape off the bubbling paint (carefully - it can gouge the wood) and wiped the paint off the hook on lots of newspaper. V satisfying.

It did take quite a few goes with the paint remover to get all the layers of paint off. Good luck!

I used Eco solutions home paint and varnish remover

I was silly in trying to just get one layer off; I’m going to see what’s what in the morning and see if I can wet sand it - otherwise it might mean I just have to go the whole hog.

I’ll look up what a shave hook is

Thanks

We've recently used Paint Panther Paint & Varnish Remover to remove layers of lead- and more modern paint from the woodwork in spare bedroom. We had to apply at least 3 layers (and scrape off the sticky mess in-between) but it was only up to 30 min between each application, so we did it all in one day - not too bad overall.

I Just replaced all our skirting boards, architrave and picture rail ( well my partner did)

Noideasforwittynickname - if it doesn’t work out will try that, thanks - the same product is mentioned on another post via a link

Kitkat151 - I do want to keep them as they are original and a century old! If it was a new house, would def consider it.

Thanks

@Sabee, we bought this stuff in Toolstation, it was convenient for us as we have a branch nearby and the stuff was in stock, but I've seen it in various online shops as well.
The instructions suggest starting with two coats of the gel - second one applied once the paint starts bubbling up after the first one - and then scrape off. But as we had layers and layers of paint to remove, these initial two steps weren't enough. But we didn't give up and just kept on slapping the stuff on, leaving for 15-30 min and scraping repeatedly. We are lucky our skirtings and architraves have fairly simply profiles, so it was easy to use a simple straight scraper. If you have something more elaborate, a shaped shaving hook would be a good idea, to get into nooks and crannies.

Don’t use a heat gun on lead paint! Other than that I have nothing useful to add except

Noideasforwittynickname - thank you for the application tips! I need to buy one of those actually, it’s on my list - I wanted to avoid any fumes etc which is why i wanted to test the other one, it just takes so long though…

I still need to examine the skirting boards from last night - I was so mentally drained I didn’t even want to go in the room

1990s - thank you for your support! I was hesitant to get one as I was trying to find a quicker route lol

@1990s

Don’t use a heat gun on lead paint! Other than that I have nothing useful to add except

Why? I stripped my 1950s house stairs and architraves with a heat gun. It was the least messy and fastest solution. Didn't produce fine dust to inhale, large chunks cooked off, with a scraper removing the smaller, weaker bits. Only downside was the occasional scorching of the wood, but because I was painting white afterwards it didn't matter.

Why? I stripped my 1950s house stairs and architraves with a heat gun

Because lead is a neurotoxin and burning it off releases it into the air so you breathe it in.
www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/stripping-lead-paint.htm

OP, in future I'd recommend using Peelaway. It worked really well on skirting and architraves inside, and the masonry & cast iron outside my Edwardian house.

I've got myself an infrared paint stripper, and I think I'm in love with it! Cost about £20 from eBay. It doesn't get as hot as a heat gun so there's no risk of vapourising lead or burning the wood underneath it; basically idiot-proof. And not as stinky/messy/soul destroying as paint stripper solvents. I was very skeptical when someone recommended one as I'd never heard of them before, but it's been great 😊

DS used paint stripper on his original Victoria architraves against my judgement. The paint was simply too thick, he had to replace the architraves in the end for reproduction ones.

Squashminus - wow I didn’t know there was such a thing! I need to think about this all I have already bought so many different things to test

Wutheringheights66 - sorry about that! We have three layers-ish, still feels like a headache!

Three applications (two layer per ‘application’ as per instructions) later (for anyone interested in my misery):

A lot to be desired in terms of technique 😑

I think the grooves will be the death of me

Try the stuff that strippers of Sudbury sell. You paste it on, cover in clingfilm and leave for a day or so and the whole lot comes off.

In the end I sandpapered down the grooved door I’d tried to strip paint off, primed and repainted, sanding again at each stage. It looks fine. Y