After spending 2 weeks stripping paint from the exposed beams in my living room I have devised a 3 step process for refinishing painted wood.
\nStep 1. Throw out painted wood.
\nStep 2. Buy unfinished wood.
\nStep 3. Apply finish.
\nI’ve read the books, the websites and the myths about how to remove paint. I’ve applied liquid strippers and gel strippers. I’ve sanded and scraped. Steel wool, burlap, kitchen sponge. There is no way to remove *all* of the paint without also removing a serious portion of the wood.
\nThe basic problem is that my beams have 5 layers of paint. Each one seems to require a different blend of stripper. So the only tool that indiscriminately removes paint is the belt sander. (It does a pretty good job too.) Once the belt sander has done it’s work 98% of the paint is gone. The remaining 2% is there to stay. In groves, pores and cracks are tiny speckles of paint that will not go away. So, after applying the new finish the wood looks as if it’s a bit moldy. In all fairness it looks like reclaimed wood. If that isn’t the look you want then go ahead and strip and sand. If you want any other look then follow my simple 3 step process.
\nKevin Smith
\nContributing Editor, Nothing Severed Yet<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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