Paint Stripping Pros Recommendations

My wife and I just moved to a 1928 co-op apartment in the east village. We realized how many layers of paint that has been caked on during the years. We were looking to find a professional strip the doors, door frames and window frames and wanted to ask if anyone could recommend a professional who has experience with this.

Would love to get a professional opinion and estimate. We are on a budget, so wanted to get a sense of how much it would cost to do the right way. We really want to keep as much of the apartment in its original state as possible. We have 5 window frames, 7 bedroom/cabinet doors, 3 entry ways and all the baseboard in the apartment.

jwydcrqmztn

in General Discussion 1 year and 8 months ago

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jrs84o | 1 year and 8 months ago

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I should mention I tried everything before I found the cobra…..

I started with eco-friendly gels.. but they softened the trim too much, switched to regular heat gun… which never worked for me.

Used, dental instruments, special 100 “triangle” scrapers, vinyl brushes, copper brushes, wooden picks…. You name it…. Ugh….

For me nothing approaches the cobra speadheater product.

You are 100% correct “to each their own tools!”

Once you get the knack of stripping doors, say after 200 hours or so….. I’m certain any tool could work.

jrs84o | 1 year and 8 months ago

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Do you know the Eco-Strip Speadheater infrared “tool?”

There are some videos on YouTube which show the tool in action….. much better than your standard heat gun. The videos do NOT do the tool justice, sure it shows it working, but it’s kinda hard to show how (relatively) easy it is to use….

The secret with the tool is to NOT worry about burning the wood… let the paint and 100 year old varnish bubble up a 10” square area, and peel it away with a 5 inch putty knife.

I tap (hard) the paint and varnish residual on the blade against a saw horse and let it all fall to the ground. I don’t try and peel into a waste bucket.

After a day or two use you can strip 3-4 layers of obnoxious leaded paint off any area of the door with a SINGLE swipe of a putty knife….. it’s really like magic once you get the hang of it.

Trim is a little tougher, but again after practice, you can do a 5 foot “step” in a trim molding with ONE GO. That’s one continuous “peel” of all paint…. Its like magic after a few 8 hour days of practice.

So a 5 “step” molding can be peeled away in a few minutes in five itty bitty strips on each of the 4 sides on each side of the door.

I’m doing the standard 100 year old, 84” high x 24-30” width, oak, single panel doors (not officially raised panel because there is no miter into the trim) with what I call 5-step molding along the stiles and rails.

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 8 months ago

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850mph, we use chemicals to strip and do not destroy the details but know part of the training i have to do when teaching people is how to use sharp instruments on chemically softened wood without damaging the wood (in the wrong hands a dental tool will destroy a pricey molding). really, the tools and use of the tools is the only issue and once people master that, anyone can strip wood.

i want to know more about your technique with the heat because i cannot strip a door that fast (how many layers?) maybe if i do a class, you will want to come over here.

jrs84o | 1 year and 8 months ago

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Stripping multiple layers of paint from 100 year old doors and fluted trim is one of the toughest home renovation jobs around.

If you try and do it yourself, save time and in the end money by going with a “cobra” speedheater. It’s pricy—$350+— but worth every penny.

I’ve found liquid, spray or gel products don’t work very well, but destroy fine detail.

I’ve done 13 interior doors in my house… I’ve got it down to about 2 hours/door just to strip the stiles, rails and raised panels….. but it took weeks to perfect the technique.

IMPORTANT: USE A “TRUE” CARTRIDGE GAS MASK, NOT A FLIMSY COVID-TYPE FIBER MASK and strip outside if possible on saw horses

The fluted trim will be tougher… lots of nooks and crannies.

CHM | 1 year and 8 months ago

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Iron Doncon did paint stripping in my 1870’s brownstone. he was recommended by Maria because her schedule did not fit my timeline: 347-855-1695

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 8 months ago

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Boo, i can not answer that because i know what the risk is but have never allowed that to come close to that scenario. never mind the thin veneer: no door can sit in a tank for more than 24 hours.

i have two tanks here i wish to get rid of if anyone wants them.

can you email me?

greenworks | 1 year and 8 months ago

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Hey Steve, any concerns about using dip and strip for veneer doors? Love the idea for our simple oak veneer five panel doors but would be concerned about the moisture of the “dip” loosening the veneer.

As it is I was stripping one of the many doors I have to take care of and a small section on one of the panels bubbled after leaving the stripper overnight, covered. It was only one door of about four I’ve done but so many to go. Repair wasn’t bad but still . . .

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 8 months ago

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Google “Brownstone Boys Maria Paint Stripper” and you will find a story about those gents and maria the paint stripper. Contact them. Maybe Cate can reach them and ask them to pipe up here. You will want to find the elusive maria. Two people in northern manhattan spoke highly of her. Does not look like she has a website. If you find her, ask her if it would be ok to post her contact details here. I get paint stripping inquiries i am not interested in all the time and would be happy to refer them to her.

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 8 months ago

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Lye will not leave odors nor is it flammable but it is extremely caustic (like 12 plus ph).

cate | 1 year and 8 months ago

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There are really good people who do this for a very good price often in Bed Stuy but I cannot recommend people because I work for Brownstoner. Do a search on this board. It’s important to use experienced professionals who know what they are doing with chemicals and a heat gun. Though in a co-op it could be an issue. The board may not allow it, and you probably need to inform your neighbors in advance and take care not to fill the building with noxious, toxic chemicals and poison your neighbors, especially if there are infants and children nearby. (I don’t recommend using a heat gun in a co-op because the vapors travel up and will make people woozy.) I would guess two experienced people could handle this amount in about four weekends. That might run about $300 a day or $2,400 or so, maybe more, plus materials. (Not sure how much prices have gone up in the last year.) I don’t think you could be living there while the work is being done. (We have done it in a house, but we avoid the area until about three days after the work has been completed.) The people who do stripping do a great job refinishing but they do not also do painting. It’s a separate trade. It’s best to do this in the spring when you can open windows and run fans.

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 8 months ago

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Ok. Everything is messy. And peel away is a good product but there are things they do not tell you. Recall how you were told you you can strip 10 layers at a time? Just cover it and let it sit overnight? Well, covering any paint stripper will keep it from drying out and guess what, you can strip ten layers at a time.

Peel away is sodium hydroxide. Lye is sodium hydroxide. Make your own lye paint stripper by heating water and stirring in lye and adding corn starch. Cost: about $8.00 for two gallons.

If i were you, i would carry the doors over to nj to dip n strip. If you want them stripped stained and finished you can give them to me but it will be pricey but probably less than jmt.

jwydcrqmztn | 1 year and 8 months ago

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Thank you for such a thorough response. We would also be looking for someone to paint, so it would not just be a stand alone project to strip. And unless the doors look gorgeous stripped, we would be looking to paint them. We really just want to take down the caked on layers with someone that has had experience doing it.

We have DIYed it with one of the window frames using 1 layer of Citistrip to remove the top few layers of paint and then a layer of Peelaway for the older more stubborn stuff. Other than a few island patches, it has interestingly worked fine. This method has just…..been very time consuming and laborious and VERY messy.

We will look into John m Thomas fine finishes. If you can think of anyone else that would potentially strip and then paint our whole apartment, please let us know!

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 8 months ago

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I am one of those professional paint strippers through another company i run. i have some bad news: this work is so labor intensive that it is not worth doing as a legitimate business so there are not many people doing it (as a stand alone service). Because of the labor involved, once you add things that coops require – insurance and other things – anyone trying to do this prices themselves out of what most reasonable people are willing to pay. The only way i can ever do any of this is as part of a larger (and pricey) restoration job and what that means is the cost of stripping the wood is subsidized by the real wood working job that follows. Because of all of this, most of the people who survive doing this are wood finishers at the top of their game (john m thomas fine finishes in northern manhattan) and they make the money apply stain and finish or paint (i make money cutting out and replacing rotten wood). I have heard that there is a woman named Maria based in Brooklyn stripping wood and i suspect that she is a bit more reasonable (i do not think she i s a complete wood refinisher, just a stripper) but I do not have her contact (if i recall who last told me about her a month back, i will reach out to them for a contact and i will post it here).

There are some other issues you are about to confront but some of this can be dealt with. those of us in business prefer to use methylene chloride which is dangerous stuff. it has been made illegal to sell to consumers but we can still get it (Hood Chemical in Lodi, NJ). The price of that stuff doubled in the past 2 years. it has dangerous fumes and i do not use it indoors but if one is working a small patch with perhaps a fan on negative pressure ventilation, you can vacate the fumes so that they won’t bother the neighbors or kill too many brain cells of the occupants.

You might say you want to use heat. ok. but that is even more labor intensive and if you over heat it, it releases lead fumes into the air in the form of smoke (been there, done that).

and this: i just recently did a set of doors that came out of a circa 1930 coop. the last two layers of paint i had to strip were not easy to remove. Much harder than 19th century paint and much harder than 1970’s paint. Paint stripper would only soften it a little. i ended up switching to heat for the last two or so layers and then i sanded the residue off.

At some point you will want someone to sand this and that will release lead. you will need someone with an extractor.

There are some people who want me to teach a paint stripping class and i am willing to do it. i did get an email from someone the other day asking if i am doing it. i have gotten spread a little thin just now but as soon as i get through some things, i might see if i can get it on the calendar. If you are interested, find that post and comment there (2 weeks ago).

If you wanted to try to do this yourself and were willing to remove items (doors, some moldings) and can get a work space, i have two dipping tanks i need to get rid of (free). that option is open. They are sized for tall doors.

and this: if you can get the doors over to the other side of the GW Bridge, there is a dip and strip and someone recently told me they are charging $300 to strip a door. if you wish to know why i will not hire people to do this, when i pay someone (my son) to strip a door, it costs me $300 (i cannot up charge that to make money as i will price out of what most people will pay; i do strip doors like this for a certain clientele but budget is less of a factor).

You will also want to ask yourself, “why do you want to do this?” Are you repainting or planning on staining? you will want to know what wood is under there if you wish to stain. these 1930’s coops uptown use a lot of birch and that is worth staining. but if you have something else, pine or poplar, they are not the best woods for staining although i did the poplar balustrade in my 1928 queens home and it came out nice. if you are stripping to repaint, i would consider sanding (bearing the lead issue in mind) the heavy and perhaps sloppy paint down a bit and filling the low spots and priming and painting. i do this a lot on exterior door frames and jambs with great success.

I have run and managed these sorts of projects for decades – both as a historic commercial building supervisor/manager and restoration contractor. I am available for consultation for people trying to make sense of what to attempt to do in their homes and what is better off left alone or what must be done right away and for people willing to DIY. i sometimes answer questions when people call me but would prefer to answer things i am not billing for here on this board.

Steve
Brownstone Home Inspection LLC
www.brownstonehomeinspection.com