<p>Since I obviously struck a nerve. As I’ve posted before, I have a lovely Victorian home that is in great condition. When we moved in, the MOLDING was all white, including doors, but now part of the trim around one of the windows has lost its paint and I find that I like the look a lot. It’s very elaborate molding with different layers of detail and lots of nooks and crannies and pointy things. Hubby is taking an entire month off this summer to do house stuff and asked for my wish list. I’d really like to have natural trim, but I’m not sure how difficult of a task that would be and whether removing the white paint would require special skill. Also, if the woodwork is in its natural state, does one have to treat it? I vaguely think I may have heard that oil needs to be rubbed in regularly, but I’ve never lived in a house with such elaborate detailing. Does anyone have any experience with this for a complete and utter novice? also, can anyone recommend any home improvement forums?</p>
<p>Try this:
<a href=“http://www.thathomesite.com%5B/url%5D”>www.thathomesite.com</a></p>
<p>I think, although I haven’t actually done molding, just furniture, that skill wise, it is not hard to get the paint off, but work wise and time wise, it can be very hard and long. Also, can you tell if the molding was ever varnished or stained rather than painted? In newer homes, molding that was meant to be painted is a lesser grade of molding that molding meant for staining. I don’t know how far back that practice goes. Even in an old home, it is possible that molding meant to be painted was made out of wood that is not well matched to grain. I’m not sure if they use finger joints in that kind of molding either.
There will be people on Gardenweb who have actually done what you are describing.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. That’s very helpful. I don’t know what’s underneath the paint, but I guess that does matter. Hmmm. My concern is that we not get started, become overwhelmed and then quit with it half done. The details in the house are quite special and I’d hate to mess it up in an attempt to prettify it.</p>
<p>Sometimes molding is made of multiple pieces of wood glued together to make one long piece. Even if you do remove the paint the look might not be what you desired because you’d be able to see the different grains, shadings, etc. of the bare wood beneath.</p>
<p>Since the house is old this may not be (probably is not?) the case. But before you undertake a large paint stripping job it’d probably be worthwhile to try it on one piece of molding from a relatively hidden spot in the room. Pick a piece that’s a few feet long and therefore more likely to have been made of two smaller pieces that are joined. If that is one nice piece of wood then the chances are much higher that the rest of the wood in the room will be like that also.</p>
<p>How intricate is the detail on the molding? When we moved into our 110 year old house I had plans to strip the paint off the woodwork (trim, wainscotting (sp?), and window trim) room by room (one a year) … then I tried the first room. About 95% of the paint came off in no time at all … however trying to get that last bits out of the small groves and fancy corner moldings took FOREVER and I punted. (The next plan involved replacing the patined trim with new stained trim … that plan went up in smoke with the market collapse!)</p>
<p>Peelaway - you can read about this product on their website. We have bought it at home depot. I am an old house purist. Victorian can mean a lot of things. Was your woodwork originally painted or left bare? What type of wood is it? Is all your wood trim the same wood? Usually, imho, it is best (and easiest) to try to keep the house as close as original as possible.</p>
<p>My husband and I have done tons of wood refinishing - wood floors, molding and lots and lots of refinishing antique furniture. Depending on how the paint is adhering to the wood, I do have to say that whether you are stripping the paint with a paint remover or “scrapping” it off with a tool (blade-like) white is notoriously one of the worst colors to work with. White and black. Can’t tell you exactly why.</p>
<p>Don’t know how much molding or how many rooms you plan on refinishing but you can count on it being a very long, tedious job - especially if the wood is ornate. Just being honest. </p>
<p>You would definitely need to “finish” the wood with a product. I’m thinking a varnish finish would be better on window molding as opposed to a rub-in oil type product that you might use for an individual piece of furniture.</p>
<p>Good luck - why don’t you call a professional in just for an estimate/consultation right on the spot to give you a better idea. Might be a good idea to spend $100 getting an opinion than to listen to a month’s worth of complaining over a job that is not going so well!!</p>
<p>Wow Winchester that’s good advice. I never thought that it might not be one piece. Something to think about.</p>
<p>3togo, it’s extremely intricate. Lots of corners and embellishments.</p>
<p>Alh, I’m not sure what it looked like originally, we haven’t lived here that long.</p>
<p>
That’s a good idea. We have a lot of woodwork and about 30 windows with elaborate trim. Also many doors.</p>
<p>Zoose, I hope you can figure out a way to preserve that beautiful woodwork. It would be a shame to loose all the character and charm and value that it must lend to your beautiful home.</p>
<p>Good luck with your endeavor!</p>
<p>.</p>
<p>zoosermom: here is my concern. If the molding is meant to be unfinished, it is definitely worth stripping and and finishing as need be. Many homes in my area have gorgous oak woodwork. If it was meant to be painted it may not be wood that looks good unpainted; it may be different kinds of wood that will never look right unless painted. It may have been faux grain painted (especially the doors) Can you peek inside the same date houses in your area to figure this out?</p>
<p>Please check out specialists who understand your period house and can give you advice based on that knowledge. They should be able to show you pictures of similar houses. You don’t have to put it back like it was originally, but it might be nice to understand all your options before spending much money or any elbow grease.</p>
<p>What date, style is your home? If you don’t mind saying? LOL</p>
<p>Thanks for the great advice, Allh. Things I never would have considered. It’s a Queen Anne from 1886.</p>
<p>zoosermom: Does it have wood or marble mantles? What kind of wood are your floors, if they are original? (That will matter if you expose woodwork imho) How fancy are the floors – inlaid wood? I am going to go see what I have in my “house books.” I love your style!!! But my own is much earlier.</p>
<p>You are so kind Alh! The floors are not inlaid, they’re cherry though and a little bit on the dark-ish side, although not as dark as modern floors. Mantles are carved wood and the mirrors on top are original and the glass is a little bit flawed, which causes some cool perceptions. We really have no sense of what was there originally, except for the mirrors. I’m assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that the woodwork is original because it’s all pretty uniform, with the details on the main floor being a lot more elaborate than on the upper floors, but those aren’t plain by any means, either. There are also several houses in the neighborhood that are similar and give a sense.</p>
<p>Your house sounds fantastic! I love old houses! And hope nothing I say comes across as presumptuous. Please forgive me if it does. But having been restoring and renovating, along with some close friends for a couple of decades, this is what I have learned: research first and create an overall plan. Realizing five years out that you made a major mistake is heartbreaking and potentially costly. If you have original woodwork and it was unpainted (and it seems like this is possible), it would definitely be worth it to me to get back to what it was. If it is replacement, that is trickier. It will depend on what the replacement is, to even know what is possible to do with it. What we did was spend a lot of time looking at museum houses the same date as ours and period paintings and turn of the century documentary photos. I am not suggesting old house owners can’t do anything in the world they please with their houses, but just that they make decisions from an educated place so there are no regrets later on. We started with a consult from a very knowledgeable restoration contractor working on a friend’s house. Our house is pre-revolutionary, with later additions, so we have to make a lot of decisions about what “period” we are interpreting when it comes to paint. I have found it very helpful to see interior photos of houses similar to mine and the different ways they have been painted or left bare wood. I have some unpainted wood walls, (that were probably painted originally - if not when the house was first built very soon thereafter), just because I like that look and they can be painted over by the next owner if she wants a more authentic look. Peelaway is a miracle product imho but you will probably also have to use dental tools to finish up. Think of it as a very long term endeavor. I hope I have a house finished before I die. LOL</p>
<p>Your advice is excellent and much, much appreciated.</p>
<p>Just a note here, it would be rare for woodwork in a Victorian house to be “unfinished”, I believe what you are going for is “unpainted”. Unfinished would mean with nothing done to the wood at all – most woodwork would be varnished or shellacked if not painted. Raw wood would get dirty very quickly, in particular at door jambs, window sashes, etc. anywhere the human hand would touch.</p>
<p>That being said, one thing you can do is take an exacto knife and see if you can cut out a small sample down to bare wood. See if you can see layers of paint and/or varnish.
That can give you a clue to what the original treatment of the woodwork would have been. You can have this done professionally, but since you only need a little piece (like 1"), it can be kind of fun to see if you can figure it out yourself. Just be aware that shellac was often used on raw wood as a primer/sealer for wood that was intended to be painted. In that case, there would only one thin layer of shellac and then paint.</p>
<p>^^What is the original method of finishing upainted late 19th century woodwork? And would you recommend using that same method today? Do victorian homeowners strive for what it looked like when first built or try to replicate the patina of 100+ years?</p>
<p>It would be either varnish or shellac. Shellac will turn yellow faster, and was often used on pine wood, this is why much of the pine you see has a strong yellow color to it. Varnish would be applied in several thin layers, mostly in a medium to high sheen. Both are available today and are fairly easy to apply for an experienced handyman/painter. I would caution against polyurathane, which contractors often want to use. It can go on in one coat, unlike varnish which looks best with 2 or 3 thin coats and can be cleaned up with water, unlike varnish. BUT the sheen is wrong, it looks like plastic, which is in fact what it is. Varnish has a mellow glow to it, even the high gloss ones. The other problem with poly is it is easier to chip, harder to repair a chip, and if you ever want to strip it it is d**m neat impossible.</p>
<p>Most homeowners strive for a balance between an exact replica and practicality (meaning what is available to them material wise, cost, etc.) With woodwork, it really is fairly practical to go with the original methods. Varnish is only slightly tricker then poly, but the results are so much nicer it is worth the effort. Paint of course is pretty much the same. My husband, who is a fanatic, will only use oil based paint, even indoors, because he likes the finish, but a latex paint can give you almost identical results with a whole lot less pain.</p>