# Burn marks on stripped doors



## Irish (Jul 1, 2009)

Hi Guys

REALLY hope someone can help on this one! We have stripped back to raw large 18th. century solid Oak doors, previously painted, to discover that the wood is severely burned, not light scorch marks, but really deep. We have used orbital sanders, hand-sanded, used dremels etc, which have removed maybe 95% of the marks, but not all. As the doors have very intricate panels, there are some areas we simply can't get in to, no matter what we try. We have tried Nitromors, peel-away, but nothing works. I guess I'm hoping there is a bleach mix or some-such that might help us out. Time or expense don't matter that much (we've spent 10 man-days on a $1,000 dollar job already) but there is a bigger picture because these are the entrance doors to a massive castle that we are restoring over a 4-year time frame. Any ideas gratefully received!

Ian


----------



## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

Irish said:


> Hi Guys
> 
> REALLY hope someone can help on this one! We have stripped back to raw large 18th. century solid Oak doors, previously painted, to discover that the wood is severely burned, not light scorch marks, but really deep. We have used orbital sanders, hand-sanded, used dremels etc, which have removed maybe 95% of the marks, but not all. As the doors have very intricate panels, there are some areas we simply can't get in to, no matter what we try. We have tried Nitromors, peel-away, but nothing works. I guess I'm hoping there is a bleach mix or some-such that might help us out. Time or expense don't matter that much (we've spent 10 man-days on a $1,000 dollar job already) but there is a bigger picture because these are the entrance doors to a massive castle that we are restoring over a 4-year time frame. Any ideas gratefully received!
> 
> Ian


Sounds as if you've removed 95% what our restoration architects call, "essential historic fabric" , AKA "patina". Oh-oh.


----------



## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

Tsk Tsk. Just don't remove the rust on the chain irons in the dungeon, OK.


----------



## fauxlynn (Apr 28, 2011)

Burnt is burnt, nothing you can do. But if it makes you feel better, it adds some character, too bad you sanded the hell out of them....

It'll make a good story- I picture a dragon and a damsal in distress....


----------



## Irish (Jul 1, 2009)

Gough said:


> Sounds as if you've removed 95% what our restoration architects call, "essential historic fabric" , AKA "patina". Oh-oh.


Wasn't patina, just some dummy let rip with a blow-torch


----------



## Roamer (Jul 5, 2010)

Maybe those dummies were invading Scots or English soldiers???

You could try Oxalic Acid 'wood bleach', but from the sounds of what you are dealing with it probably wouldn't help. Wood Bleach is commonly used to remove water stains from wood.

What was the planned finish for the doors?


----------



## Irish (Jul 1, 2009)

Roamer said:


> Maybe those dummies were invading Scots or English soldiers???
> 
> You could try Oxalic Acid 'wood bleach', but from the sounds of what you are dealing with it probably wouldn't help. Wood Bleach is commonly used to remove water stains from wood.
> 
> What was the planned finish for the doors?


Thanks Roamer. We had planned on using a simple oiled finish (Osmo oil) and building up the coats, as per the clients wishes. When we tried a small sample, it looked worse than ever... Probably a stain like "Sikkens" would cover a multitude of sins, but the finish can look very artificial...


----------



## Bender (Aug 10, 2008)

Thats interesting.
I guess I wouldn't want my 300 year old doors to look like I just bought them at Home Depot.


----------



## fauxlynn (Apr 28, 2011)

Irish said:


> Thanks Roamer. We had planned on using a simple oiled finish (Osmo oil) and building up the coats, as per the clients wishes. When we tried a small sample, it looked worse than ever... Probably a stain like "Sikkens" would cover a multitude of sins, but the finish can look very artificial...


Maybe you could try tube oils, like Windsor Newton. Rub it in thick , let it soak up, maybe you could darken it up enough to sort of camouflage it.


----------



## eews (Apr 18, 2007)

bleaching won't take out burn marks. If you've sanded as much as you can, one option is to inpaint them with toner to match the rest of the wood. If you've created any depressions in the wood from sanding, you could fill back to level with epoxy, then faux the patch to match the surrounding area.


----------

