# Stripping paint back to bare wood



## paul g 617 (11 mo ago)

Im trying to see the community's pricing guide for stripping entire rooms, this one was quite tricky fireplace had 5 layers (oil,primer,oil,primer,stain) , two doors only had top coat and prime coat, but rest of the entire room was consistent with the fireplace, clients are living in the house as well it is not vacant. Thanks all!


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

The only way I would do that is T&M. And I would be quarantining that room with proper ventilation. Are they Re-staining? Yuck.


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## paul g 617 (11 mo ago)

finishesbykevyn said:


> The only way I would do that is T&M. And I would be quarantining that room with proper ventilation. Are they Re-staining? Yuck.


Yeah they are trying to do that.


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## Luc Graf (Aug 2, 2018)

paul g 617 said:


> Im trying to see the community's pricing guide for stripping entire rooms, this one was quite tricky fireplace had 5 layers (oil,primer,oil,primer,stain) , two doors only had top coat and prime coat, but rest of the entire room was consistent with the fireplace, clients are living in the house as well it is not vacant. Thanks all!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## paul g 617 (11 mo ago)

don't believe the comment ended up posting


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## Joe67 (Aug 12, 2016)

I don't think you're going to find any manner of "pricing guide" for "stripping entire rooms." Even if that was a meaningful thing to say there are far too many variables. For me it would be T&M and that would be explained clearly along with the fact that it might not be possible to achieve what look they were after.


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

Some 20 odd years ago me and a small crew spent a month stripping some extraordinarily detailed hand carved oak woodwork in an early 20th century mansion foyer. The home was originally built for a coal baron to rival his brother’s Newport “The Elms” mansion.

When 'Minden' Was For Sale

After stripping and applying 8 coats of hot melted wax and buffing everything out as per the architect-designer’s spec, he decided to have us strip the wax and paint everything out.

After painstakingly stripping everything again for the second time and painting everything out, he then had us selectively strip ~ 50% of the woodwork “again” and revert it back to the waxed look, giving new meaning three time’s a charm.

Each stripping operation averaged 2 hrs/sq ft.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

finishesbykevyn said:


> The only way I would do that is T&M. And I would be quarantining that room with proper ventilation. Are they Re-staining? Yuck.


Not to mention lead paint precautions.


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## Woodco (Nov 19, 2016)

T+M, for sure.... AND I would charge higher than my normal rate for how much of a pain it would be.


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## paul g 617 (11 mo ago)

Redux said:


> Some 20 odd years ago me and a small crew spent a month stripping some extraordinarily detailed hand carved oak woodwork in an early 20th century mansion foyer. The home was originally built for a coal baron to rival his brother’s Newport “The Elms” mansion.
> 
> When 'Minden' Was For Sale
> 
> ...





RH said:


> Not to mention lead paint precautions.


did a lead test came back negative


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## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

Yup! T&M is the only way to go on something like that. Not so very long ago, I had to strip and paint an old carriage house. Before I agreed to take the job, no less than 6 other companies were called for an estimate. Most expressed a complete lack of interest and refused to quote. 1 said they would come back and discuss it in 18-20 months as they were very busy. I was the only one to explain why nobody would estimate and why it could only be done on a T&M basis. I agreed to take it on and it was a real B***H! First pic is a bout 75% stripping done. It was a really good thing I did not try to estimate that one!!!


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

jennifertemple said:


> Yup! T&M is the only way to go on something like that. Not so very long ago, I had to strip and paint an old carriage house. Before I agreed to take the job, no less than 6 other companies were called for an estimate. Most expressed a complete lack of interest and refused to quote. 1 said they would come back and discuss it in 18-20 months as they were very busy. I was the only one to explain why nobody would estimate and why it could only be done on a T&M basis. I agreed to take it on and it was a real B***H! First pic is a bout 75% stripping done. It was a really good thing I did not try to estimate that one!!!
> View attachment 113633


For reference, how long did it actually take?! Looks brand new.


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

Stripping & restoring vintage/antique architectural woodwork can be an extremely lucrative niche, with the potential for being a rewarding business unto itself. It can open doors to restoration & historic preservation work where there’s very little competition, due to the average Joe type paint company expressing a complete lack of interest and shying away from wanting to provide quotes as @jennifertemple mentioned. 

I’ve always found it very rewarding bringing antique architectural woodwork and furnishings back to life, not even from a profit perspective, but due to possessing a reverence for preserving the craftsmanship from bygone eras for future generations to enjoy and appreciate.


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## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

@Redux , I have done quite a lot of historical, preservation work but until the carriage house, it was always interior. I still, most often, go T&M because with very old buildings, you can not know what issues you might encounter. It's T&M or really quote excessively high! I do give most clients the option, explaining that with a quote, all risk is mine, with T&M the risk is theirs. The upside is, when one is done on such projects, there is a great sense of pride and satisfaction. AND, yes, most painting companies prefer new builds or simple modern places because they are quick, simple and straight forward. They prefer not to get into picking nits. I, on the other hand, love problem solving and detail work; it makes me feel that I have really accomplished something at the end. (Plus, you are generally there longer and not running around quoting the next job!)


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## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

finishesbykevyn said:


> For reference, how long did it actually take?! Looks brand new.


 It took 120 hours / 1 person. Many of those little muntins needed fresh putty and there were some odd repairs that needed correction and only discovered after paint was mostly removed. I was very pleased with the finished job as was the HO. The labor, alone, was over $4000. Materials, not so much. Putty, 1 gal. primer, 1 gal. finish paint, 2 gal. stripper (and sand paper??)


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## Mike2coat (Nov 12, 2013)

Have you guys seen one of those laser striper? Very expensive but probably better used for furniture shops..


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## paul g 617 (11 mo ago)

Mike2coat said:


> Have you guys seen one of those laser striper? Very expensive but probably better used for furniture shops..


I have not, what is the name of the of the product?


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)




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## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

Mike2coat said:


> Have you guys seen one of those laser stripper? Very expensive but probably better used for furniture shops..


I don't think they make laser strippers for wood. All that I have seen were for cleaning metal. In fact, I have not yet seen the magic tool for stripping; it's always tedious and depending on the paint, more or less difficult. Some of those 100 year old, exterior products are really tough! For about 10 seconds I wondered about such a tool for iron radiators BUT I have only seen them demonstrated on flat surface. Old rads have a lot interior channels that you could never get the tool close to. If you know of a laser stripper that is safe for wood I'd love to know about it!


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## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

@Redux That gent in the pic, (you?) looks like he is going to be on that job a while!


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

jennifertemple said:


> I don't think they make laser strippers for wood. All that I have seen were for cleaning metal. In fact, I have not yet seen the magic tool for stripping; it's always tedious and depending on the paint, more or less difficult. Some of those 100 year old, exterior products are really tough! For about 10 seconds I wondered about such a tool for iron radiators BUT I have only seen them demonstrated on flat surface. Old rads have a lot interior channels that you could never get the tool close to. If you know of a laser stripper that is safe for wood I'd love to know about it!


The hourly production rate for removal of a 30 mil layer of paint on a wood substrate with a 2000 watt pulse laser is ~ 8 sq ft/hr. It is in fact the magical tool for paint removal!


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## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

Redux said:


> The hourly production rate for removal of a 30 mil layer of paint on a wood substrate with a 2000 watt pulse laser is ~ 8 sq ft/hr. It is in fact the magical tool for paint removal!


 Got a link? Please.


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

jennifertemple said:


> Got a link? Please.


Link is to a somewhat dated scientific study & demonstration performed by the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories on “Lead-Based Paint Removal From an Historic Wood Structure Using Laser Technology”

For the study, they used a 60 watt laser but included performance data for a 2000 watt laser along with guesstimated hourly costs. 

https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA363188.pdf


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## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

@Redux Clearly, far too expensive and so far only in the experimental stages according to that document. It was only done for demonstration purposes. I have yet to see such equipment on the open market. It would be something I would be deeply interested in! Another kicker, it won't work on white paint due to reflective quality of white. I did a little poking around but it's a technology mainly for metal and heavy industry. Not much that I could find that would be even close to affordable and useful to painters.


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

jennifertemple said:


> @Redux Clearly, far too expensive and so far only in the experimental stages according to that document. It was only done for demonstration purposes. I have yet to see such equipment on the open market. It would be something I would be deeply interested in! Another kicker, it won't work on white paint due to reflective quality of white. I did a little poking around but it's a technology mainly for metal and heavy industry. Not much that I could find that would be even close to affordable and useful to painters.


Laser ablation works with white paint removal…I “think” the laser in the following vid is a 200 watt unit removing white paint from wood….200 watts is a bit underpowered and slow going for efficient removal. I can think of few niches in the painting trade where laser removal technology would be a cost effective game changer.


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## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

@Redux Read the company comment answers below the video. Also, I can tyhink of a situation that I would be all over this technology but the expense is out of this world and I can not find a video demonstration where it would work on sometthing like an iron rad with all the difficult to reach, inner channels. It would only be in situatins such as that, that I would even consider the expense of such a machine. AND "The cheapest version on the market is a much smaller, less-powerful 20W unit that starts at $80,000 (£62,000). That 1000W specimen from the video would set you back an eye-watering $480,000 (£370,000)."


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

Redux said:


> Laser ablation works with white paint removal…I “think” the laser in the following vid is a 200 watt unit removing white paint from wood….200 watts is a bit underpowered and slow going for efficient removal. I can think of few niches in the painting trade where laser removal technology would be a cost effective game changer.


Sounds like some good underground industrial techno music!


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