Our house was built in 1984 and we bought it in 2001. Since we’ve been here, we’ve repainted all of the interior. My problem is the woodwork. The paint peels off of anything wooden – baseboards, doors, door frames and jambs, mantel shelves, window sills, window seats, cabinets, etc. I always make sure that the surface is clean and free of dust or debris. I’ve used latex and acrylic. I’ve used rollers, brushes, and cheap foam. I’ve tried using primer, then applying the paint. None of it matters.
I don’t have any problem with the walls (sheetrock and plaster). It’s just the wood. What could the builder/previous owners have painted with that causes everything to fall off? What can I do to get my paint to adhere? Sanding would be very time-consuming and just no fun at all. Is that my only option? I have sanded in some places, but that doesn’t seem to be effective. Is there anything I can spray on top of the paint I have already applied to get the paint to stay?
How is the woodwork finished now? Is it painted? Shiny varnished with visible grain? Some type of “oil finish” that soaks in but leaves a wood grained surface?
You have to remove the flaking paint. You can’t get water based paints to stick properly to anything oil.
These surfaces were probably painted with oil enamels, which are better for the high wear surfaces.
You have to sand it down to the wood grain unless you find a paint layer which did stick properly .
If you did find a layer that did stick properly. you can paint over it with an oil paint.
If you have to sand down to the wood grain, then paint the exposed wood with an oil based sealer primer and oil paints thereafter.
You can try paint chippers, water blasting, sand blasting , chemicals to remove the flaking paint, but the flaking paint has to be removed.
Others know better on this topic, but I haven’t seen the recommendation that may help the most. Do A/B testing, or better do A/B…/M testing. Try combinations of variables on tiny parts of the wood and see which ones work best before making a full-scale effort with the rest. You probably already have, but it’s definitely an essential step.
It does sound like you have some sort of oil-and-water problem. Your only solution may be to sand it down like crazy. Maybe you could have an easier time if you just roughed up the surface to an extreme extent. Maybe there’s a crazy sci-fi solution like sticking magnets behind the wood and applying a strongly self-adhesive ferromagnetic paint.
Your best bet might just be to follow one wise man’s advice: “try wanting something else”. The natural beauty of the wood, with the right finish, may complement the room very well, even if it’s not what you originally envisioned.
Isilder is spot on with the prep work … sanding also roughs up the surface giving the new paint something to adhere to.
For sure the oil based primer … don’t be afraid to spend the extra money for a higher quality brand.
From here I’m going to devolve from Isilder a bit … once the oil-based primer is dry you can fill in the hoiles and gaps with either putty or chalking … assuming the oil-based primer is sticking, I think your okay top coating it all with a water based latex.
Trying to apply latex (water based) paint over oil based paint can be tricky. It has a tendency to not stick. If that is the case then read the labels on the new paint to see if it is designed to be applied over oil based. Also, paint is not really designed to stick to wood, it is designed to stick to primer. I would use a good primer, perhaps Kiltz. As others have said, scuff up the wood with a scuff pad before applying.
I’m going to give you the best answer. Buy new doors, baseboards, and whatever you can. Just replace it. Sanding down a door will probably take longer than putting up a new one. Messier too. And there’s no guarantee that sanding will even work. Use the scorched earth policy of getting rid of the bad wood. You’ll probably save time and money.
Put some denatured alcohol on a rag and rub it on a spot on the woodwork’s original paint. If nothing comes off, you are working with oil paint. If it comes off, it’s water-based paint. Knowing this, you can pick the correct primer. Then go to the store and look at primers. Find a bonding primer for use over oil-based paint. Follow the instructions.
If the woodwork was done in a gloss, you might need to etch/scuff the surface by sanding. Primers are really good, so you may not have to.
I’m with Vicsage on this one. Unless your woodwork and doors are of a vintage pattern you can’t buy anymore, replace them. Scraping and sanding that much intricate woodwork will take a long, long time. Time is money. Not only that, days upon days of repetitive motion might be enough to permanently damage your hands.
You can rent a power miter saw and a nail gun for less than you might imagine. You don’t need to do that stuff by hand any more.
We would need to take into consideration the quality of the existing woodwork. We could replace it all on the cheap but that’s what you’d get … cheap.
Does the OP know how to hang a door … cope corners … install cabinets … re-case the windows?
We will still have to sand a little, and we can sand the stock length wood in the garage, which is much easier. We can also prime the stock lengths in the garage, another big time saver.
Replacing all the woodwork sounds like a project that starts out as a DIY, but ends up requiring an actual finish carpenter to come in and complete (after all the mistakes are corrected). “It’s the cheapskate who spends the most.”
Find out what the hell is on the wood. Is it wood? If it is real, dead-tree wood, you probably found someone who knows and loves real paints (I HATE LATEX) and you are messing with trying to put a coat of rubber over enamel.
In TX, I can imagine that oil-based paints are still common. Buy a pint, get some thinner (water does NOT work), prep well and test.
Thank you all for the advice. I should have mentioned that the original woodwork is all painted, not bare or stained. The original paint is in very good shape, but not in a color we are happy with.
I’m actually kind of liking the “replace” option. Replacing baseboards is not all that difficult or expensive. I already have a nail gun and a miter saw. Doors are not really a problem. They are easy to sand and prep. Molding and baseboards are a pain to sand in place. Painting would be easier if I didn’t have to do it in situ as well.
10 bucks says it’s oil paint. Find the right primer made for bonding oil-paint surfaces to latex paint. Follow the instructions, including sanding. Or paint with oil-based paint, if you can find it.
Ah … those painted surfaces will need to be scruffed up before another coat will stick … and that is a lot of tedious sanding … and dust everyplace.
No, replacing baseboard isn’t all that difficult … pull the hinge pins and the door will slip right on out and back in again, easy as pi, big long runs for sanding … windows will be a butt pain, but they always are either way. Sounds like fun … certainly nothing wrong with top coating the wood on the saw horses after you’ve sanded and primed.
Sharpen your miter saw blade … yeah … I know it’s a little on the dull side right now.
I actually manufacture my own baseboard. I keep an eye out for decent used wood or some better-than-utility units at the lumber store. Just build a jig and use a router to put fancy-pants designs on it. It’s time consuming but then I get to look at my baseboard as say “yup, I made that”.
My house is of a similar vintage, and while the pine colonial everything looks nice enough, it’s not exactly fancy and even the quality stuff isn’t terribly expensive. You mention you have nailers and miter saw, so it generally isn’t too hard and is definitely faster.