Norminn wrote:
Mikepier wrote:

I went to a paint store today and they recommend "Rock Miracle" paint
and varnish remover. It looks like I will spend a Sat or Sun stripping
the door outside.
I was going to get a steel or fiberglass door from Lowes or HD and
just replace the entire door, but there is nothing wrong structurally
with my existing door, it just needs to be redone. It is a nice door
and I hope to bring it back to life.


I've done lots of furniture stripping, and Strypeeze (not water base) is
my favorite. It is messy
work and a strong chemical. I would definitely not use water on a wood
door, particularly a
panel door. Water very likely would loosen and/or warp pieces - a panel
door has lots of end grain
exposed and that sucks up water more quickly.

Hi Norminn.

I have have been doing it for decades (I am early fifties) and have
never had a problem. Your reaction though is similar to most on first
thought. When you think about it a little deeper, the wood is exposed to
water/moisture for less time than if I painted it using a water based
paint and allowed it to dry naturally. I always use an oil, usually teak
oil, liberally as soon as I finish water blasting and dry without high
heat. As I say, never a problem, not even on fine furniture. If I am
stripping ornate furniture, carved etc., I add white spirit and Flaxseed
(Linseed) oil to the water in the water blaster. The finished timber has
water beading on it.

To warp or split wood needs to have a fairly long exposure, not just a
few minutes. Perhaps the fact that I am a sailor, having spent a lot of
my life on various sailing vessels, many of them wooden, gives me a
different attitude to good hardwood and water. The English Navy
conquered the world in ships made primarily of oak and they were not
protected by modern finishes, they were usually just well seasoned
timber and pitch for caulking.

It may also have
water-soluble glue. For a varnished door, two applications of stripper
would likely be all that is needed, followed by scraping (carefully),
wipe with steel wool and final wipe-down
wth fine steel wool and mineral spirits. Semi-paste stripper has wax
added as a thickener, so you
want to be sure to clean it off completely. Taking the door down and
laying it flat probably a good
idea. If there are darkened or discolored portions from sun exposure,
those should be sanded.
Stripper takes most of the old stain, and a clear finish on most oak
yields a pretty, medium brown.

To each his own, this has always worked for me, it gets into every
little crevice without scraping or damaging the work. As I mentioned in
the earlier post, this is not always effective for softwoods, I used it
for well seasoned hardwood only.

Regards

Mack