I just bought a home that was built in 1910. The front door has windows above the door and along the side of the door. The entry way is hard wood floors. But around the window and the door has been painted white. The question is, could I remove the white paint and bring back a more natural wood color to this area to go with the hard wood floors? If so what would I need to get started on this project?

You'll need a semi-paste stripper, putty knives, scrapers, brushes, rags (lot's of rags!) and newspapers, dropcloths, etc. PROTECT YOUR HARDWOOD FLOORS FROM DRIPS!! Apply the stripper per manufacturer's directions. Scrape with the grain of the wood. Make sure you remove all of the stripper (I like to do a final wipe down with mineral spirits, or, if it's a shellac finish, denatured alcohol). Take your time. Also, PROTECT YOUR HARDWOOD FLOORS FROM DRIPS!! Come back if you need any more detail or have any other questions.

Thank you for the information, this will be able to get me started.

You have my sympathies - I mean congratulations on your historic home! We bought a circa 1900 home and the best day of my life was the day we sold it.

There are strippers you can find that are green friendly and aren't so strong fume wise, too. I found that the gel one worked well when I put it on thin, then layered cling wrap over it and let it sit for longer than the instructions say. If you are dealing with ancient paint (or paint with lead) - it is going to take longer for the solvent to work. A heat stripper is also handy and does big flat areas quickly.

Have fun!

I think you'll ned a good game plan on this as depending on which way the sun comes in, that wood maybe be pretty sun-damaged or rotted form condensation or whatever.
So the paint was a cheap way to cover up whatever damage, and there may be none at all, there might be.
So I think you might want to start on a small area before doing large area stripping as you might be slapping on more white paint to match or??

To rate if helpful. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by 1sillivan

I just bought a home that was built in 1910. The front door has windows above the door and along the side of the door. The entry way is hard wood floors. But around the window and the door has been painted white. The question is, could I remove the white paint and bring back a more natural wood color to this area to go with the hard wood floors? If so what would I need to get started on this project?

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