How to Refinish Wood Trim
Many homes have wood trim around the base or top of the walls. Although it is possible to have painted trim, usually trim is kept its natural color. Typically, wax and wood oil is used to maintain the look of the wood, so if you are looking at refinishing wood trim you may have to completely remove the current wax layer, or paint, and start from scratch. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Paint stripper
- Rubber gloves
- Sandpaper
- Scrapper/putty knife
- Sanding sealer
- Stain
- Paintbrush
- Rag
Instructions
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1
Pour paint stripper onto a clean rag and wipe it onto the wood trim. The stripper is used to remove the current varnish or paint of the wood. Make sure you wear protective gloves while using the product because it can damage and harm your skin.
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2
Leave the paint stripper on the wood trim for the designated time as stated on the back of the product label. The actual amount of time varies from product to product.
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3
Scrape off the varnish and paint with a putty knife or scrapper. Rub off the smaller areas of varnish with a steel wool pad. You may find that you need to reapply the paint stripper to certain areas of the wood trim.
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4
Sand down the wood trim to smooth it out. The wood is most likely a little rough after having the varnish and paint removed, so you need to smooth out the edges.
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5
Wash down the wood trim with a damp rag to clean off any bits of varnish, paint or dust you removed after scrapping and sanding.
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Paint on a heavy coat of sanding sealer. This product acts as a primer paint for the wood. Make sure the sanding sealer completely dries before proceeding.
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Apply the stain to the wood trim with a paint brush. With wood stains, the longer you allow the wood to soak up the stain, the darker the wood is going to get. When the wood has reached a color of stain you like, wipe off the excess with a rag. It is not necessary to use primer, though, and you can paint the wood trim instead. Paint the trim and allow it to dry. You may want to apply a second and third layer of paint.
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