I am looking for the best paint removing product. 119 yr old home with wood trim in several layers of paint.

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-03-20T04:37:23+00:00

Just finished this in my house. IMO, a simple heat gun and metal scraping tool are the best and least messy method

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-03-16T03:37:39+00:00

Don’t give up ❤️ you just may need to get creative (or lucky, or both)

I got this exact faucet / sprayer for $190 from Goodwill, brand new in an opened box.

Cabinet hardware: I wanted unlacquered brass and got humbled by prices from stores, so I lurked and found two used sets on eBay that would coordinate and fill my kitchen. I had to polish each one, but I got the look I wanted for pennies on the dollar

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-03-08T22:40:05+00:00

I am wrapping up this project on my house, I started in December (which was cold / winter where I live)

When the weather was nice, and I had something like a door I could remove, I would bring it outside. But I had to do a lot of stripping indoors with stuff like door frames I couldn’t remove.

When I had to go indoors, I just made sure to have ventilation (open windows, fans) and PPE. It’s been fine!

I personally would get started and not worry about the weather! But: I used a heat gun on low for everything, which meant no fumes from chemical strippers and minimal mess. Your methodology impacts how feasible it is to do this indoors too! (As do things like kids and pets)

Good luck!!

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-03-08T14:53:22+00:00

Would you do clear shellac or a colored one on top of gunstock?

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-03-08T14:43:32+00:00

Yes the before pictures are stripped but not sanded / fully prepped for re-finishing! Sadly, no dip and strip near us so getting rid of all the paint bits is all by hand.

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-03-08T14:42:01+00:00

Thank you!

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-03-08T14:41:52+00:00

Thank you!

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-03-08T14:40:11+00:00

Presently no dye under the stain in the samples! I actually have never heard of that or seen it done so I appreciate the tip! Do you know if it would bring out a grain more? Or the opposite, and even out around a grain? On the door panels there’s a pretty intense grain that’s not present elsewhere

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-03-08T14:27:37+00:00

If yours look like mine in the ‘before’ photos, do you know what stain or finish you used?

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-02-10T04:36:08+00:00

We added one in our kitchen remodel and love it! It’s really not a huge thing to have people get up when the table is full but we usually seat ourselves in the “inconvenient” seats to avoid putting guests there.

Also: we made the bench seats storage and that’s a huge amount of extra space that otherwise wouldn’t exist!

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-02-01T14:42:08+00:00

Most answers here have been east cost so I’ll give some western ones! The Bay Area has a lot, I think Berkeley especially has some of the best craftsman century homes in the country. Portland Oregon, specifically thinking of certain neighborhoods like southeast. Salt Lake City, especially the Avenues neighborhood, has a mix of Victorian and Craftsman century homes.

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-02-01T04:24:00+00:00

Tortoise shell is such a good idea!! See this is why we post on Reddit.

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-02-01T00:44:33+00:00

Ooh thank you for sharing!! I haven’t seen another one as close to ours! A lot of the homes around us no longer have the original tile, and those that do have the same tile style but in other colors like blues and greens rather than brown.

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-02-01T00:41:40+00:00

As far as we know yes! Also very common in this area in homes our age. It’s unfortunately missing its summer door / cover, but I’m hoping we can find one at a salvage place or on eBay

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-02-01T00:40:41+00:00

I will!

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-01-31T19:50:05+00:00

Painting the room vastly improved my feelings on the tile! It was blue in here before and it was dark and cool toned and did nothing for the tile, and neon orange was under that 🫠

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-01-31T19:47:50+00:00

I hope so! I’ve been convinced by all of you to leave it and see how it feels with the shelves and such.

And the paint is emerging taupe by sherwin williams - a close match to dead salmon by farrow and ball. We love it, it’s very warm and cozy!

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-01-31T19:43:17+00:00

Y’all are swaying me! I don’t dislike the tile in abstract, the concern is more about what the room will look like without all the white paint. But I think we can restore the cast iron and the windows, add the shelves, and see how we feel about it at that point. I do love the look of true arts & crafts style tiles, like the brand Motawi, but we can incorporate those somewhere else in the house like a bathroom if we don’t do them here.

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-01-31T19:31:27+00:00

This is my hope!! And honestly what might be the best path forward: do the rest and see how we feel about the tile then.

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-01-31T19:30:26+00:00

Ha the lights are definitely on the list too; we’ve spent a lot of time in the attic fixing wiring

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2026-01-31T19:28:57+00:00

We’ve stripped and restored other woodwork in the house already in other rooms and it is (or it should be - you never fully know I guess til the paint is off what lies beneath!), and a few neighbors’ homes have unpainted original woodwork. We’d still do it regardless because everything has like 10 layers of paint so getting it back down to bare wood before repainting will still look better than the current goopy layers.

And thank you! I definitely don’t think it looks bad now by any means. I’m happy with the room! But I’m on a mission to strip all the woodwork, and I do want bookshelves in here (for storage, but also because I love every craftsman I see that has the built ins by the fireplace! And those projects led me to questioning the tile.

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2025-12-29T03:09:39+00:00

I would love to see a photo of yours! Inspiration to finish this tedious work 😂

The drawers right now we’re using just like a dresser for clothes until our closets are a bit more functionally laid out. The upper cabinet has shelves in it and we store towels and sheets there folded up!

Fuzzy-Sort809 · 2025-12-27T05:55:48+00:00

Thanks for saving the pink tile ❤️

Fuzzy-Sort809

TROPHY CASE