Black paint removal from oak beams advice please

[Tiny01]

Hi all

First post so please be gentle , we’ve recently moved to a 1600’s period cottage where all the lovely beams have been painted with what looks like black gloss paint !

I’d like to tackle the removal of the said paint myself if I can even if it takes me an age to do , please has anyone any recommendations / Suggestions for removing the horrid paint please ?

 

[a twig]

Fortunately you aren’t the first of this parish to face this task.

Unfortunately there are few answers that don’t involve a lot of effort - a good “starter for 10” thread here:

Wood beam restoration

Hi All, First post, so Hi everyone. I have a house built in approx 1600 with heavily painted wooden beams, old brick flooring that has been abused with floor paint and bitumen type adhesive and a stone inglenook also painted black. I am looking to have these areas cleaned by a calcium...

www.periodproperty.co.uk

If you have a search back through the forum there are a few similar threads - generally warning of the perils of blasting

 

[Cubist]

Hopefully theres none outdoors too?

First thing to remember is not to be tempted to use any form of media blasting as it can do incredible damage to the old timbers as well as the surrounding plasterwork. Given that much of the timber appears to be rough sawn a multi stage removal will probably be necessary using a chemical paint stripper. The article Twig just pointed you to has a lot of good advice but be ready - it's a long, dirty and sometimes unpleasant and unhealthy job and may produce some nasty surprises. Hopefully, the latter will be small and easy to remedy. Good luck.

Oh, assuming the timber frame is exposed outdoors keep an eye out for damp patches on the interior timbers as this will point you to essential repairs to the caulking around the infill panels.

 

[Tiny01]

Thanks I’ll have a read of that , no certainly don’t want to go down the blasting route I’ve seen the mess / chaos that causes whilst working on site

 

[Tiny01]

Hopefully theres none outdoors too?

First thing to remember is not to be tempted to use any form of media blasting as it can do incredible damage to the old timbers as well as the surrounding plasterwork. Given that much of the timber appears to be rough sawn a multi stage removal will probably be necessary using a chemical paint stripper. The article Twig just pointed you to has a lot of good advice but be ready - it's a long, dirty and sometimes unpleasant and unhealthy job and may produce some nasty surprises. Hopefully, the latter will be small and easy to remedy. Good luck.

Oh, assuming the timber frame is exposed outdoors keep an eye out for damp patches on the interior timbers as this will point you to essential repairs to the caulking around the infill panels.

No only internal to try and sort

 

[Tiny01]

So after an hour or so researching I’m leaning towards having a go with King Strip product , anyone tried this method ?

 

[Cubist]

I'm pleased say.... not me. I can advise on the elbow grease component though. It hurts, is uncomfortable, frustrating but not something that can be avoided. A few of the regulars here have some experience of the various paint strippers and, if memory serves, King Strip among them. Hopefully one of them will be along shortly to comment. In the meantime, cheers and good luck.

 

[noj]

I've used klingstrip throughout with great success. It is messy and tedious work if your timbers are rough and worm eaten, weeks of picking bits out once the majority is done...

A couple of tips:
When you peel it off spend a lot of time gently scraping the residue before the scrubbing brush, sponge and lots of hot water stage. It makes the process vastly less messy and requires less water.
Cover all surrounding surfaces because painty, caustic water does tend to fly around if you scrub enthusiastically. The 'roll and stroll' type stuff on the floors and something suitable taped to the wall and ceiling.
Collect plenty of old cardboard boxes - flattened out they are extremely absorbent under where you're working. Replace once they're soggy.
Have old towels, rags etc to hand.
Do wear PPE all times. Being somewhat shiny on top I needed a cap too. Heavier duty rubber gloves are much better than the standard marigolds or disposables. I did find a cheap face shield (during COVID) which was more effective than normal safety goggles and after a couple of hours scrubbing the state of the shield showed how much hadn't hit my face!
Try to remember to remove your gloves before adjusting face protection - I always end up with little caustic burns in front of each ear...

Good luck

And if you end up oiling the wood afterwards then let dry fully first ( months rather than days/weeks) or it may grow mildew. Mine did where I rushed it

 

[Itchinfilth]

So after an hour or so researching I’m leaning towards having a go with King Strip product , anyone tried this method ?

For me it worked great on getting the layers of paint from the wood (similar age to yours). I found it hard to get the residue fully off and the timbers cleaned even after multiple cleans and getting it out of crevices was quite time consuming.

I've seen walnut shell used as blasting material recently on a friends house and it did a good job. It's softer apparently than the typical media.

 

[Cubist]

I've seen walnut shell used as blasting material recently on a friends house and it did a good job. It's softer apparently than the typical media.

Aw, come on 'thats nuts!'

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Nevertheless, if the media material is hard enough to pulverise the paint its certainly hard enough to strip out all the softer tissue of the timber and gouge the surrounding plasterwork.

 

[Itchinfilth]

Aw, come on 'thats nuts!'

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Nevertheless, if the media material is hard enough to pulverise the paint its certainly hard enough to strip out all the softer tissue of the timber and gouge the surrounding plasterwork.

Not something I'd personally risk having done. Some rooms of ours were blasted by a previous owner and the timbers aren't prettiest now where there were clear signs of historic damage. Yet in other areas where the timbers look to have less historic damage the finish is pretty good if not a little light for my taste.

 

[Kearn]

To play devils advocate, nothing is ever as binary as ‘sandblasting is bad, don’t do it’.

There are some good folks out there with the experience, skill and motivation to do a fantastic delicate job which doesn’t turn timbers to coral. I know as I’ve worked with one over a week to internally clean our frame. He is of course a bit of a rarity, but he can be found advising and working for Heritage England on Grade 1 buildings and ornate carvings, but also lecturing at he Wealden Downland Museum, which is how I got my intro to him. I was fortunate as the coating was dry, brittle and surface applied, so didn’t put up much fight.

Our timber surfaces are unnoticeably different, although I concede a touch of the timber can come away with the paint. We’ve uncovered countless apotriatic marks, scribes and burns throughout that were hidden, and I’ve been looking hard and not spotted them. That’s what his passion is, to uncover these historic markings. Taper burns retain their charred surface finish. Smoke blackening and soot deposits are now visible, not removed.

The medium isn’t really the bit that matters, we used kiln dried plastering sand, but the kit was proprietary. Many folks harp on about the latest new sounding stuff to shove into the funnel.
The accuracy is impressive, adjoining panels weren’t damaged.

Yes, it’s a mess, and there’s no hiding from that. Do it on a site that’s 6months in though, and once blasted out with the compressor and swept/vacuumed we hadn’t been so clean! I’d be less keen living though it, more due to the few days it takes for airborne particles to settle.

Definitely ignore dry ice, as that’s an expensive con - it’s not dry as they almost always introduce a bit of water into the mix, which is a terrible thing to do to the timber but also negates the miracle claims of the carrier just vaporising and leaving the paint residue.

On old timbers, I just can’t see how the seven full days we spent could be achieved in a sane lifetime by hand. We would certainly not have found some of the finer scribed details or got all the muck out of the myriad of cracks and crevices.

Depending on your surface coating(s) and therefore the type of chemical softener(s) required, you may have to do more than one application and likely will need to rinse off after to neutralise the chems.

I do appreciate fully that this chap is in the very small minority, and I searched hard before pressing go, having lived with the product of an oaf with a blasting machine damaging our old house before we bought it.

You do only get one shot at this process, so it has to be done right.

 

[carozd]

To play devils advocate, nothing is ever as binary as ‘sandblasting is bad, don’t do it’.

There are some good folks out there with the experience, skill and motivation to do a fantastic delicate job which doesn’t turn timbers to coral. I know as I’ve worked with one over a week to internally clean our frame. He is of course a bit of a rarity, but he can be found advising and working for Heritage England on Grade 1 buildings and ornate carvings, but also lecturing at he Wealden Downland Museum, which is how I got my intro to him. I was fortunate as the coating was dry, brittle and surface applied, so didn’t put up much fight.

Our timber surfaces are unnoticeably different, although I concede a touch of the timber can come away with the paint. We’ve uncovered countless apotriatic marks, scribes and burns throughout that were hidden, and I’ve been looking hard and not spotted them. That’s what his passion is, to uncover these historic markings. Taper burns retain their charred surface finish. Smoke blackening and soot deposits are now visible, not removed.

The medium isn’t really the bit that matters, we used kiln dried plastering sand, but the kit was proprietary. Many folks harp on about the latest new sounding stuff to shove into the funnel.
The accuracy is impressive, adjoining panels weren’t damaged.

Yes, it’s a mess, and there’s no hiding from that. Do it on a site that’s 6months in though, and once blasted out with the compressor and swept/vacuumed we hadn’t been so clean! I’d be less keen living though it, more due to the few days it takes for airborne particles to settle.

Definitely ignore dry ice, as that’s an expensive con - it’s not dry as they almost always introduce a bit of water into the mix, which is a terrible thing to do to the timber but also negates the miracle claims of the carrier just vaporising and leaving the paint residue.

On old timbers, I just can’t see how the seven full days we spent could be achieved in a sane lifetime by hand. We would certainly not have found some of the finer scribed details or got all the muck out of the myriad of cracks and crevices.

Depending on your surface coating(s) and therefore the type of chemical softener(s) required, you may have to do more than one application and likely will need to rinse off after to neutralise the chems.

I do appreciate fully that this chap is in the very small minority, and I searched hard before pressing go, having lived with the product of an oaf with a blasting machine damaging our old house before we bought it.

You do only get one shot at this process, so it has to be done right.

would you be happy to share his contact by direct message? Thanks

 

[Kearn]

would you be happy to share his contact by direct message? Thanks

Dave at https://www.sandpiper-restoration.co.uk

His website doesn’t do him justice, but his portfolio, experience and passion for conserving old buildings does. He came to us via one of our structural carpenters who has just completed his MSc in Timber Frame Conservation at the Wealdon Down Museum, Dave lectures there on the courses …

He’s based down in Hampshire, but has worked everywhere … a very decent chap, bloody great at what he does, passionate for conservation and very conscientious and nice to have around. If you get in touch, let him know that Kearn in Keevil recommended him.

 

[carozd]

Thank you very much