Cedar Garage Doors

[EggRaid]

Hello,

We just bought a house and are preparing to have it repainted. While deciding on color, etc, we realized that the house would look spectacular if the wooden garage doors were natural and not painted at all.

The color and texture of the wood on the back of the doors is really nice. However, the front of the doors has about 4 coats of paint on them and are also much more porous with separations in the grain.

A friend mentioned to me that it would be near impossible to remove all of the paint from within those crevices and that he didn't think I could get the doors down to bare wood unless I removed the boards and actually used a lathe to take a layer of wood off.

I am curious as to what thoughts are regarding steps to remove the paint entirely from the doors. Should I belt sand them and then apply stripper? OR should I try to strip them first and go from there?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Best,

ER

[Michael Stoic]

Good decision on going natural with cedar!

I would first try a paint stripper in a small spot to see how it goes. Unless it dilutes the paint and lets is "stain" the wood - once you get to the bottom layer of paint, that is - with the paint residue, I would treat the entire surface. If some paint stays in the cracks, chances are it would begin to dilodge, by itself, after a few seasons. Paint in the cracks might also look pretty good, in that kind of way...

[Yawnkin Bhuorpnwiz]

spectacular if

Out of the sunlight

Well if you plan on sanding it use a pressure cleaner.

Some pussy christians graffitied my fence and I pressured cleaned a pressure treated fence. Cleaned up pretty good. A little rough on the edges so don't hold it that close, unless you want to get in crevices.

Death to christian pussy warriors.

[E5I5O]

I would checkout of all things This Old House, and pay close attention to the techniques that are used in stripping paint on the show! A lot of times they bring the wood back to an original look with strippers and pressure washers. Though I am not a huge fan of the show or even for that matter watch it has much, I know working with wood from past experiences there are things that can be done to get it back to the surface. Of course (by the way a lathe is used for turning wood so it is rounded) you may have to use a jointer, or a surface plainer to get the back to natural grain if they are really as "creviced" as you say they are. In all anything you do will be time consuming, comparatively to starting with new bare wood or just painting over the paint.

Sincerely, E5

[m Ransley]

They likely were left natural when the house was built but were painted as they were neglected and have water damage. You wont know unless you try stripping the bottom area but unless you Know wood you could waiste your time or cause more damage. Hire a pro for a test and an opinion. Be sure he Knows old wood . To do a garage door right could easily cost

2000, more than the cost of a new one.