How to Remove Old Woodwork | |
Painted or stained, wood casing, and trim and moldings give a room warmth and charm. While it's a time-consuming task, it's well worth the effort to salvage these old pieces and reinstall them after remodeling is completed. Aesthetically, the wood trim enhances a room. And practically speaking, it saves the sizable cost of replacing old trim with new, which, in most cases, you can't match. We are in the midst of renovating the second floor of our house, which has eight windows and seven doors. Each door and window casing is a gracefully curved 5-inch wide, 1 1/4 thick piece of wood. By salvaging this material, we'll have consistent moldings throughout the house. Here's a few tips we've gleaned from the operation: 1. Dress for the occasion. As you remove a section of wood trim, its backside is spiked with sharp protruding nail tips. The wood is dry and brittle and might splinter so you need protection. Wear old clothing, long-sleeved shirts and heavy pants, work gloves, heavy soled shoes, and safety goggles to protect your eyes. 2. Protect the area where you're working. Lay down a canvas drop cloth or an old heavy blanket on the floor where you're working. Spread it out about 4 feet into the room to protect the floor from wood splinters and nails. You'll need two drop cloths for a doorway to protect the two rooms or areas that the doorway serves. 3. Be Prepared. Have on hand a prybar (also called a Wonder bar), hacksaw, hammer, pliers, wide-blade putty knife, nail set, wire brush, marking pen, small thin sponge, a set of work horses, string, and scissors. A word about how the casing or trim is installed will help you understand how to remove it. Look at the top of a door or window and see how the two side casings meet the top header trim that spans the width of the opening. They are usually connected by a mitered joint, which means pieces are cut at a 45 degree angle where they meet. A nail driven into the edge of one of the casings holds the joint together. There is also a row of small nails along the casing's inside edge, holding it to the door or window and larger nails along the outside edge securing it to the wall framing. Sometimes the horizontal and vertical casings meet at decorative blocks. In this case, you don't have to worry about a mitered joint. Often the mitered joint is clearly visible because over the years (and subsequent paint jobs) the seam opens and expands. If there's no visible joint, run an imaginary line from the inside corner of the trim to the outside corner. That straight line is where the mitered joint is. Use the hacksaw (with a new blade) to cut through and sever the nail that holds them together. Then begin working from the wall side or outside of the trim with the putty knife. Gently slide it under the molding, working it along the wall to break the paint. You can also find where the casing nails are placed, because the putty knife will hit the outer set of nails as you move along. When the joint is open along the entire length of trim, slide the putty knife close to a nail and slip the pry bar between the putty knife the trim. Tap the end of the pry bar to gently drive it under the molding. Move to the next nail. When you reach the other end, begin prying up with the bar. The idea is to work the molding loose in small moves evenly along its entire length. Don't try to pry one end off because you may crack the wood, damaging it. As you remove each piece, carefully label the backside of the trim with a marker so you know where to reinstall it. For a window, identify its "left" or "right" side as you face. On a door that has two finished sides, note your marking on its top or bottom edge. Be specific and label a door "bathroom door/hall" or "front bedroom closet door/interior." Cleaning lumber means removing all nails, hardware, locks, etc. from it, which is the next phase of the job. One way is to hammer the nail out from the backside of the trim. Place a trim piece face side down (and back side up) across two sturdy work horses. Hammer the tips of each nail down or through the wood. Then turn the piece over and use the claw end of the hammer to extract the nail. Use a small sponge or rag to cushion the prying process so the face (front) of the wood isn't damaged. For best leverage, position the piece so the nail you're working on is near the cross bar of the work horse. Another way is to use a nail set to drive the nail completely through the wood, which prevents the wood from splitting on its face side; instead, it splits on its backside, which isn't visible. Position the trim on a work horse and put a nail set on a nail head and hammer away driving it completely through the back side. Use a pliers to pull out broken-off nail heads or difficult to extract hardware and a wire brush to remove old caulk and gummed up dirt that has accumulated. With a heavy twine, tie all the pieces for a window or door together, making certain that their ID is clearly visible. written by the editors of HouseNet Copyright HouseNet, Inc. |