Question about old, chipped paint...

[ChapterTwo]

I am not quite up to this job yet, but I have a question about the doors/trim inside my house. It's an old house (Twenties) and it obviously had a lot of paint jobs.

Much of the woodwork has cracks (where the old paint peeks through, so I guess maybe somebody used latex over oil paint), chips and bubbly paint (which I can pop and then I have a chip!), showing a thickness of many coats of paint.

I will knock out the bubbly loose paint, and I already bought the modern version of a sanding block and sanding sponges...but I am wondering if I can use some sort of spackle or wood putty (even though it's not down to the bare wood) to build up the parts where the chips/cracks are. Or is there some other product I should think about?

Even if I sanded it down so the edges of the chips are even, once I paint, it's going to be obvious that I painted over chips. This is the case for most of the doors and a lot of the woodwork.

The joke of it is sometimes we WANT the crackly finish...but this time, I don't!

Any help you can offer would be sincerely appreciated. At this point, I'm soooo tired of painting and working on this house. (Where's Mike Holmes when you need him? ;)) I want to get to the decorating part! :o Tnx!

[yarborough house]

First off becareful as you know somewhere under all that is lead paint. The guy in our house actually took allmost all the molding off and had a man dip it to strip it of all stuff..but I wouldn't go to that extreme.

What we use here in the old house area- to patch holes in doors and dings and such- is bondo..yeap good old car bondo. It works like a charm and dries rock hard so it doesnt' chip..

I'd get some of that and then put it on and smooth it out. Once dry just sand it smooth.

[chyna]

I have heard of a product at Lowes that you spray on and it smooths out the cracks. You then paint over it, supposedly you don't notice a thing. I have yet to try it though. As for sanding that paint, sanding is a bad idea is you have lead paint. You will be releasing the lead into the air and onto all the surfaces. From what I've been told you have two choices. Leave it be or strip it down. I do think you could do the filler.

[ChapterTwo]

Thanks, chyna...I'll check that out at Lowe's. Some of the chips are about 1-1/2" square...some are down in a fairly straight line, and are maybe a 1/4"...then there are the thin (and long and NUMEROUS) cracks, similar to what you get with crackle paint...only I'm not going for that look! :o

I know sanding is a bad option due to the old lead paint, but I can't just leave it as is since 75% of the woodwork in the house is that way. And I sure can't afford to replace it. :(

[Heather]

Hey C2, I just use drywall compound to patch up holes. Make sure the area is sanded so it can adhere and then when the mud is dry, sand more. I've used that on walls and trim, on my old wood doors too. You're painting over it, right?

[ChapterTwo]

Yup, I'm painting over it, Heather. I can't sand 'til I get whatever compound on there, on there...due to the lead paint underneath. I'm just trying to get whatever loose stuff there is, OFF.

I took pics of the chips, but can't find the wire to connect my camera to my computer...so I'll probably post the pics after I have the woodwork fixed...about 2 years from now. Ha! :o

[CohenCottage]

One of my friends used the heated paint remover thing to remove
Lead paint at her house. It was pretty neat. You just run the heating
Element over the wood, and the paint peeled right off in big strips.
Has anyone else used something like this?

[fencesllove]

I think sanding is a bad option due to the old lead paint.

[chyna]

I have not used the infrared heat gun/pad but have heard that it works quite well. Just watch the heat on them, if too hot you will overheat and release lead into the air. I know, there is always a drawback. :rolleyes: