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Latex over Oil HELP

11 years ago

Oh, my goodness, I have a huge mess on my hands. I'm in the process of trying to remove latex that was painting over oil based paint (by the previous owners). The oil was not prepared first and the latex easily chips and peels off. I've worked for three days on the trim and baseboards in my daughter's room and I'm almost in tears. I have sanding dust everywhere and a pile of goo where I tried to use that orange stripper on a piece of door trim. I've sent my kids to my parent's house as there is too much dust for my asthma child. Any advice on how to get this removed a little more easily? Scraping doesn't get all of it. I've resorted to using a detail sander as it does a pretty good job, but it's slow process. I have a whole house of this mess to remove.

I hope someone out there has a magic solution to share!

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Comments (8)

graywings123
11 years ago
It might be easier to remove and replace the trim and baseboards than to strip them.
bleigh
Original Author
11 years ago
I was so trying to avoid that...but, I decided just a few minutes ago while showering off two tons of paint dust that I'm going to at least check into replacing the door trim. All those grooves (insert a large pair of googly eyes). I can handle the baseboards, but that door trim!!!! Ugh, I'm going to take some ibuprofin and have beer.
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Nancy, I know that when you paint over oil, even with more oil, you need to clean thoroughly with TSP and water, rinse it off, and either sand to rough up the surface, or use a deglosser. Then, I've read that if you're covering with latex, use an oil-based primer like original Kilz first. Use good ventilation with that stuff. I'm not an expert on this so I can't say that an acrylic primer wouldn't work, but the Kilz seems to be recommended more. If the acrylic primer specifically says that it can be used over oil, it probably would be OK. Hope the latex comes off easily for you. ThinMan
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"lovely peeling latex paint" Bad prep work. Latex cab go over oil but you need very good prep work. A bonding primer can help, but only if the oil paint is CLEAN. TSP or spic-and-span clean. Oil over latex is a really bad idea. The oil film is much harder than a latex film, and it WILL crack and crackle. They way you obtain a crackle finish is by putting a harder finish over a softer one. It really matters what order the paints are applied. Luckily latex, (even acrylic) paints are softer than alkyd (oil) paints once cured.
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Sorry! I should've stated that better! You can topcoat most primers in 2-3 hrs. Dont' leave a primer unpainted for more than a month. They get too dried-out and brittle. I should've said... >>> Once the primer and paint are applied, the adhesion process of all coats takes a while! You don't need to sand out ALL the gloss. * Just a moderate "dulling" of the existing sheen. * It's subjective...but I'd keep sanding if I could easily see a reflection. * I'd maybe drop down to 100-grit for the 1st pass. Then, a quick 2nd-pass with ~150-grit. * If you're near a C2 dealer, the C2-SAP (Sandable-Acrylic-Primer) is great for this kinda work. This is neat for REAL fussy applications. After priming, this primer sands nicely for extra-smooth topcoats. Faron
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I have also gotten conflicting advice, similar to what you have heard. I'm no expert, but I'll tell you what I ended up doing which seemed to work out pretty well, at least so far. We bought a ~100 year old home six months ago that we're just getting around to painting now, after rewiring. Most of the trim is painted with what seems to be a high gloss oil-based paint, and a much of it (especially doors and baseboards) is quite dirty. The only trim I've painted over so far is a few doors, but I'll be starting on the rest of the trim in a couple weeks. For the doors, I scraped off just whatever bits were already flaking off, then washed them really well, and then used "liquid sandpaper". If your trim is glossy you may want to use liquid sandpaper to remove the gloss. It's not a paint stripper, so you won't be left with messy globs of dissolved paint. It just removes some of the sheen so that the new layers bond to it better. Then I primed with an oil-based primer. I have used both latex and oil primers in a previous home, and the oil primers always seem to bond better. Then painted with Regal Select Semi Gloss. I haven't tried Natura, but I might... Anyway, I would recommend liquid sandpaper rather than sanding as long as the old paint is basically well-bonded to the trim, then oil-based primer, than latex paint. I'm curious what suggestions other people have..
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PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
11 years ago
and have beer.

Way back in the old days, I found Mr. Daniels to be a great help, or so I thought.
graywings123
11 years ago
You can get good advice on paint removal from the Old House forum.

Are you trying to strip down to bare wood? Could you just take off the latex paint with something like Goof Off and leave the oil paint as a base?

I feel your pain. I have done some window frame and sash paint removal and currently am working on the front porch. I'm using a heat gun and and scrapers. I have tried the chemical strippers, but you still have to get the gunk out of the nooks and crannies.
bleigh
Original Author
11 years ago
I just want to get the latex off and leave the oil. I'll give Goof Off a try...can't hurt. I've tried the heat gun and it's really slow. Also bubbled up some of wall paint too. The chemical strippers are not going to happen inside. That one section with the orange stripper is enough for me to not want to do any more.

So sorry you're having to do this too. It is hard work and I have tons of sympathy for anyone having to go through this tedious process.
bleigh
Original Author
11 years ago
Just wanted to say that Goof Off does help quite a bit especially in the grooves. Thanks for the suggestion!
Jumpilotmdm
11 years ago
Also maybe try Peel-Away, a stripping product that you can use inside.
open the windows while you're using goof off.
nap101
11 years ago
I've been working on my door frames and windows for months and just tried this. Amazing! Love the fact that it only removes the latex. I was using other methods that removed everything and I don't need that. Now to figure out how to do it to the entire house without becoming toxic from the fumes.

There should be a special place in hell for people that do this prior to selling their house. I guess that's a bit dramatic but if you've dealt with it I'm sure you can relate.

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