To my knowledge, there is no product for that job as described.

The only safe way to DIY removing the paint/etc. is to remove the molding and use a chemical stripper(the orange colored 'green' variety is fine). Even with lead based paint, stripping keeps the lead moist and much less dangerous(unless handles/eaten/etc.).

It should be possible to gently pry up both the 1/4round and the base molding without breaking any. Use a flat bar(available in three or four sizes at home improvement/hardware stores) and a flat putty knife(to use for the bar to pry against. Do not pry up/down, but sideways. That prevents breaking the 1/4round and the base molding.

I repeat - I WILL NOT be removing this under any circumstances.

So you're saying none of the gels or the stuff you peel off with the special paper will work?

And there's nothing I can use to strip the paint off the vertical surfaces of the built in cabinets either? That doesn't seem sensible. There are a lot of situations where you can't just remove the thing you need to strip. Say, all the uprights and trim and facing of the built in bookshelves also.

"I repeat - I WILL NOT be removing this under any circumstances."

And you are free to chose what you will or will not do,but still doesn't change what Mac told you. You can waste time and suffer sore knees and back removeing as much paint as you can or pull it off to clean it,repaint and reinstall much quicker. Best option might be to replace it depending on how dinged up it is.

Any kind of stripping in place other than dry scraping is going to impact the flooring. And dry scraping is no good with lead.

Heat or chemicals are both going to introduce the possibility that they spread beyond the baseboard and affect the flooring.

Encapsulating paint might be the best play here to limit the impacts on the flooring.

Casey

What is encapsulating paint?

I will NOT under any circumstances make any effort to pull that molding. It simply won't stand up to it and I don't have the tools. If you're telling me there is nothing to be done then it'll just stay the way it is.

Explain to us all why the peel-off stuff won't work, given that that is supposedly what it is marketed to do.

I also still have all the vertical surfaces of the cabinets and bookshelves to do as well.

In place stripping always leaves a border of old finish along junctions where two pieces meet. The only way to get the old finish out of that joint is with a sharp tool, which, if slipped, scars the wood.

I am in the process of redoing all the original base molding and door moldings in our 1965 built house. 8 years ago, when we bought it, I removed all that trim to paint. I put is back on much more securely than the builder. And am now removing it again to strip and refinish. Nothing is breaking(including 1/4 round). The only gotcha is filling the old nail holes and matching the lighter colors of the trim.

Basically, stripping the trim in place is doing the job halfway. Not being snotty, just factual.

Now, the other vertical pieces may have to be done in place---after removing any trim(which will allow complete stripping). The cross post you made had a good reply for that process.

Either way, it is your house, your job, and you can do it however you please. It is rather off-putting to yell at those of us who try to help.

If your house is 54 years old, I'm guessing we're talking clam shell molding on the floor? If so there's nothing special about that unlike what jnmedio's 1930 house has.

And if you're stripping it just to repaint, how much is your time and energy worth for what is basically cheap molding?

Frankly, I'd pull it off, head to HD and buy new molding and put the new molding on and paint it. It would be a heck of a lot less time consuming and probably cheaper than the cost of the strippers you want to use.

That or can you just flip it around and use the hidden side?

If I were going to attempt to strip paint from an attached baseboard I would:

1) Do a 3' test area in an out of the way spot (like a closet)

2) Use foil tape to create a seal between the floor and wall where the baseboard meets so stripper does not go where I do not want it to go.

3) Use Citri-Strip (available at HD).

4) Wait for paint to bubble up. Scrape off with plastic scraper, and/or sawdust.

5) Further scrub area with plastic 3M scour pad and odorless mineral spirits. And again with clean water.

6) After wood is dry, sand clean and smooth with a Festool inline duplex sander attached to a vacuum.

7) revel in a job well done, and assess how much work it will be to do the whole project.

Clamshell molding from 54 years ago is quite a bit nicer than the clamshell of today. Is it worth saving? In some cases, maybe it is. In this case?

"7) revel in a job well done, and assess how much work it will be to do the whole project."

Well stated.

Festool inline duplex sander nice, wish I could afford one

It will pay for itself quicker than you realize. And save your shoulder. It's a nice tool to have.

I have to laugh when people start talking about "what your time is worth".

Really? You work billable hours when you're at home? Because that's the only way that your time is worth more than doing for yourself. You have to actually have the capability to EARN the money before you can count it as a loss if you spend your time doing something else, LOL!

It is not clamshell molding. Now that we've closed and I'm in the house I have had a chance to examine it more closely. And yes, they are plaster walls so the chances of damaging the walls pulling it off are not worth the effort of doing so, nor is the molding of any sort of quality that would make it worthwhile to try to put it back on even if you COULD get it off without damaging the wall and/or the molding itself.

I strongly suspect - because the paint on the molding is not 57 years thick - that at some point the original molding was entirely removed and replaced with much cheaper stock. And there is quarter round placed all the way around along the bottom, so pulling THAT off will give me the space I need to tape down protective sheets to preserve the (visible portions) of the floor.

It appears that what has happened here is that they pulled off all the old molding in order to put down cheap pseudo-laminate (actually vinyl) flooring, and then stuck up this cheaper modern stuff. The rest of the house is tiled.

The vinyl flooring is in good shape, with only a couple of places where they screwed up installation (too much gap between a couple of pieces, one place where it has an odd bump). I wouldn't have used it, but replacing it would be totally unwarranted.

I didn't yell at anybody. What I did was reiterate the statement I originally made because whoever that was ignored the original parameters of the question. If you don't know, don't answer. Telling someone they have to do things YOUR way when they've already said they're not doing that (and why) is not exactly living life according to Miss Manners. If you want, consider it casting pearls before swine. I'm happy to be the swine in your made up scenario if that makes you happy, LOL!

I have ultimately decided I don't need to bother much with the molding other than to clean it up, given that it is MUCH newer and of much lower quality than I had thought. But I have a thing for old houses - preferably much older than this one - and I expect that my next move (which is dependent on my son's geographical location, when that is settled) will take me into an area where I am more likely to find something older and hopefully not already gutted.

So the useful information and ideas that have been listed here is being saved for future use. Plus, I can just bet that I'm not the only one who would ever use those ideas and techniques. Others can also glean useful ideas from the conversation.

BTW - I'm not sure I see why having paint in the cracks after stripping is a problem - unless you're planning to stain maybe. I was planning on repainting it. So it wouldn't have been a problem, plus I have a variety of sharp little tools from my days as a silversmith (past) and potter (present), so picking that out of there would only have been tedious, not impossible.

Oh yeah - no trim is coming down. There needs to be a better reason for removing trim than because you think it might be easier to strip it. Especially when you're talking about plaster walls and 57 year old pieces of trim, LOL! If I can strip the stiles on the bookshelves and cabinets in place, I can manage the trim as well. The only issue I had with the baseboards was keeping the stripper from melting the vinyl flooring. That's not even remotely an issue with the built in book case, thankfully. I really really really like that particular feature.

Thanks to everyone who paid attention and tried to be helpful. I still need some of these ideas for stripping the built-ins (cabinets and bookshelves) in place, because those aren't being dismantled either.

Thanks again.

-This is not directed at the OP-

BTW, for those reading this in the future, trim really and truly can be removed from plaster walls without damaging the trim or the plaster. IRL this happens all the time. Don't reject a technique out of hand that can make the job shorter and physically less demanding. Sitting on the floor stripping molding in front of you is not good if you have a bad back, etc.

Here is a link to lead encapsulating primer, which eliminates the need to strip if all you want to do is mitigate lead. https://www.dumondchemicals.com/home-lead-stop-mastic-and-encapsulation-products.html

Sure, it *can* be removed without causing damage. But it takes a gentle touch and full awareness.

Based on what I've seen in my own home, the previous home owners hammered. Literally hammered and trashed the walls where the trim is in multiple locations.

Especially the baseboard area. I've had to do a lot of plaster touch up, and full repair in these areas. Some of it pretty significant.

And these jerk-offs just hammered the nails that stuck in the wall, after pulling trim off, over on their side rather than pulling them out with a pair of pliers.

And for some unknown reason when my walls were done, the plasterers didn't put grounds everywhere there should be, which has exasperated the problem of reckless home improvement.

The citristrip is working nicely, thanks for that tip.

Upon even CLOSER inspection of the baseboard, it is not only not the original, it isn't even real wood. I swear if we weren't already 30% over budget I'd rip it out and replace ALL of it.

It's that cheap pressboard stuff - not sure what to call it. It's a fake molded "engineered wood product" that still has the original white layer (I won't call that stuff paint or even primer) on it. They never even painted it. I think the quarter round is also that cheap stuff that comes pre-whitened.

However the useful tips I got here are working for all the rest of the wood trim (that is actually wood, is original, and is worth deglopping to get a smooth finish when repainted).

Thanks again!

BTW - re "what your time is worth" - we have just about finished de-smokerifying the house. We have washed down all the walls and ceilings to get rid of nicotine and the smoke smell except in the kitchen and bath as those are slated for further renovations. We'll do them after that's done.

This took us about 10 days of mostly 4 to 6 hour work time. It SAVED us about $8,000 as opposed to paying someone else to do it.

$800 a for a 4-6 hour day sounds like darn good money to me.

Is the trim MDF? It's essentially the particle board of trim. When your budget allows, plan to have it replaced.

I've seen other trim for sale that is actual foam ( I believe) with a printed on wood grain. For illustrative purposes, it's covered in wood grain contact paper.