As far as I can tell it’s likely oak. My front doors, the staircase bannister, and living room trim are all oak, so I’d guess the rest is as well. It does appear to be the original wood (unlike my kitchen trim, which unfortunately was remodeled prior to me buying the house and I can tell that it’s just cheap wood meant to be painted).

Fingers crossed that they didn’t remove the shellac. By the looks up the upstairs rooms, there’s a serious amount of paint layers, and you can see that paint chips and scratches were painted over in many different layers of paint. So they clearly didn’t care about sanding at least in the last several coats.

It really looks awful, if I can’t get it off easily, I may end up just sanding everything down and at least make it look like it’s painted nicely. I’ll look into where I can find a heat gun. Thanks!

yes its all oak. usually was. a heat gun will work, or grab a gallon bottle of SoyGel stripper.

it has no odor and clean up is done with water. (the other strippers are horrible to use inside). Remember,,any stripper is only good for one layer at a time. you have to let it sit for 30-60 mins in order to eat through each layer. once you scrape off the first layer, apply another round to work on the second layer, and so on. Get those plastic sheets to put down. scraping this stuff off is a big mess.

Sanding off layers of paint will only gum up you sanding pads, release paint particles into the air (is it lead paint??) and possible ruin the underlying wood by removing the stain. so no sander. heat gun or the SoyGel. yes, it's a lot of work. But it's the only way. or hire someone.

Huge job but even if you wanted to paint it again it will need stripping. I would start with just one thing at a time instead of undertaking the whole place at once just keep from being totally overwhelmed.

Misty, hope youll check in periodicially w/ your progress (and pics). Sometimes its a multi-stage thing - ie getting off the topmost layers with heatgun (since there are so many) and then doing a stripper to do final clean up of the dribs and drabs. Ive not ]used the soygel myself but sounds pretty good. Actually if you find most of the paint comes off w/ heatgun you could use steel wool + denatured alcohol to scrub off the shellac and that would also get the remaining dribs and drabs of paint left behind. Fun times! Definitely - one room at a time, as stated above. I dont do actual meditation but sometimes this kind of work can be that - a relaxing focus of attention ... that eventually pays off in a completed project. Good luck!

Scrape off an area where you can test all five layers of paint for lead. Test kits are about $10 at any hardware store. If you find lead paint, you'll need to use a safe method of removing it.

I lived in a 1925 craftsman and it had been painted so many times it was impossible to strip and have it look good, so I wish you good luck. It is very likely that there is lead paint under all of those layers so do some research about the best way to remove it and if you have kids, I'd leave it there. The cognitive harm lead paint does to adults is not as bad as the harm it does to children. Be careful or get a pro.

I would imagine there is lead paint in there somewhere, given the age of the house. I should get a kit to test as I go along.

As far as the Soy Gel goes, I seem to be finding this version most often in my searches online. Is this the same stuff? It claims to be good for lead paint, and it also says that it removes multiple layers at the same time. So maybe it's different or not as good to use as the one Beth H showed. I wouldn't want it to take off too much somehow and ruin the wood underneath.

Thanks for everyone's help, I really know nothing about this kind of thing, but I'm trying to learn as much as I can as I take on new projects. I'll be sure to give an update or two on here as well.

You need to identify the wood used. If it is gum wood, I would leave it painted.

How can you identify what kind of wood it is while it's painted? Do you mean after stripping the paint, you would recommend repainting? I'm not familiar with gum wood and don't know what is wrong with it.

You'll want to use the heat gun method. As Current Resident described, it 's not a job for the faint of heart. Definitely research the issues of dealing with lead paint and get a good respirator to wear while you're using the heat gun. It makes some fumes that are not the healthiest to breathe. Try it out on a small section of baseboard and see what you've got underneath. If it's not a quality wood, you can repaint it, along with a proper paint job on the rest of the painted trim.

yes Misty,,,Blue Bear/Franmar SoyGel are the same. That's great if it removes multiple layers in one application. I've only used it on 1 or 2 layers at a time. the stuff is great. It costs more, but worth it. you don't even have to wear gloves. (get the gallon.. you'll use it all. you have to be a little liberal with it)

Interesting, I wouldn't have even thought about that. I'm honestly not sure if my boiler and radiator system is gas or not. I'll have to investigate that more.

I think you can still get the warm feeling without having to comepletely strip everything..if you have a fireplace that might be a place to start...just a beautiful wood surround fireplace can provide that warm cozy feeling you desire from a craftsmen home....adding warm stained wood craftsmen furniture can take care of the problem too! Striping paint is a horrible job and something that big should not be your first shot at it...here is a nice example of painted craftsmen interior with stained mix of wood furniture to keep the craftsmen charm..