# Quick & Dirty Trim Salvage: Spackle to fill Old Chipped Paint?



## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

Quick question. 

A partial renovation is concluding … I am not paying for the work…it’s a rental and I am a long term tenant. I am finishing all priming today. There’s a few trouble spots that I’d like to correct if there’s a quick and dirty solution.

I have 80 year old baseboard that has seen LOTS of paint over the years. I stripped one room’s worth but it was a monumental undertaking. Epic. There’s likely lead paint there too. 

Other areas I did a quick surface sand of the paint with a ROS to try to get it smoothed out somewhat, so it didn’t look like the baseboard was covered in poorly applied cake frosting (again, much paint). 

I have some other areas where the paint has chipped off has over the years, sometime in large areas, and has been painted over (latex over old oil) …so the baseboard isn’t smooth. I was thinking in these areas to clean with ammonia/water or denatured alcohol and then apply spackle with a tape knife, then do a quick sanding when the spackle dries, and prime. (I’m u9sng Ben Moore Underbody Alkyd Primer #217) .Will this work? I’m almost done the priming here and I want a quick and dirty solution to try to get a little nicer surface on this gross baseboard. Would wood putty be better (I think spackle will stick better to paint)?

Also, one related issue:
On door frames the same situation…older layers of brittle oil paint covered over by many layers of latex (latex poorly bonded to the oil). Many of these frames I have stripped to raw wood, but not all the frames. I have no more energy or time to strip the rest, but on some there are some very noticeable chips of paint missing where the entire thick film of paint has chipped off leaving only the oldest base layer of hard oil, kind of glossy oil paint. How can I fill these chipped off areas….super quick and dirty? Many of the areas are on the edges of the door frames. 
Remember, there’s the oldest oil paint layer with newer latex paint around it. 


Thanks for the ideas! Quick and dirty ideas!


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## Bob Mariani (Dec 1, 2008)

Fill with MHB and wipe smooth with a wet sanding sponge before it completely hardens.


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## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

I'm drawing a blank...what's MHB?


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## Bob Mariani (Dec 1, 2008)

I might have the letters wrong. It is a spackling compound in a black and orange can.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

One trick I learned from the carpenter on our last re model, if you can remove the base easily, just flip it around, the back side will probably be pristine wood. I was doing the same as you and spending countless hours trying to get the old base to look nice and he came in, say what I was doing and told me to just flip them, well,DUUHHH.:laughing:


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## Kevin M. (Nov 26, 2009)

Bob Mariani said:


> I might have the letters wrong. It is a spackling compound in a black and orange can.


MH by zinser interior and exterior product.


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## boman47k (Aug 25, 2006)

I have thought about flipping doorjams. Not sure how flipping baseboards would work with the decorative/routered carvings being on the backside??


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## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

Thanks Bob. 
(It's 'MH), I got a can and it seems to be working.

My baseboard is in two parts, bot with profiles, it wouldn't work...then there's the issue of where the baseboard meets the wall skim coat....I said 'quick & dirty"  

However, under certain conditions and with the right baseboard, it sounds like it would be a great solution. 

The spackle seems to be doing what I need done. I'm only trying to take the grossest sections and upgrade them a notch.


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## pyper (Jul 1, 2009)

I use lightweight spackle, and I also use siliconized acrylic caulk (White Lightning). 

The caulk seems to work better for filling large, shallow areas. But it does hollow out as it dries, so you might need two coats. 

The spackle seems to work best for filling nail holes and deep scratches and things like that.


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

chrisn said:


> One trick I learned from the carpenter on our last re model, if you can remove the base easily, just flip it around, the back side will probably be pristine wood. I was doing the same as you and spending countless hours trying to get the old base to look nice and he came in, say what I was doing and told me to just flip them, well,DUUHHH.:laughing:


 I have used this technique, but I have run into problems painting the never-painted 'pristine' wood (this was trim that was 40-50 years old). Needed a lot of good quality primer to stop the wood from bleeding through.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Leah Frances said:


> I have used this technique, but I have run into problems painting the never-painted 'pristine' wood (this was trim that was 40-50 years old). Needed a lot of good quality primer to stop the wood from bleeding through.


I believe I used Fresh Start oil with no problems, mu house was built in 1926.

As to the decoratine part of the base, mine was just flat with a decorative cap on it which I had replicated at a local lumber yard. There is a local Amish guy who will make his own cutting knives to replicate most any type molding and at a good price too.:thumbup: Lucky me.


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## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

Getting inside the Time Machine and making a stop here. 

The MHB worked superbly, it's exactly the type of product and solution that I was looking for!

Thanks again.

If I do a drive-by in the Time Machine again I'll toss out some pics.


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## Matthewt1970 (Sep 16, 2008)

Trim is also pretty cheap and easily installed.


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## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

This is 8" wide, two-part baseboard from the 1920s. This hallway alone has 50' of it. Not possible to match, would likely have to be custom milled.

Were it to be replaced there's recently skim coated and painted walls its attached to.

Not _cheap_ no matter _how_ you slice it.


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