# painting trim and base boards



## fabian (Dec 29, 2008)

Hey everyone. I currently have wood trim in a wood color and im thinking about giving it some white along with the doors also. i would rather pop off the trim and paint them in the garage but when i put them back on i dont feel like nailing the trim and having the hammer chip the fresh paint... should i do them while they are installed? i rather not this way it looks better.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

I'd be very reluctant to paint wood stained trim. It's maintenance free now, and it goes with any wall colour just the way it is. If you paint that trim, the next time you paint the walls, you'll be saying "Now I need to paint the trim, too."

However, if you choose to paint, I would paint the trim in place. Just use masking tape to tape the trim off so you don't get paint all over the place. Removing the trim to paint it separately is going to result in your having to pull the nails AND probably patch some plaster that'll come out in chunks near where the nails were. If you do that, pull the nails out from the BACK of the trim so as not to muck up the varnished front face of the trim.

If this trim is varnished, you should dull the gloss before painting it. This can be done by cleaning the trim with a solution of TSP in water. If the paint on the walls is a latex paint, you don't have to worry about harming the paint. Latex paints aren't affected by TSP. However, I have heard that you can permanently stain floor tiles with TSP. I've never tested that to check, but if you're using TSP over a ceramic tile floor, then either test the TSP in an inconspicuous spot, or throw down some plastic and cover with blankets or something.


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## fabian (Dec 29, 2008)

thanks for the reply, i was thinking about leaving it but i really like the white trim. but i would like to see some pictures on tan walls with wood color trim or like a pale yellow with same trim. thanks though


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## SandyK (Dec 31, 2008)

I would leave it in place. I did that with my upstairs base and door trim, which were stained chestnut. Scuff it up, prime, 2 coats of paint - sanding in between.

My downstairs we replaced the chestnut stained wood and spray painted 26 6-panel wood doors. Fun.

Here's a pic;
















Taking the trim off without damaging it could be difficult.


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## fabian (Dec 29, 2008)

SandyK said:


> I would leave it in place. I did that with my upstairs base and door trim, which were stained chestnut. Scuff it up, prime, 2 coats of paint - sanding in between.
> 
> My downstairs we replaced the chestnut stained wood and spray painted 26 6-panel wood doors. Fun.
> 
> ...


look so much cleaner, nicer and stylish with the white trim... mmmmmm


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## SandyK (Dec 31, 2008)

It does. 

Painting the stained trim was a pain, but it came out well. The only thing I would recommend is 2 coats of primer.


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## wilsonfrench (Dec 26, 2008)

SandyK said:


> It does.
> 
> Painting the stained trim was a pain, but it came out well. The only thing I would recommend is 2 coats of primer.


it looks great...did you use oil or latex? I have used oil in the past and it worked well.


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## sirwired (Jun 22, 2007)

Yes, you can paint that trim just fine, but I am going to disagree with Nestor's advice to use tape. Tape usually has the problem of bleed under the edge, making it look much worse than if the tape was not used at all.

Use oil-base primer to coat that stained trim. On top of that, the Waterbourne enamels from SW or BM (ProClassic or Impervo) do a fantastic oil-like job without the drawbacks of actual oil paint. 

SirWired


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## SandyK (Dec 31, 2008)

> it looks great...did you use oil or latex? I have used oil in the past and it worked well.


I go the easy route (for me) - latex.


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## tcamp (Dec 31, 2009)

*Photos look great!*

Sandy - Your photos look great. I have a house full of this trim and am considering painting it. Do you have any other photos of your work that you can post? thxs! t



SandyK said:


> I would leave it in place. I did that with my upstairs base and door trim, which were stained chestnut. Scuff it up, prime, 2 coats of paint - sanding in between.
> 
> My downstairs we replaced the chestnut stained wood and spray painted 26 6-panel wood doors. Fun.
> 
> ...


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## SandyK (Dec 31, 2008)

thank you! Unfortunately, the hubby and I were so burned out with this project, I haven't worked on any other for quite a while. 

Here are a couple more;

We put in all the crown, wainscoting and replaced the baseboard with taller base. Left the staircase as is.

The previous pics of the door. That is all new work, except for the little bit of chestnut trim around the door - everything else, base, jambs, header, crown, columns and wainscoting - all new.

I painted all the chestnut trim in the upstairs - doors, base, door trim.






















In the family room;










We replaced all the base and door trim, but painted the doors and added the crown and column moldings.


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## 01stairguy (Feb 26, 2009)

a colum like this to make the space look wide


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

SandyK said:


> It does.
> 
> Painting the stained trim was a pain, but it came out well. The only thing I would recommend is 2 coats of primer.


Why?:huh:


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## mmamula (Oct 8, 2010)

Sandy K.,

I'm thinking about taking on the task of painting some stain wood trim in our home and I was hoping you'd answer a couple of questions... You said you spray painted the doors. Did you sand them and buy/rent a spray gun? Also, did you have any windows that were wood trim? We have Anderson wood trim windows that I don't think I have the gut to even attempt to paint, but I think doing the trim and doors would brighten up our home. Hope you can advise..

Melissa


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## SandyK (Dec 31, 2008)

Yes, we sanded/scuffed up the stained doors, primed, sanded again, paint, sand again, paint. For the initial sanding, I used 100 grit, and for the sanding in between painting, 120 and 150 grit.

We bought a sprayer.

We were able to paint 8 doors at a time using flat L-shaped brackets attached to the tops of the doors. Like this;

...._...._
|_| |_| |

The dots for the above are just space holder - couldn't get the spacing right, but basically each door is at a 90 angle to each other, with brackets connecting them.

One half of the bracket go on the top of one door and the other half on the top the next door and so on down the line. Very sturdy, no risk of the doors falling over.

We were able to to 26 doors in 2 1/2 days.

A picture of your windows would be great. Is the window trim on the window and the trim around the window all the same stain?

About the two coats of primer. Just a habit I got into over the years when painting over stained wood. Probably wasn't as careful as I should have been and would notice some of the stained wood showing through, especially when using white paint.

Ahhh...I thought I had put a pic up on this board of the configuration;


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## mmamula (Oct 8, 2010)

*Trim and Doors*

Thanks for the advise on sanding and painting the doors. Here are a couple of pictures of the trim and windows. We can't find the right lens to our camera so these aren't great.. I've painted one window in our home and if I had been more careful, I might be happier with the results. I used Sherwin Williams/ Alabaster white. Would you share what brand and color paint you used if you remember. Also, did you use latex or oil based? Thanks for your tips, I can't wait to get started! Oh, one more thing.. I'm assuming you used an electric sander to prep the doors as they look very well sanded?..


































Melissa


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## SandyK (Dec 31, 2008)

mmamula;

I would think twice and three times, maybe more, about painting the molding. It is beautiful wood. How old is your home? I really love the woodwork in those old, old homes.

I always use Sherwin-Williams Dover White for all my trim - have used it for 10+ years.

Yes, I used a palm sander for the doors, except for the sanding before the last coat of paint. I just gently sanded that by hand.


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## mmamula (Oct 8, 2010)

Sandy, you're killing me... I've lived in this house 10 years and it was 14 years old when we bought it, making it around 25 years old. It's a tudor home and has stained doors, trim, etc. We recently put in oak flooring and now it's overkill on the wood. I think painting would brighten it up, update the look, and make the new floors stand out. It's pretty and I've debated for years about painting the trim. I wish there was a way to paint some rooms to brighten them up, such as the entry way, a couple of bedrooms, but I don't want it to look chopped up.


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## SandyK (Dec 31, 2008)

mmamula said:


> Sandy, you're killing me... I've lived in this house 10 years and it was 14 years old when we bought it, making it around 25 years old. It's a tudor home and has stained doors, trim, etc. We recently put in oak flooring and now it's overkill on the wood. I think painting would brighten it up, update the look, and make the new floors stand out. It's pretty and I've debated for years about painting the trim. I wish there was a way to paint some rooms to brighten them up, such as the entry way, a couple of bedrooms, but I don't want it to look chopped up.


Ok, ok, that's funny.

If the woodwork is "only" 25 years old, I would go for it then. All the door trim, window trim and crown - big job.

Just make sure you do your prep work - sanding - not down to bare wood, but scuffing up the wood, getting the "shine" off so the primer has something to bite.

Some might say not to use two coats of primer, but I would because the stain is so dark and we are not professionals. Sand between each coat of primer and paint, using varying grits of sandpaper (100 to start out, 150 between primer coats and first coat of paint, 220 before the last coat of paint) - two coats of each should be sufficient to get the look you want. 

I would get some of those flexible sanding sponges to get at the detail in the trim and crown - they are washable and you can cover them with regular sand paper. Palm sander/belt sander for flat surface on doors.

I use latex primer and semi-gloss paint.

Make sure you fill any imperfections, nail holes and the like before you prime.

Good luck - I do not envy you. One room at a time.


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## Windows (Feb 22, 2010)

mmamula said:


> Sandy, you're killing me... I've lived in this house 10 years and it was 14 years old when we bought it, making it around 25 years old. It's a tudor home and has stained doors, trim, etc. We recently put in oak flooring and now it's overkill on the wood. I think painting would brighten it up, update the look, and make the new floors stand out. It's pretty and I've debated for years about painting the trim. I wish there was a way to paint some rooms to brighten them up, such as the entry way, a couple of bedrooms, but *I don't want it to look chopped up*.



That was actually a common way to decorate homes not that long ago - having some trim painted and some trim stained - some rooms with with texture and some without, different kinds of ceilings. It gave some interest to each room and helped to define its function. It was the tract house and the uniformity it pushed as a cost cutting measure that introduced us to homes in which there is little variety. So unless your home is very small, I wouldn't be worried about chopping it up.


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