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The previous owners of our home used latex paint on the wood trim and doors of two of our bedrooms. The original paint was apparently oil based, because large areas of paint are now peeling. I'm now faced with the task of stripping paint off of baseboards, doors, closet doors, window sills, etc. I'm an avid do-it-yourselfer, but this job is more than I want to tackle! I went to Home Depot and checked out how much it would cost to replace the painted woodwork. I'm inclined to strip the door, because replacing an interior door is probably more difficult than stripping the paint. The cost of an interior door which is prehung is only $63 as I recall. Here are my questions:
1. Is there a way to strip the latex paint off of the door without damaging the underlying oil based paint? I've managed to peel a large portion of it off of one door simply using my fingernail. I'm unable to peel the paint off of the other bedroom door.
2. Any words of wisdom on changing out the door with a prehung door? The existing door is 1 5/8" thick and replacement doors are 1 3/8" thick. So simply changing the door isn't an option. We attempted to change out an exterior prehung door before (at a previous home) and found the job to be very difficult. The door wanted to bind, even though we went to great strides to ensure that it was level.
3. The closet in one of the bedrooms has four paneled folding doors that meet in the middle and are mounted on a track. The opening is 72" wide. I found the replacement doors at Home Depot for only $39 per set of two. We've never attempted changing this type of door before. Are these doors as difficult to change as interior prehung doors are? Should we leave the existing track in place, or can we replace that wood too (to avoid stripping it) and easily install a new track.
On the surface this doesn't seem difficult, but then that exterior pre-hung door didn't either! =)
Thanks for your help! Jill
1. Is there a way to strip the latex paint off of the door without damaging the underlying oil based paint? I've managed to peel a large portion of it off of one door simply using my fingernail. I'm unable to peel the paint off of the other bedroom door.
2. Any words of wisdom on changing out the door with a prehung door? The existing door is 1 5/8" thick and replacement doors are 1 3/8" thick. So simply changing the door isn't an option. We attempted to change out an exterior prehung door before (at a previous home) and found the job to be very difficult. The door wanted to bind, even though we went to great strides to ensure that it was level.
3. The closet in one of the bedrooms has four paneled folding doors that meet in the middle and are mounted on a track. The opening is 72" wide. I found the replacement doors at Home Depot for only $39 per set of two. We've never attempted changing this type of door before. Are these doors as difficult to change as interior prehung doors are? Should we leave the existing track in place, or can we replace that wood too (to avoid stripping it) and easily install a new track.
On the surface this doesn't seem difficult, but then that exterior pre-hung door didn't either! =)
Thanks for your help! Jill