Stripping Only Service

There is no good reason for you to attempt chemical wood stripping unless you enjoy doing it. Our Stripping Only service is more economical than people usually guess, often just a little more than you would spend for the material you'll need to do it yourself. The professional systems that we use will get the wood much cleaner than what common home stripping method will achieve. Doing it yourself doesn't even save you very much money when you consider the cost of buying your own stripper, gloves, brushes, scrapers, etc. Stripper fumes can be dangerous without proper ventilation. If you do it indoors, fumes will get into your heating system and can cause serious damage when they mix with combustion air. A corrosive gas is the result which can ruin your furnace. Non-methlyene chloride, so-called safe strippers avoid some of the problem but guess what? They don't work very well! If they did, Refinishers would be using them en masse. They are not.

  As an added bonus we can help you evaluate your project just as we do on refinishing project proposals. All stripping projects are inspected for possible needed repairs. We will quote a price to do those repairs if you wish, but in any case we believe it is necessary to point them out to you before we start. We provide tip sheets on methods and materials that may be of help to you to finish the project yourself. See our Refinishing help page.

We use different methods, equipment and materials for stripping that are necessary to handle the wide range of challenging situations. Our strategy is to apply the most efficient method of stripping that does not risk damage to the item. Below is a brief summary of our methods. Please also visit our FAQ page for answers to common concerns about our stripping methods.

1. If an item is very delicate, we may use brush-on stripper where we will have the most control over exposing the item to chemicals. It is the least efficient stripping method we use, but is sometimes necessary. This is often described by others as stripping method "by hand", but this is a description I find confusing and useless. Frankly any stripping method could be described as being done "by hand". I will assure you that "hands" are present and in use at all times with any method we use at any step in the process.

2. We use flow-over system equipment for much of our stripping, and it is safe on a wide range of items. Flow-over method is a process where the stripping liquid is pumped over the piece. The liquid is recycled continually and pumped through the hose which also has a plastic scrubbing brush fitted on the end of it. This equipment enables the operator to scrub the finish loose while the chemical coming through the brush helps rinse away the dissolved finish. Depending on the situation, we may rinse with either a fine spray of cold water, or a solvent rinse. Water rinsing removes more stain and residues of finish, and is best if you wish to restain. Solvent rinsing is used when it is desirable to leave some of the original coloring or color from the old finish within the wood.

3. We use what is called a "soak tank" for heavily painted solid wood items, and also for painted trim and doors. We do not use a hot-lye solution in the tank. We use the same stripping chemical used in the flow over system, which will not burn or cause excessive grain raising of the wood. To remove paint requires the item stay wet with chemical longer. For painted items that can handle a period of soaking, the tank method is most efficient.

  If you are going to do your own stripping, please consider the following.

1. Get your chemical and other supply from a paint store where you can get knowledgeable service. Don't be suckered by TV infomercials! Believe me, there are no stripping chemicals available that are significantly different or stronger than those that you'll find right down the street at the paint store! 2. The larger variable with any given stripping project is the existing paint or finish on the furniture. If you're having problems stripping it's probably not because you're using the "wrong" stripper. The problem is what you are stripping, or how you are stripping, and usually not what brand of stripper you are using. Think about what you're going to spend on material vs what we'd charge you to strip it. Is it really worth it? How confident are you that you'll be successful? Most every week we'll have a stripping project to do for someone who started it themselves and gave up.