How To Repair Damge To Trim On Windowsill And Door Frames

Trim Repair: How to Fix and Revive Trim

Updated: Jun. 19, 2022

Renew dull trim in i weekend.

FH09APR_REVTRI_02-2 Family Handyman

Renew the lustrous appearance of stained and varnished woodwork without the messy stripping process. We show you how.

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Stride ane: Start with a thorough cleaning

stained baseboards

Photo 1: Remove old paint spots

Soften quondam paint along the edges of trim and stained baseboards with booze. A rag wrapped effectually a putty knife lets you scrub the trim without slopping alcohol onto the wall.

You can dramatically improve the appearance of stained baseboards and varnished woodwork without all the work and mess of a complete stripping and refinishing job. We'll bear witness yous a much easier process here—and you may even be able to eliminate some steps if your woodwork is in better shape than ours. Just gather the supplies in a 5-gallon bucket and tackle the renewal project ane window or door at a fourth dimension whenever you have a few spare hours. Start in a corner or in an inconspicuous area—better to learn from your mistakes there than on the front door.

The starting time stride in renewing your woodwork and stained baseboards is cleaning it to remove grease and grime and create a contaminant-free surface for the new finish. Wash the woodwork with a TSP substitute. Use just enough cleaner to wet the surface. Scrub with a sponge dipped in the cleaning solution. Then rinse with a sponge and clear water and wipe off the forest with a dry out rag.

If there'south pigment slopped onto the edges of your trim or spattered on the surface, now's the time to clean information technology off. A rag dampened with denatured booze will remove most paint spatters (Photo i). Alcohol won't harm most finishes, just it volition dissolve shellac. Don't worry if some of the stop comes off. You tin can touch it up afterward (Photograph vii). Protect the walls with masking tape to preclude the alcohol from damaging the paint. For tougher paint spatters, use a fine synthetic annoying pad (such as a 3M Wood Finishing Pad) dipped in denatured alcohol.

Step 2: Scrape and sand badly damaged areas

Photo 2: Scrape eroded areas

Scrape abroad badly weathered end. A carbide pigment scraper removes the old finish much faster than sandpaper. But be conscientious non to gouge the woods.

Photo three: Bleach out dark stains

Bleach away deep stains that scraping or sanding won't remove. Y'all don't have to scrub; just let the oxalic acid penetrate and lighten the stain.

Photo 4: Sand bleached areas

Sand the bleached wood after information technology dries. Start with 120-grit sandpaper. Then sand with 180-grit. Vacuum the dust earlier staining and finishing.

Window stools and other areas exposed to moisture and sunlight may need to be completely refinished. In spots such as these where the woods is discolored and the terminate worn away, yous'll get the best results by scraping and sanding to expose bare woods (Photos ii and 4).

If the wood has night water stains that scraping and sanding won't remove, you can remove them with oxalic acrid (Photo 3).

Circumspection: Wearable protective gear, including goggles, rubber gloves and a long-sleeve shirt, when you piece of work with oxalic acrid. Mix the oxalic acid in a plastic container. Add 1 oz. of oxalic acrid powder (about 2 tablespoons) to i cup of hot water and stir it until the powder dissolves. Then castor the solution onto the stain with a disposable sponge castor and allow it piece of work for 20 minutes. You tin can repeat the procedure to further lighten the stain. Wipe the bleached forest with a sponge and clear water. And so neutralize the oxalic acid by applying a solution of three tablespoons of borax to 1 gallon of water with a sponge. Finally, rinse the bleached woods with water once again and allow it dry out overnight. Then sand it with 120-grit followed by 180-grit sandpaper (Photo 4) and stain it to match the rest of the woodwork.

Pace three: Roughen the finish and fill small holes

Photograph 5: Roughen the old finish

Rub the wood with an abrasive pad to create a slightly roughened surface for the new finish. Vacuum the dust from the surface before wiping on a new coat of stop.

Photo half-dozen: Fill holes

Fill holes with perfectly matched putty. Just knead unlike colors together until you get an exact match.

To make new finishes stick well, slightly roughen the old finish first (Photo v). Synthetic finishing pads are the best choice considering they conform to profiles and aren't equally aggressive equally sandpaper. Buy medium and fine and experiment in an inconspicuous area. Utilize the pad that roughens the stop without removing whatever stain.

Fill holes left by nails or screws with soft wood putty. Woods putty is available in many colors that yous tin alloy for a perfect match. Application is easy. Yous only push button it into the hole and wipe information technology off (Photo 6). There'south no sanding required. Purchase several shades of putty, ranging from nighttime to light, that are like to the colour of your trim. Then mix them to match the wood surrounding the hole. Push the putty into the hole and wipe off the excess with your fingertip. So remove balance from effectually the hole past wiping over information technology with a clean rag. If your woodwork has filled blast holes that accept darkened and no longer match, selection the erstwhile filler out and supercede it with soft putty. Buy water-based putty if you plan to use h2o-based polyurethane.

Step iv: Apply stain to hide dings and scratches

Photo 7: Apply matching stain

Hibernate scratches, fries and worn away finish with a fresh dose of stain. Then wipe the woodwork with a clean rag to remove the backlog stain. Allow the stain dry overnight.

Completely refinishing the area may be the only mode to brand flawless repairs to badly damaged doors, windows and moldings. Only y'all can greatly ameliorate the overall appearance of worn or damaged woods with less desperate measures.

Disguise big areas where the stain is worn away by dabbing stain over the light areas to blend them in. The patched surface area may not match exactly, but at least the spot volition be less obvious. Or simply wipe the surface of the woods with a rag dipped in stain to fill in small scratches and imperfections—you lot'll run across a big improvement (Photo vii). Wipe the stain on. Then wipe off the excess with a clean rag. Permit the stain to dry overnight before you use the finish.

One of the trickiest parts of a woods restoration projection is finding stain to friction match. You can pry off a small piece of trim and inquire the paint department to mix stain to match. Some paint stores and habitation centers offering cheap sample packets of stain. You lot can choose several samples that are shut to the colour of your forest and experiment in a hidden surface area to find the best color lucifer. So buy a larger container. Another approach is to buy two or three cans of stain that are close to the color of your woodwork and mix them to get the correct colour. Use an eyedropper and dispensable plastic cups to mix small batches until you get the proportions correct. Keep notes so you lot tin can reproduce the results in a larger batch.

Step 5: Apply the fresh end

Photo viii: Wipe on polyurethane

Restore the shine with a fresh coat of polyurethane. Wipe on poly gives yous a faster, smoother finish with less mess than castor-on poly.

The concluding pace in your trim renewal project is to apply a fresh coat of finish. Wipe-on polyurethane is a good option because it'southward fast and easy to apply. You simply wipe it on with a soft rag and let information technology dry out. Each coat is very thin and dries quickly. Yous can recoat in two or three hours if you desire a thicker finish for extra protection. Several coats of wipe-on polyurethane are required to equal the thickness of i coat of brushed-on varnish, but it's easier to get a shine, baste-free finish with wipe-on poly.

Fold a cotton wool rag to create a pad. Then dip an edge of the pad into a container of wipe-on polyurethane and press information technology confronting the side to wring out the excess. Wipe the polyurethane onto the wood in long strokes in the direction of the wood grain as you would if you were using a brush.

For window stools or other trim exposed to sunlight, consider using spar varnish. Spar varnish has congenital-in ultraviolet protection and is more flexible, so information technology holds up better in areas exposed to sunlight and water. Experiment on a scrap of trim or in an inconspicuous expanse to see if the slightly amber tint darkens the color likewise much. When you've completed all of the steps in a higher place, your woodwork volition look similar new and be protected past a fresh layer of finish. If y'all don't have fourth dimension to exercise an unabridged room from commencement to end, just tackle one door or window whenever you take a few spare hours. You'll be done with a room before yous know information technology.

Round Up Your Supplies

You'll demand the materials and supplies listed in "Additional information" below for a bones woods renewal projection, including several for refinishing window stools and removing stains. Near of the tools and supplies are bachelor at paint stores, full-service hardware stores and dwelling house centers. Visit an fine art supply store for the artists' markers. Oxalic acid is bachelor online at rockler.com or at woodworking stores and some hardware stores and lumberyards.

Faux Wood Patch

Dings and dents too large to fill with soft putty nowadays a unique challenge. If you can't supercede the wood, the next all-time thing is to patch the harm with filler and colour the patch to match. Use hardening-type filler similar Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty. Apply the filler carefully with as piffling backlog as possible to minimize sanding. Let the filler dry out and sand it smoothen, being conscientious to avoid sanding abroad the finish on the surrounding wood. Then use felt tip markers to "paint" the patch to match (photos below). Art supply stores are the all-time source of markers—you'll find endless shades of brown. Virtually other stores carry simply i or 2. The repair won't exist perfect, but you may be surprised past how inconspicuous it is from a altitude.

Required Tools for this Projection

Take the necessary tools for this DIY project lined upwardly before you beginning—yous'll relieve time and frustration.

Rubber gloves

Required Materials for this Projection

Avert last-minute shopping trips past having all your materials ready ahead of time. Here'south a list.

Originally Published: Jan 07, 2022

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