How To Repair Scratched Wood Trim

Trim Repair: How to Set and Revive Trim

Updated: Jun. 19, 2022

Renew boring trim in i weekend.

FH09APR_REVTRI_02-2 Family Handyman

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

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Step 1: Start with a thorough cleaning

stained baseboards

Photograph 1: Remove old paint spots

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

You can dramatically ameliorate 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 you a much easier process here—and yous may even be able to eliminate some steps if your woodwork is in better shape than ours. Just get together the supplies in a five-gallon bucket and tackle the renewal projection one window or door at a time whenever y'all accept a few spare hours. Start in a corner or in an inconspicuous area—ameliorate to learn from your mistakes in that location than on the front door.

The kickoff step in renewing your woodwork and stained baseboards is cleaning information technology to remove grease and crud and create a contaminant-complimentary surface for the new finish. Wash the woodwork with a TSP substitute. Use simply 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 wood with a dry out rag.

If there'due south paint slopped onto the edges of your trim or spattered on the surface, at present's the time to make clean it off. A rag dampened with denatured booze will remove most paint spatters (Photo ane). Alcohol won't impairment near finishes, simply it will dissolve shellac. Don't worry if some of the cease comes off. You tin can touch on it up later (Photo 7). Protect the walls with masking tape to prevent the alcohol from damaging the pigment. For tougher paint spatters, use a fine constructed abrasive pad (such as a 3M Forest Finishing Pad) dipped in denatured booze.

Pace ii: Scrape and sand badly damaged areas

Photograph 2: Scrape eroded areas

Scrape abroad badly weathered cease. A carbide paint scraper removes the erstwhile finish much faster than sandpaper. But be careful not to gouge the wood.

Photograph 3: Bleach out night stains

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

Photo 4: Sand bleached areas

Sand the bleached woods subsequently it dries. Start with 120-grit sandpaper. So sand with 180-dust. Vacuum the dust earlier staining and finishing.

Window stools and other areas exposed to moisture and sunlight may demand to exist completely refinished. In spots such every bit these where the forest is discolored and the terminate worn away, you'll go the all-time results by scraping and sanding to expose bare wood (Photos 2 and 4).

If the wood has dark water stains that scraping and sanding won't remove, you tin remove them with oxalic acid (Photograph iii).

Circumspection: Article of clothing protective gear, including goggles, rubber gloves and a long-sleeve shirt, when yous work with oxalic acid. Mix the oxalic acrid in a plastic container. Add 1 oz. of oxalic acrid powder (well-nigh 2 tablespoons) to 1 cup of hot water and stir it until the pulverisation dissolves. And then castor the solution onto the stain with a disposable sponge brush and let it work for twenty minutes. You can repeat the process to farther lighten the stain. Wipe the bleached wood with a sponge and clear h2o. And then neutralize the oxalic acrid past applying a solution of 3 tablespoons of borax to 1 gallon of water with a sponge. Finally, rinse the bleached forest with water once more and let it dry out overnight. And so sand information technology with 120-grit followed by 180-dust sandpaper (Photo four) and stain it to match the rest of the woodwork.

Pace 3: Roughen the terminate and fill up small-scale holes

Photograph 5: Roughen the old finish

Rub the woods with an abrasive pad to create a slightly roughened surface for the new stop. Vacuum the grit from the surface before wiping on a new coat of terminate.

Photo 6: Fill up holes

Fill up holes with perfectly matched putty. Simply knead different colors together until you get an exact match.

To brand new finishes stick well, slightly roughen the old finish starting time (Photo 5). Constructed finishing pads are the best option considering they adjust to profiles and aren't as ambitious as sandpaper. Buy medium and fine and experiment in an inconspicuous area. Utilize the pad that roughens the finish without removing any stain.

Fill holes left past nails or screws with soft wood putty. Wood putty is bachelor in many colors that you can blend for a perfect friction match. Application is piece of cake. You lot merely button it into the hole and wipe information technology off (Photo 6). There's no sanding required. Buy several shades of putty, ranging from dark to light, that are similar to the color of your trim. Then mix them to match the wood surrounding the pigsty. Push button the putty into the hole and wipe off the excess with your fingertip. Then remove residue from around the hole by wiping over it with a clean rag. If your woodwork has filled blast holes that have darkened and no longer lucifer, choice the former filler out and supercede information technology with soft putty. Purchase water-based putty if you plan to apply water-based polyurethane.

Step 4: Apply stain to hibernate dings and scratches

Photo 7: Apply matching stain

Hibernate scratches, fries and worn abroad end with a fresh dose of stain. Then wipe the woodwork with a clean rag to remove the excess stain. Let the stain dry overnight.

Completely refinishing the area may be the simply fashion to make flawless repairs to badly damaged doors, windows and moldings. But y'all tin can greatly improve the overall appearance of worn or damaged wood with less drastic measures.

Disguise large areas where the stain is worn away past dabbing stain over the light areas to blend them in. The patched area may not match exactly, but at least the spot will be less obvious. Or simply wipe the surface of the wood with a rag dipped in stain to fill in pocket-size scratches and imperfections—y'all'll see a big improvement (Photo seven). Wipe the stain on. Then wipe off the backlog with a clean rag. Let the stain to dry overnight before you lot utilize the finish.

One of the trickiest parts of a wood restoration project is finding stain to friction match. You tin pry off a minor piece of trim and inquire the pigment section to mix stain to match. Some paint stores and home centers offer cheap sample packets of stain. You can choose several samples that are close to the color of your wood and experiment in a hidden area to observe the all-time color match. Then buy a larger container. Another arroyo is to buy two or three cans of stain that are shut to the color of your woodwork and mix them to get the right color. Use an eyedropper and disposable plastic cups to mix small batches until you get the proportions right. Go along notes so you lot tin can reproduce the results in a larger batch.

Stride 5: Apply the fresh finish

Photo eight: Wipe on polyurethane

Restore the polish with a fresh glaze of polyurethane. Wipe on poly gives yous a faster, smoother finish with less mess than brush-on poly.

The final step in your trim renewal project is to apply a fresh glaze of finish. Wipe-on polyurethane is a good choice because it's fast and like shooting fish in a barrel to apply. You simply wipe it on with a soft rag and let it dry. Each coat is very thin and dries quickly. Yous can recoat in two or 3 hours if y'all desire a thicker cease for extra protection. Several coats of wipe-on polyurethane are required to equal the thickness of one coat of brushed-on varnish, but it's easier to get a smooth, drip-free finish with wipe-on poly.

Fold a cotton rag to create a pad. And so dip an edge of the pad into a container of wipe-on polyurethane and press it against the side to wring out the excess. Wipe the polyurethane onto the woods in long strokes in the direction of the wood grain as you lot 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 it holds up better in areas exposed to sunlight and water. Experiment on a scrap of trim or in an inconspicuous surface area to see if the slightly amber tint darkens the color as well much. When you've completed all of the steps higher up, your woodwork volition look similar new and be protected by a fresh layer of stop. If you don't have time to do an entire room from beginning to cease, just tackle i door or window whenever you have a few spare hours. You'll be done with a room before you know it.

Circular Upwards Your Supplies

You'll need the materials and supplies listed in "Additional data" below for a basic wood renewal project, including several for refinishing window stools and removing stains. Near of the tools and supplies are available at paint stores, total-service hardware stores and home centers. Visit an art supply store for the artists' markers. Oxalic acid is available online at rockler.com or at woodworking stores and some hardware stores and lumberyards.

Faux Wood Patch

Dings and dents too large to make full with soft putty present a unique challenge. If y'all can't replace the wood, the next best affair is to patch the damage with filler and colour the patch to match. Use hardening-type filler like Durham's Rock Hard H2o Putty. Utilize the filler carefully with as piffling backlog as possible to minimize sanding. Let the filler dry out and sand information technology smooth, beingness careful to avoid sanding away the finish on the surrounding wood. Then use felt tip markers to "paint" the patch to match (photos below). Fine art supply stores are the best source of markers—yous'll detect endless shades of brown. Near other stores conduct only one or two. The repair won't be perfect, but you lot may be surprised by how camouflaged it is from a distance.

Required Tools for this Project

Accept the necessary tools for this DIY project lined up earlier you commencement—you'll save time and frustration.

Condom gloves

Required Materials for this Projection

Avoid concluding-infinitesimal shopping trips by having all your materials ready ahead of time. Here'south a list.

Originally Published: January 07, 2022

Source: https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/trim-repair-how-to-fix-and-revive-trim/