[JayPOORJay]

Good Morning All.

I'm new here. Maybe some of y'all good people happened to read thru my intro. I appreciate all of y'all being here, and doing what you do.

I have a question. A big one, at least for me because lots rides on the the answer and what's possible. Also, the questions I'm asking will show my inexperience, so please, be kind.

Me and my fiancee just bought a big ol Colonial Craftsman Style Home. Lots and lots of molding and trim. I've counted at least 9 coats of old paint. Some areas of trim,,, ya can't even get CLOSE to seeing the profile underneath. Heat guns, scrapers and ladders, 25ft up, for this old body, not really doable. And for other reasons we've tentatively decided to take another route (making our own trim and molding) but are open to y'all's suggestions.

Anyways, I have a Milwaukee 5616-xx 2.25 HP router, and a DeWalt 1.75 HP, and a routing table. Also have a worksite rated DeWalt Table Saw.

Can I expect, if I take my time and run multiple slow passes - to route say 3 or 4 hundred feet of molding and trim that will match (or get close) to what's in the attached photos???

What would you do?

I am OPEN to any and every thought on the subject - and am not thin skinned.

 

[JayPOORJay]

Hello All. And apologies for the slow reply - but from the very first posts here - many many thoughts.

All the points made are spot on, and I want to thank you all for what you have offered up! Thank you!

The first set of thoughts has to do with my inexperience going into this and taking it on. Plain and simple. I simply don't know how much work and what skill sets are involved. I just don't. I am willing (and I dare say able) to learn.

I would imagine, that of the two profiles (there are more than the two pictured here on this ol house), that curvy one with the coves is the more labor and equipment intensive, and the second less so? The one with the curves is the least of the molding/trim when it comes to what is on the house.

The majority of what's on the house is the second profile without the coves and angles on the back side. Just for my understanding of what it will take, I'm tempted to get a bit that matches or comes close to the second (a cheap bit to begin) and run one, two or three sections of pine (soft wood - which is what I'll use as it WILL be painted front and back) to get a sense of what the work feels like and what's involved. I've never done ANYTHING like this.

I should and will post some images of just how much paint is on this house and trim/molding sections. It's pretty bad. I'm guessing that the deepest layers are original paint to the house and 100yrs old. In some places the paint is so gummed that the detail of profiles can't be seen at all. Then, the boarder between the trim and whatever is behind it, one can't even see the seam. The trim will need to be removed to get anything like a proper paint job.

I would like to get ALL (or nearly all) of the trim/molding down. I'm looking at the "Alderson Paint Stripping Systems" from a company in New Zealand to do looooong runs of clapboard and the long flat sections of lumber the boarder areas of the home (terrible with terminology - please forgive). I'm thinking, and am ok, with this taking as long as it takes.

Maybe the coved trim I could get from a mill and the straight simpler stuff (is it simpler?) I can do myself?

Anyways,,, I am VERY big on the DIY thing. And worse, a real glutton for punishment, lol. Example: I have 4 old cars, long story, but they were all rescued from the crusher. V12 XJS, 2 other older Jaguars (one spent time at the bottom of a lake), and 86 Porsche and an old Goldwing that I have stripped "naked" and should have in the road this season. Today, the cars could be and are daily drivers.

We recently bought this house. On cars, for the past years I have been doing all of the car work I do on the STREET in NYC. To the wonder and sympathy of friends and neighbors. Blah blah blah - so, if this takes a lot of work I am will and able to do it. I'm good with my hands and confident in my ability to learn (with you guys' help of course)... It's going to take a lot of learning - I'm game and willing.

For some reason I just started working on restoring vintage hand wind watches and pocket watches. My television 65inches I think, I found in the trash, disassembled it completely, found the problem and repaired it. I like to fix and rescue stuff, and am willing to put the energies into the learning curve.

I would love to be able to stand back and look at what I did, with help and guidance.

I guess my idea of not wanting to do all for this work on a ladder gets into the work smarter not harder idea. The way I see it, this work MUST be done,,, can't be done by hiring someone to do it ($$$$$),,, so what is best way for me to approach doing it? If you're getting my jist? I am willing to get home from work, go to the garage, run off 4, 5, 6 lengths, turn off the lights and go in.

There will be no vinyl siding!!!

Then, there's nuts and bolts - valuation of the home. Lots of change going on in the NYC housing market and ESPECIALLY in this neighborhood we just moved into. I think a lot of the reason we got the house for the cost we did, IS/WAS to do with the exterior. If made right (like close to right right) the place, with the market going the way it might, we could walk away nearly doubling at sale. Anywho...

There is a lot - and I'm sorry this is so long. In many ways I'm rambling trying to come to terms with which direction to go.

Attached is the paint on one of the sections of wood I used as an example of profile. It's pretty bad.

Ok well, my subway ride is over (typing on my phone) and it's time to git to work.

Lol, thanks for being willing to deal with the PAIN of reading all my blathering. Good day. Talk soon!

 

[JayPOORJay]

Oh and,,, I LOVE the idea of the shaper planer,,, but the boss ain't having it, lol. Just NOPE! With a wagging finger. I'm sure y'all get the idea 😂

 

[JayPOORJay]

So, not this BIT and profile - and this is in response to Gers post - but a BIT like this one - but from a better company...

3 inch bit, on a 3 or 4 inch section of board that would need to be cut to size, in 2 or 3 passes... Would it work to produce something like that second example profile in post 1, the one without coves and rounds?

 

[JayPOORJay]

I'm think'n I'm think'n...

Yes, there is plenty other stuff round the house to do.

Today I ordered a big old 35dollars Amazon bit. 3 inches. After work I'm going to go jump in the car and drive over to Lowes and grab a stretch of pine and see just how rough it would be. The bit I got is for the profile without the coves and bellies. We'll see.

I've also been looking around to see if I am able to find a mill in NJ who might be able to take care of us.

I have to say, I'm going to be a little disappointed if it's farmed out as y'all say. I was looking forward to being the MAN, lol. We'll see.

BTW - the inside of the place is pretty tight. Almost everything that needs doing is exterior. There will be no gutting going on here.