GArage Door with Ben Moore 'Alkyd Semi-Solid' Stain!!! Stripp-able?

[fireandrain 39]

Got a call from a previous client of mine, said he had a beautiful garage door installed and had a hack attempt to stain it with a dark brown Benjermin Moore 'Alkyd' "Semi-Solid" stain. He was very unhappy with the result. I had a look at the finish today myself, and he's right, it looks pretty bad. I don't know why B-Moore calls this this stuff semi-solid...? There is barely any grain showing through the finish. IMHO, I think it looks like a bad first coat of latex paint!

So my question is this... Is there anything I can do to restore this garage door back to its original bare wood state, then proceed with getting something nice back on it? I'm not sure what species this garage door is.. hard to tell with the dark finish on it now. It looks like a softwood.

Is this job really worth getting into? I dont want to start the season off with a big PITA right off the git go! I dont want to get 1/2 way through a HD-80 strip only to discover that Ive severely raised the grain of his door, let alone end up with a blotchy mess!

Any input is appreciated as always.

Thanks

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Well raising the grain is always a possability with using water. I would beware though on such job as it sounds he approved the use of the semi-solid in first place. Unsure why anyone would consider the applicator a hack when he likely just used what was considered a quality product...Hey question. hasit had any time for it to settle in?. would luv to see pics of it as I can't say I've tried that one yet.

Glycol boosted hydroxide should get it.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Here's the kick in the rump....I'm glad it was dark brown not white. You are going to have some residual pigment left in that wood. We're talking about newly applied vertical surface here. They need to know that before choosing the next product they want installed.

You may need to sand the door afterwards. You might want to consider a paint stripper for this job, the kind that clings, is like a foam or gel and stays on overnight.

Beth

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

My best advice is this:

| EaCo Chem Inc. | Stripsol |

It will help to release it without much grain raising but you will have to do some sanding afterwards. Price it accordingly.

In regard to something to give it a nice finish, I have to ask what the sun exposure potential is. This is important because you would not want to apply anything that will get baked off, peel, crack and fail to quickly.

I recommend Helmsman Valspar Urethane w/UV protection for use in low sun exposure conditions. For more direct sun conditions, I would Suggest Sikkens Cetol Log and Siding finish. It is softer and can take more UV exposure without the pitfalls. It would require annual maintenance to keep up with but I don't think you would mind the repeat business. Use the Clear Version to keep it from darkening on subsequent applications.

Rod!~

[fireandrain 39]

Thanks for all the input... Just got inspired to call this client again... explained the variable outcome potential with any sort of strip work, and likely the need to sand post-strip work. He said that if the strip work ended up blotchy, we could always re-coat the door with a solid match of the b-moore semi solid and just live with that. In other words, hes fine with just painting the garage doors if the strip proves unsuccessful.

Im still uneasy getting involved with such a *****y little project...Especially when theres a lot of other more striaght-forward deck jobs in the works for me...

But, he's a nice guy, and I always seem to be drawn to a challange...mainly to help this guy and his wife out so they can feel good about there beautiful new garage doors....

[sealerguy 14]

I recently used a methylene chloride paver stripper to remove 40 years of paint from my house, I tried everything on the market and nothing melted it off like this, it worked great allthough you must suit up and wear a respirator as it is a pretty toxic chemical. My house is cedar shake and it didn't tear up the cedar, it also melted the sikkens cetol 23 off my small deck below. Just something I tried out of desperation to remove all paint layers.

[Greg R 82]

They can certainly be restored. We've done quite a few garage doors over the years. Follow Beth and Rods advice with a good paint stripper and you'll need tools for getting into the crevices. They can eat up alot of time but look awesome when finished. I use a product called Restoration Paint remover and spray it on with an airless nice and thick. Then we scrape the bulk of it off by hand and pressure wash/tool the areas as needed.

Sikkens Cetol 1 with 3 coats of TGL Gloss or you can use the 23 system on them and they'll look like a piece of high end furniture. They will eat up alot of time so make sure your solid on your numbers. Minimum a $1000 in the mildest case. These ran around $3500 to restore

[Greg R 82]

Here's another..... this guy actually have SEVEN garage doors. 4 on one garage and 3 on the other.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

As usual, Greg you do some SWEET work!

Beth:lgbow:

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Tgl looks to be discontinued. For gloss I assume ya got to use the Cetol Door and Window..