Trim, trim and more trim

Hello,

I've been pouring over this forum, google searches and you tube videos for help. Thought I would start this thread to see if I could get some help or if someone can point me in the right direction. I recently purchased a home built in the 1900s with beautiful woodwork. However, it is badly beaten up and some of the window sills inside the house have some water damage. The house also has this beautiful staircase and wood columns that a cat got a hold of and scratched up pretty bad at the bottoms. I've read up on shellac, varnish and such but do not know what the original treatment is. I would love to restore it all to beautiful, but I am a little overwhelmed with the volume of trim and conflicting information I've read. Any input would be much appreciated and thank you!

It looks like a lovely house, congratulations. I do not know whether it is still operating but there used to be a renovations forums associated with this one and that attracted most of the house renovators. it would be worthwhile looking for that one (though I have never visited it).

The original finish circa 1900 would have been shellac. The recommendation below presupposes that no one has overcoated it with lacquer or polyurethane in the over 100 years since.

It is pretty easy (though hard work rubbing) to clean up an old shellac finish using either scouring pads or 0000 steel wool with a mixture of 3 main equal liquids shaken together. The liquids are 1 part Boiled Linseed Oil, 1 part cheap brown vinegar and 1 part gum (aka "natural or wood") turpentine. becaus eoil and water do not mix you shake them together vigorously to form an emulsion. If that cleans the muck off well and good. If the surfaces are grimier or crusty then add a small amount of metho to the mix. Not too much though or it will strip off all the original shellac.

Once the surfaces are cleaned then wipe over with what we call white spirit - perhaps called dry cleaning fluid - to remove excess oil. Then, using a fine brusg you can overcoat with new shellac and the surfaces will look really good. Don't worry too much about the dings and scratches, they become less obvious and just part of the patina or age of the house.

If the sills are seriously water damaged to the point that they have rot in them you will need to decide whether to replace the rotten timber or else to use a timber strengthener like Everdure (a two-part epoxy that is very runny so it soaks into rotten timber and hardens it up, also killing the rot).

I hope this helps and that the reno forums still exist and can help further.