Unpainted trim and replastering

[phil]

some might depend how the wallpaper was done , in some cases they pulled trim and tucked it under, in other cases they may have cut the wallpaper to fit. leaving the remnants behind might leave a little mess but I suppose you can just cut the paper or pull the trim back enough to pull it out of there. when i see the doorway it is such a large block yes maybe just mask it off? its your choice of course. Either way will yield pretty much the same result, its just that the trim can sometimes be in the way of your drywall knife or plaster trowel or whatever. Your trim is pretty darkened, You might like to keep it as is it looks nice, If you start sanding anywhere you will go through the darkened layer and then may be up against trying to re-darken where you sanded or to simply sand to new wood and then darken the entire trim to get it uniform, maybe best to leave it be?
Mine all needs paint removal and I find that a lot easier to do with the pieces off, then I can strip it more easily or sand it , on a table. maybe not opening that can of worms is good advice here. If you do want to remove it just be gentle, pry near the nails with flat pry bars as to not do damage. If you are bending the trim a lot during removal you are doing something wrong and you may crack pieces but if you are slow and gentle you'll win.
usually my technique is just to remove it all but in most cases I am also opening walls for insulation. what I do is finish it right down to the floor and up to the window frames and such. Its partly because I want to fill those holes with insulation or at least make the walls sealed up a bit tighter. then it looks kind of ok until I get going with stripping sanding and refinishing and then Ill put it back. I have lots off from my living room. I stripped most of it but I don't want to sand outside in the rain or choke myself in dust so Ill wait for better weather and then take the sanding outside or at least use my big blower to send the dust outside. in most cases I find it easier to just sand to virgin wood than to try to work on darkened wood with patina and flecks of paint stuck in the crevases, but if it has never been finished you can just enjoy it as is without that sort of rough and thorough treatment.

Ive done lots so what I do is strip the majority of paint, wash any old varnish off. Ill pu thte trim over my tablesaw and just take a kiss cut over the edges, ill belt sand the flats. then run a router over and cut a new roundover. If damage is severe enough Ill run them through my thickness planer and beef up the edges of the backside to get the original thickness back. finally when it is smooth and no paint left and I am down to clear wood then Ill finish and darken it to the darkness I like.

otherwise you can go nuts picking little bits of paint from every void or filling to hide the paint that is stuck in cracks etc.. but unpainted wood is different. I wouldn't sand and refinish if you don't need to. I think you are on the right track in leaving it be in this case at least near those doors.

what Ive seen can happen is you get quite a bit of airflow if there isn't a good fit between baseboard and floor. a 1/16" gap there left open is a lot, then the air comes from the floor under the baseboard which is open to the walls and up inside the wall. with baseboards and trim off I can seal it up more, this helps with the traffic noise and heat loss. when you open walls and find certain areas full of dust you start to notice how much air is flowing in there. It could be argued this is good for the structure or it could be argued that the heat loss is excessive. I like to attach my drywall to the sill plate so that area is then sealed up more. that may mean trimming a bit off the ends during re-installation of baseboards. usually they nailed some blocking behind the baseboards to shim them out flush with the plaster, I remove this blocking.. so the baseboards dont' actually move much from their original position. In my house I think a rough coat of plaster was done then the trim installed and finishing coats done after. I think they even worked so fast they were putting the trim back while the plaster was wet as I can see imprints in the wet scratch coat of plaster from the baseboards and such. I think they found it easier to do that way while the plaster was "forgiving". Back in the day they were experts and they knew the fastest way. There is no way I can compare my techniques to that. I work at a snail's pace by comparison.

[nhguy]

I finished the plastering and began removing the painters tape. This will take some time, but a razor knife, a thin putty knife and my V shaped gouging tool used in combination are are getting it ready for primer and paint. I should be painting on Sunday if all goes well. The 36" roll of self sticking mess fabric came in this week, so will give this a go on the airlock between the hall and outside door in a week or so. Phil, Thanks for all the good ideas, you are a master. I use a long punch to knock the finish nails back prior to pulling the trim. It's hard to find the nails on painted trim, but on unpainted it will be a breeze. I used my finish nail gun to reattach the trim, it's much easier on tender plaster.

[Gothichome]

Looking forward to seeing the progress NHguy

[nhguy]

Looking forward to seeing the progress NHguy

Here's the latest, as I finished the painting and put some of the furniture back in place.

[phil]

it looks really really nice. That green always goes so well with the woodwork too.
It looks like you are making quick progress!

[nhguy]

it looks really really nice. That green always goes so well with the woodwork too.
It looks like you are making quick progress!

All the switch plates and sconces are back up. Next comes deciding which artwork goes back where. The orbital sander with the dust collector shop vac is the cat's meow of wall prep, my wife likes not having the house shaded in a veil of plaster dust. Maybe in my next life I'll get good at laying on the plaster like a master, so they'll be little sanding needed. At least it's all ready for guests Friday through Monday.
I appreciate all the comments, tips and tricks, old house restoration is kind of like continuing education as there's always new things to learn.