Remodeling

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Thank you! The wood was all painted when we bought the place 22 years ago, and we took care to remove it because we love natural wood trim, too. There were many layers, and I lost many brain cells pulling it off with chemical solvents, even though I used a respirator. It was worth it, though.

Have you discovered the citrus-based paint strippers?  They are water soluble, and smell like oranges.  And they work--I've used'em myself.  Take a wee bit more time than traditional, but the smell is lovely while you wait. 

And I do like being able to wash the goo off with a hose, into a coffee filter over a bucket.  I use a simple wire-mesh colander to hold the filter.  Let the filter dry, and then bag it for the trash.   Multiple filters speed it up.  Gloves, naturally.

The wood will be damp after, so allowing to dry completely is also a must--then light sanding to remove the grain raised by the water. 



Too late, now yeah-- I get that. 

[Opsa]

The Citrus stuff was available when I did the woodwork, but it took longer than the nasty stuff on all those layers of paint, so I went for the quicker one, since there was so much to do and I was still young and impatient!

I did use the Citrus stuff on the areas that used to be behind the radiators, because they only had some old shellac on them and no paint. It worked like a charm and I much preferred the low odor and gentleness.

[Griffin NoName]

Great! Looks good. Enjoy.