Friday, January 18, 2013

Dueling DIY: Hot Stripping Action

 Oh yeah!
That's right!
I did it!

I came home.
And started strippin'.


 It got real hot at times but that's alright since we had a 20 degrees temperature drop between 2pm and 3pm (no kidding, it's cold again ..gah!)


 Soon, shreds (of paint) were flying left and right! Hot heat gun stripping action.

There are so many %$#@@&*%! layers of paint caked on top of each other, it's not even funny. Citristrip only managed to remove the topmost layers (white latex paint, I assume) and utterly  failed at removing the ominous black layer.
Bane of my existence, that layer of black paint, I'm telling you. It would be nice if you could just paint over that particular stubborn layer but unfortunately it's topping off a mess of more layers, mostly yellowed white ones, in one craggly relief of messy paint job after paint job. So it's got to come off.


 Thanks to my new best friend, El Heatgun, I now have proof that my initial guess at the original color scheme of the staircase was correct: both spindles and newel posts were originally painted a clean off-white/white while a darkbrown stained handrail and newel post tops provided strong and rich contrast.



I tell you, this staircase challenge is not not for the faint of heart.
Burns!
You know, when you get really into stripping, try not to get too carried away and get ahead of yourself. That might occasionally maneuver your hand right in front of the heat gun ... not good.My right hand looks a bit scorched now.


I called it a day at 7pm because Little Man started to inquire about dinner. It was also dark by then which makes for crappy pictures anyway. I'd been stripping for a solid three hours and what do I have to show for it? Not an impressive lot which is why this projects sucks so much that only a crazy challenge gets me going ... ha!

Want to see how the other staircases are coming along? Hop on over to


10 comments:

  1. I know how you feel. I finished stripping my entryway staircase last fall. It was a challenge, but well worth it in the end.

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    1. Hey Sharon!
      I can't wait for it to be over ...ugh! *L*

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  2. I don't know what you're using, but it might help to get a better, sharper scraper. I had really good luck getting through all the paint layers in one go, but I had some great profile scrapers.

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    1. Funny you mention that :o) I just ordered a fancy little triangular scraper to get into the smaller nooks and crannies. It think I might be too careful in using the heat gun; I'm afraid to set the house on fire, and don't let the paint get too hot before scraping. Maybe I need to man up a bit ...

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    2. I set the heat gun for about 800 degrees and I would let the paint start to bubble before I'd give it a good scrape. It is possible I had "easy" paint to scrape, but usually I got pretty well down to the wood layer.

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    3. I don't normally include links to posts, but this one has pictures of the state of the wood after just a pass with the heat gun:
      Stripping Paint in Entryway. Not a lot of paint left, except in the nooks and crannies. I don't have any great strength, I was just fairly thorough in getting as much paint as I could with the heat gun.

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  3. I am a cleaning lady and I am happy I am not yours! Ha! You must be glad it's all done?

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    1. Good morning, Marie! I wish I were all done *L* but I'm trying to be good and tidy up when I'm done for the day. Right now, the stair case is the only real "hot spot"; the rest is really presentable (Surprise!)

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  4. What a crazy mess (in a good way). Makes me want to try using a heat stripper myself. Can't wait to see more updates, keep it up!

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    Replies
    1. The heat gun is -awesome- once you get over the self-mutilating possibilities :o) Thank you to you and Kit for coming up with the challenge - I needed that kick *grins*

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