Thursday, November 19, 2009

Paint strippers and weather stripping

We tested a new paint stripper: Peel Away 6. It's the 3rd product we've tried, and the first product to actually cut through the layers of paint on our woodwork. I'm sure that different products are more or less useful in different situations. Our particular combination of oil and latex paints (2 to 7 layers) has reacted very well to this. After 12 hours, the paint scraped off with a plastic scraper and ZERO elbow grease. I repeat, ZERO elbow grease.



First, the application-9:30AM


Next, the test-5:30PM

(COMING SOON... the second test- 9:30PM)





One of our house's previous owners decided to remove a built-in bookshelf. Yes, I would have dome something totally different, starting with not removing built-in bookshelves. With that pesky bokoshelf gone, the previous owner added a pair of french doors. However, the stairs leading to the patio are only in front of one door, so do not use the second door. The doors aren't the sturdiest, and we have talked about replacing them with a better set. In the mean time, I've decided to do something about the weather stripping. For how much we love the doors, I think we set an appropriate budget for the weather stripping.




Old french door weather stripping:



A $4.97-fix!

3 comments:

  1. Don't you love those cheap fixes! :)

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  2. oh, also curious to see how that paint stripping product worked. Can't wait for the results!

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  3. Removing paint is NO FUN, but really rewarding once you're finished. For me, my Milwaukee heat gun is worth its weight in gold. I stripped every wooden surface, and most of the plaster walls, in this big house ... experimenting with different methods in the beginning. The BEST for me was heat and a flexible metal putty knife. Clean, with no messy clean-up or neutralizing. I followed up with paint remover for wood I was going to stain; light sanding for painted wood.

    Connie

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