Sunday, December 7, 2008

Generous definition of progress

The popcorn ceiling in the dining room is officially no more. Unfortunately, the paint on the crown molding is another story. The Silent Paint Remover and scraper is working nicely on the flat section, but pretty poorly everywhere else. The biggest problem is that I can't focus the Silent Paint Remover on small enough areas. You can see the "progress" I have made so far. At this point, I am going to get as much as I can and then use some sort of chemical stripper to clean up the rest. The good news is that the wood underneath is in excellent shape and I am guessing is also the original finish. It is quite a bit darker than the woodwork that isn't painted. My goal is to refinish all the woodwork eventually.

3 comments:

Garden Monkey said...

I have had VERY good luck on curved molding using a metal rib from a cheap pottery kit. I just wear leather gloves and use a regular heat gun. Metal ribs are only a buck or two at an art supply store. They bend easily to allow you to get into the curve of the wood. If you have a lot of smaller trim details, I have found that using a dental tool (or tiny putty knife) and a heat gun BEFORE the bigger details works very well... this way you don't burn the wood by accident, just the paint. Gee, I can't wait to do the rest of my house! :) Keep up the good work!

Ken Bloggins said...

Thanks for the tip! I will give it a shot. It definitely can't be any worse than what I am currently doing.

Christopher Busta-Peck said...

Ugh. I hate that stuff even more than I hate spikey plaster ceilings. Good luck.