****If you are wondering about the pink in the fireplace opening, it's just 1 inch thick rigid foam insulation. We have three fireplaces and all three need work done on the dampeners. This helps keep the warm air in the house until they are updated.
I knew my heat gun was slowing down. It wasn't getting as hot and it rattled loudly. Just as I started removing the paint from the front of the mantle...it went poof, threw a couple of sparks, and died. Why does that always happen when you are soooo close to finishing a project or part of a project?
Lucky for me I had a heat gun stashed that only had the low setting. This actually worked better for removing the paint from the pine mantle. So I continued on and finished removing the remaining paint.
We'll need to purchase several more heat guns before we start the last wall in the living room. Removing the paint from the plaster requires a HOT heat gun. I know the last wall is going to go slooooowly. There is a lot of drywall compound that has been applied to peeling paint to try and hide the peeling paint. There is also the two heat duct repaired areas and another repaired area which lines up with the downspout on the back of the house. More than likely there was water damage from a clogged downspout or leaf filled eave trough. So I am estimating one month to finish the living room wall paint removal project.
In between paint removal, we have been continuing our bead board panel installation in the kitchen. I did a quick measure and I think we will need to buy two more pieces. That will be far easier to handle than the 9 pieces we already purchased......that was quite a workout.
Do you have any experience using the heat gun on metal?
ReplyDeleteOur home is a post ww2 house with metal door frames. There are layers of paint and lots of ridges. I've been looking at them ( and the family has been peeling various layers of paint off of them...avocado, butter yellow, lime, white, rust...) for 10 years now, and I have yet to decide if I want to use chemical stripper or a heat gun. They're beyond ugly at this point, and too messed up to just paint over.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!
A heat gun would scratch the metal when you scrape it. Stripper would rust the metal because of the moisture.
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about metal kitchen cabinets? Sand blast. I know you are thinking "WHAT A MESS." But really no more than stripper. You would need to hang plastic and tape everything off. But it would go so fast. I love sand blasting. It can make the nastiest looking item just like new. After blasting, sweep excess up and then shop vac everything. Rehang new plastic, spray primer and then spray a new color. You would have to decommission the kitchen for a couple of weeks. They have small roll around sand blaster hoppers (fairly cheap)Sears is where we got ours. You would need a air compressor. Smaller ones will require you to stop and let the air build back up but again an air compressor is so handy. I use our air compressor to blow the leaves off the deck.
Your walls are coming along. I hate when a tool goes south and it always seems to happen when your close to finishing.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the metal door frames, I'd be concerned about the heat causing an unseen fire on the other side of the frame as well as the scratching. I don't think paint stripper would be a problem as long as it was cleaned up thoroughly and primed soon after removing the paint. Power sanding would work too. It would just take some elbow grease.
Merry Christmas to all of you.
Well, our house is cinderblock, so I'm not worried about setting any wood on fire--there isn't any. We have several compressors, a large one and a pancake compressor, if I wanted to sandblast, but I have 3 door frames alone leading into the kitchen, not to mention 5 more in the hall (lr to hall, 3 bedroom and one bath)and the front door. That's 9 doorways that I'd have to isolate on 2 sides each. Yikes! I need to do some research on chemical strippers. Not too worried about rust, as some "helpful" family members have already scratched some of the frames all the way to metal and they are already rusting. sigh. I'm a little leery of sanding, as there is probably lead paint in the lower layers.
ReplyDeleteAs for the tool going south so close to finish, I also feel your pain. Kinda like when I'm sewing and I always, always run out of bobbin thread 4" from the end of my last seam. Every. Time. :-)
Thanks for all the input! Merry Christmas!
This is the type of heat gun I've been using-- a lot-- since 2009.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/ECG-Professional-Electronic-Variable-Temperature/dp/B007Z7OQP6
It might be cooling down a little, but not enough to get in the way of finishing a project.