Paint stripping cast cement

[JRC]

I'm so glad to hear that these pieces are relatively easy to remove! I would be so afraid they'd disintegrate while trying to get them down, I'd spend all season trying to strip them in place. Not only would that be dangerous, (hanging around on a ladder) but the final result would probably be less than perfect.

So, are you taking down all of the wreath appliques, and storing them for later? It looks like the paint is holding them together. If that's the case, I wonder if there is some kind o epoxy resin that you could paint on the back, before stripping them?

In general, though, I definitely know how good it feels to reveal original detail from under a lot of paint. It makes the tedium of stripping worth it, IMO.

[TexasRed]

JRC - I'm definitely enjoying the paint removal & reveal on the egg & dart. I couldn't even imagine trying to strip them in place. Very high up and awkward under the deep eave. So far so good on removal - no serious breakage.

Yes, we will be removing all of the wreaths and storing for later. They have proven to be almost impossible to strip clean and to be honest, we don't really like them anyway. I understand this choice may upset some people but we aren't tossing them. They are original and will be carefully stored away. If the columns look hopelessly blank without them, maybe the stripping project will happen sooner rather than later or we may find an appliqué we like better.

>>> Love your idea to use epoxy on the back for stability. That should really help with stripping them down the road. Thanks for the tip.

The painters are scheduled to begin mid April. We need every bit of the next 6 weeks to get stripping done on the things that really matter to us (i.e.; porch railing, E&D decorative trim, the 2 cartouches...) Our labor is cheaper than theirs for all this tedious prep work.

After I finish the egg & dart trim, I'm going to tackle the cartouches

Entry Cartouche

IMG_2575.JPG (117.97 KiB) Viewed 652 times

Not verified yet, but I strongly suspect these are also cast concrete. Seems to be a common thread with this house....

[JRC]

LOL, I'm glad I could help, even if I have no idea what kind of epoxy to recommend!

You'll get no objections from me. Sort of like adding corner boards to solve your siding gaps at the corners, removing them does change the original design intent, IMO. But, in this case, there are no irreversible changes, and I assume they'd be easy to put back on, in the future. Just be sure to document their location well, before removing them. (if you haven't already)

Good luck with the cartouches!

[Mick_VT]

If it were me I would not remove the wreaths. I would paint them in place and as they are if you are not going to strip them now. They are part of the details of the house and deserve to be there even if not fully restored IMO. Things removed have a habit of getting lost / broken or never going back in my experience

I would rehang the egg and dart with stainless screws with a soft washer instead of nails. Tightened carefully (and only just enough) by hand

[Texas_Ranger]

I'm 99% convinced these mouldings weren't nailed up in the proper sense - rather the nails were set into the wet cement during casting and thus became part of the moulding. They were then pushed into holes in the wall filled with some kind of mortar. Today you'd use epoxy for that kind of task. I might try to carefully drill holes into the back of the mouldings to epoxy new nails into them.

[TexasRed]

JRC - Thanks for understanding our decision of the moment. The wreaths will be quite easy to re-install. Just have to see how the columns look without them. We need to find a better / stronger paint stripper or they will stay in the barn.

If it were me I would not remove the wreaths. I would paint them in place and as they are if you are not going to strip them now. They are part of the details of the house and deserve to be there even if not fully restored IMO. Things removed have a habit of getting lost / broken or never going back in my experience

I would rehang the egg and dart with stainless screws with a soft washer instead of nails. Tightened carefully (and only just enough) by hand

Mick I can appreciate your opinion and reasons for keeping them. I can't, in good conscience, just add another layer of paint when everything else is getting stripped down and painted fresh. The paint on them is so thick and globby - all of the detail is lost. (Maybe this is why I don't find them pleasing to look at?) We will handle them gently, store them safely and reinstall at some future date.

>>> Thanks for the tips on rehanging the egg and dart. DH had decided on screws already - I will pass on your advice about the washers and hand tightening. We are still amazed they originally used nails

[TexasRed]

I'm 99% convinced these mouldings weren't nailed up in the proper sense - rather the nails were set into the wet cement during casting and thus became part of the moulding. They were then pushed into holes in the wall filled with some kind of mortar. Today you'd use epoxy for that kind of task. I might try to carefully drill holes into the back of the mouldings to epoxy new nails into them.

On the egg & dart trim we totally expected to find a rod embedded in the cement just like you mentioned, but haven't so far. I'll snap a couple of pics tomorrow - of the nails & holes, plus the area where it is installed.

The "nails" are extremely long and have a small flat head. Once we cut them from behind, I pull out the remains through the front. So far I haven't found any evidence of rods previously embedded in the back of the trim. It is puzzling indeed.

Thanks for the info for rehanging. We have a little time to decide on the best way to reattach.

[Mick_VT]

Here's another thought for you on those wreaths Texas. If you could get one pretty clean then you might want to consider using it to make a mold and make a bunch of fibreglass (or plaster) replicas to use instead of the originals. This might be a lot less tiresome work.

[Mick_VT]

>>> Thanks for the tips on rehanging the egg and dart. DH had decided on screws already - I will pass on your advice about the washers and hand tightening. We are still amazed they originally used nails

be sure to use a round head screw, so that the underside of the head is flat not bevelled. Any soft washer would help - nylon or fibre come to mind. I think I would also bed the trim onn some caulk as I reinstalled it

[TexasRed]

Here's another thought for you on those wreaths Texas. If you could get one pretty clean then you might want to consider using it to make a mold and make a bunch of fibreglass (or plaster) replicas to use instead of the originals. This might be a lot less tiresome work.

What a great solution to this dilemma. I could easily commit to strip one of these for replication, the other 35 will need to wait for some "free time". If we don't caulk the replicas, they would be easy to switch out to the originals. Thanks for the suggestion Mick!