The Historic District

I used the Swedish Speed Heater, which is a snazzy quartz heater. You can see it and its yellow box in several of the photos. In many areas, I just used brute force, scraping. I tried Jasco stripper right around the window, but didn't stick with it. That's a miserable product.

Thanks! I'm uncertain what to do with all this darn trim indoors (also, some of the non-pocket doors). I can't take it off and dip the trim, but I also worry about doing it in-place with a heatgun and burning down the house, and the solvent stuff I've used was useless in the face of 7000 layers of stuff.

I think you'd have to work pretty hard to burn your own house down with a heat gun.

I don't know... it does happen. A couple years back, in my county, there were two people who managed to do it to two different houses on the same day!

The danger is not the wood catching fire from the heat-gun directly, but rather the heat reaching through cracks and catching the dried bits of sawdust and cobwebs and crap behind the wood on fire. Those tend to be long smoldering fires - not even fire, really, just a slow spark sitting in dust inside the wall. So not noticeable until a couple hours later when - poof! - the wood finally ignites.

But... what can I say... I have a knack for worrying about worst-case-scenarios.

Chris

I think more people burn themselves than set the cobwebs on fire.

And I'm a worrier, too.

I think that's more likely to happen if you strip the exterior of a beaten clapboard-sided house with plenty of cracks.

In a house with brick walls and lead-free paint I've happily used a blow torch to strip paint (although that's not very useful for fine details, more for large flat surfaces). Actually just for the fun of it I once tried to ignite wallpaper on a plastered brick wall using a blow torch. Didn't work at all! Smoldered for one or two seconds and extinguished itself again, leaving a tiny black spot no larger than the flame.

Hello Friends!

It's been a long time since I've stopped by. I've been busy-busy-busy with work, building and painting all sorts of insane and wonderful projects.

[img=center]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5569/14842070553_84241d83d4_z.jpg[/img]

[img=center]https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2904/14799320686_e25730257e_z.jpg[/img]

Massive hand-stenciled chintz scenery, for example. (You can read about the process of creating this project on my blog. I think you folks would enjoy it. http://howsrobb.blogspot.com/2014/08/ho ... hintz.html)

You may recall that I was working on bathroom last winter. I came to a crashing halt when I removed the masking tape about the "tile" wainscoting, and it ripped away my FINISHED paint. Some painter, decades ago, had used incompatible paint, and the adhesion failed -- several layers down. I was so disgusted that I walked away from the project until I could gt my head clear.

Now, we're about to host another party, and I'm pushing to get some more meaningful work done in the bathroom.

[img=center]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3723/11573087583_5974c48279_z.jpg[/img]
[align=center]Before[/align]

[img=center]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2832/11696968505_b8f7f94e88_c.jpg[/img]
[align=center]During[/align]

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[align=center]Currently. I've resurfaced the plaster "tiles" and am ready to prime.[/align]

http://howsrobb.blogspot.com/search/lab ... estoration

Those sets look like fun. Hopefully the bathroom will go well this time.

How discouraging but glad you are making progress again!

The chintz set is really beautiful! What happens to them when the show is over? I think I'd be tempted to hang one at home!