ListWise

Friday, June 17, 2005

Stripping Pictures

SEX! Ok, now that I’ve got your attention…

That probably doesn’t work that well anymore to get peoples attention in our society. We are so bombarded by sexual images in advertising that it has all just become a blur. But, everyone tells me this is the greatest country on Earth, so it must be all good. Anyway, this is about paint stripping, as if you didn’t already know.

Kristin, over at 1902 Victorian gave herself the stripper name of Tina Tingles. I thought that was hilarious. Over the past three years I have become a paint stripping machine, but I’m not sure I’m ready for a stripper name. I toyed with the idea of Pistol Pete. It sort of keeps with the whole heat gun thing. I just don’t know, though. I start to picture myself in leather chaps with 2 heat guns in holsters and it just, well, kind of makes me queasy. Anyway, cute names aren’t really my thing anyway.

So, let’s forget all that and get back to the real reason for this post – SEX, I mean stripping – PAINT STRIPPING!!! That’s what I mean. Below, are two pictures of my favorite spot in the kitchen. Pre-stripped and post-stripped. The room was originally faux grained so getting back to absolute bare wood was not really an option, or the intention. I just needed to get rid of the layers of paint and the drips and runs so I could get a nice smooth paint job.

The 2 corner blocks are crammed in to the corner and they coped (sp?) them together. It is interesting when you look at it up close to see that on the bottom the one on the left is in front, but at the top the one on the right is in front. They are sort of keyed together. As a novice wood worker, I find this very impressive. It is really done well. The person who did this really knew what they were doing. I wonder if they got it right the first try, or if they had a few screw ups.

I’ve completely stripped 3 rooms of paint now. First I did the bathroom, then the dining room, and now the kitchen. All three rooms had copious amounts of woodwork. Now that I think about it, those three rooms have the most woodwork of any other rooms in the house. I guess the worst is behind me. The first 2 rooms I took back to bare wood and stained and shellacked.

If I can finish sanding today I can start painting tomorrow. So why am I here typing and not sanding?



7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. That's a lot of work. Congrats on being ready to paint. Yeah!

Jocelyn said...

Is all that beadboard old growth redwood? (just curious) I never thought to give myself a stripper name, but I always think it's funny what a good "mood" I get in after inhaling those fumes.

That is a helluva lot of wood you stripped there. The biggest job we had here was the coffered ceiling in our dining room and Steve did that before I was around.

I remember seeing that ceiling and thinking, "Wow, this is a guy who can commit to things." I should put a picture on the blog sometime.

Thanks for the photos too- they look great- really coming along there.

Gary said...

I love America too. In this country, if I talk dirty to a woman, I get charged with sexual harassment. If a woman talks dirty to me it costs me $5.99 a minute!
Gotta love this country....

I have two rooms left to strip, you got the job anytime you want it!

Greg said...

Jocelyn, yes it is redwood. Pretty much everything in the house is redwood. That is all they had around here back then, and they made the most of it. If you get a chance click on the "dining room" link in the blog post. It shows pictures of the burl redwood wainscoting I stripped. It is hard to believe that someone painted it.

Greg said...

Gary, you couldn't afford me. :-)

Jocelyn said...

I did click on that- it is amazing. I really haven't seen that here in Chicago in any homes so far anyway. It must be more a west coast material than midwestern.

K said...

Your stripper name could be Pilot Inspektor. I think actor Jason Lee actually named his kid that.