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October 16, 2007
It wouldn't be a reno blog if.......
it didn't have the obligatory before and after shots of the bannister.
As you know--this is what we started with..............................
Purple and lots of it, its a little intimidating-isn't it?
We bought an expensive piece of equipment (the silent paint remover)--and the purple defeated it. We got ourselves some peel away 6 with paper. We were skeptical. But it worked ...... sort of----we had to experiment a bit with the time and the thickness. Too much and it was a gooey mess that barely took anything off and required A LOT of scraping. Too little and it was a dry yet strangely still gooey ??? mess that barely removed any paint. In any and all events--it required mucho scraping and many gallons of denatured alcohol (how did I ever get by in life without this stuff?). It also required A LOT of sanding and scrubing with steel wool and even a little zip and strip and at least 2 months of effort and some teak oil but I think the result is pretty amazing.
If anyone has some tips for stripping better, faster or more efficiently--Please share! There is a whole helluva lot of purple I still need to remove.
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Comments
I hate to say it, but there really is nothing so effective as ye olde chemical stripper. Yeah, the noxious lung-and-eye burning, carcinogenic napalm type like Zip Strip or Rock Miracle.
I removed all the balusters, numbered them, hung them from the ceiling in the cellar and coated them liberally with Rock Miracle. I wore a serious respirator and leather gloves, natch. Let the miracle work it's um, miracle. Then rubbed 'em down with steel wool. Repaint, replace, rejoice.
It might cheer you to know that our house was once about 40% lavender. There IS a light at the end of the purple tunnel- keep heading toward it, friend...
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 10:11 AM
I have the same purple on my banister and stairs over in Bushwick. You have given me hope! So far we are using Peel Away 7 (the kind without the paper) and I really like it.. Looks like around 3 applications to get through 4-5 layers total. Wonder whats up with this purple? Must have been on sale in 1972! Good luck
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 10:11 AM
The Silent Paint Remover works GREAT when the wood underneath was initially varnished. The paint falls off the wood. But if it was initially painte, then it will be tough. The thing is the professional paintstrippers have chemicals not available to the consumer and they get it off quick. Wire Brushes and a good paint scraper are key as well. What you went through to get your paint off is pretty much what everyone else has to deal with. Some projects are better left to a contractor. NICE JOB....looks great
Posted by: tomgee at October 16, 2007 12:15 PM
I hate to tell you this but the bannister stripping is about 1000x easier than stripping anything else. The bannisters shape really helps that the chemicals adhere to it and scrape the paint away. Anything vertical or with any turning is a nightmare.
I used Peel Away 6 and 7 to strip my bannister and it was a breeze. But when I tried to strip my newel post and other things, it barely worked at all. Ive spent countless afternoon trying to strip the decorative post and am still not even halfway done.
I dont want to discourage you but I wanted to let you know not to undertake a similar project unless you know what you are getting into.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at October 16, 2007 1:00 PM
Peel Away 1 works the best, but i wouldn't recommend it for wood that you want to leave exposed. Leave it on for 18 hours, and it will take off about 10 layers of paint. You'll still need to use methylene chloride to get into the crannies and cracks.
The other Peel Aways aren't strong enough, IMO. Seriously, for those newel posts, you'll have to go with methylene chloride, and remove them if you can. Something else to consider...how much money/time did you spend on the bannister? It might be cheaper to hire a commercial stripper or replace the newels with new ones. At a certain point you get diminishing returns.
The stair treads themselves should be relatively easy to do with Rock Miracle or Zip Strip. but again, if you're spending $300 for stripper and 100 hours of your time, I'd look into replacement. While it's nice to say you did it all yourselves, there's a thin line between saving money and wasting time that could be better spent on other things.
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 3:51 PM
Great job. Helps inspire me to start the fall and winter strip jobs in the house.
While dollar for dollar, it may be more efficient to replace, for my money, nothing is better than bringing back the original from the purple (or white, or black, or whatever) dead, and running your hands along that original wood. You can't buy patina like that at Home Depot.
I think the purple, along with the institutional green and putrid pink, must have been free, or close to it. It's everywhere. FWIW, they used it all over the US, a blog I read from California had the same shade of pink all over the wainscoting of his Victorian dining room.
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 4:12 PM
I wasn't suggesting HD replacements, but rather finding a match in the same kind of wood installed or turned by a woodworker.
Patina is one thing, but spending hundreds of hours of your life stripping stair newels is another. You want to be able to live in your house, not just work on it forever.
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 5:48 PM
Email me @ imcwil1065@aol.com an I will tell you how i did mine and show you some pictures of how my banister looks, there is no easy way to stripping just a little easier from how you are doing it.
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 9:30 PM
15 years ago I stripped all of the moldings in my house with one of the earliest versions of Peel Away. Prior to that we many other stripping methods, but found Peel Away works the best by far. We bought a set of intricate stripping tools through Old House Joural to clean out the tight areas. The results were better than new and no sanding was required. We sent balusters, shutters and some doors out to be dipped at a commercial stripper. We painted all of the pine and oiled the black walnut. It all looks beautiful.
Your bannister looks fabulous. Keep up the good work and document everything, it helps to remind you of how far you have come!
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 10:34 PM
Nice job. We did the banister and some (very little) of the rest but it took way to much time. Does anyone know anyone who would do this at a reasonable price in a reasonable time frame, or am I asking something that is impossble? If you have had this type of work done and are happy please let us know who did the work. Also approximate prices would be appreciated.
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 10:35 PM
Be careful with paint strippers. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/93-133/
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 11:11 PM
omg
your post comes just in time
we are about to start stripping ourselves
-ms. crown heights reno
Posted by: neene at October 16, 2007 11:50 PM
We stripped our handrail like you did as well as the newel post at the base of the parlor stairs, which was fairly easy. But the balusters (spindles) were another story.
We were largely rebuilding our stairs anyway, so the stair guy popped out our balusters and had them dip-stripped, and then reinstalled them. From top to bottom, I believe we had 88. Stripping them ourselves would have taken an eternity; I realized it took over an hour just to get ONE somewhat clean.
I don't know if this is an option financially, but do consider it. We used Soxco stairs in Fort Greene. They were also able to duplicate a few missing balusters at a reasonable price.
Posted by: tinarina at October 17, 2007 10:17 AM
Beautiful!!Are you going to strip the steps and ballusters also?
Posted by: guest at October 21, 2007 10:01 PM
We have only stripped the bannister in the rental section of the house at this point--and for the foreseeable future I think that is all we are going to do. Its time and labor intensive and we REALLY want to START working in out own space as soon as possible. So -as much as it hurts--we are going to paint the spindles, the handrail the stairs etc. One day-we'll get around to revisiting the area...I hope.
Posted by: HomeSweetstuy at October 26, 2007 9:05 AM
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