Windsor Terrace Reno

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January 29, 2007

A Strip Off!

Get your minds out of the gutter people. This is a renovation blog.
Im talking about paint strippers of course.

In the right corner, weighing 32 ounces is Kleanstrip's KS3 stripper. As per the packagings propaganda, its "America's #1 Stripper". I don't know when that survey was distributed but I never got my copy. Anywho, Mr. Limestone anticipated my desire to start a messy project of my own (as he was ripping the precious tiles from the walls down the hall) and picked this product up for me. Guess what persuaded him to buy this one over the other options? I'll give you one guess. Marketing at its finest.

In the left corner, also weighing in at a quart but seemingly much heavier when you pick up (Mr. Limestone will have to explain that one to me at a later date) is Peel Away 6. This product was mentioned to me a year or more ago and stuck in my head for just such an occasion. Another trip to local diy home improvement store and we had all the makings for a stripper rumble.

I applied to short sides of two doors in the same room. Figure that was as good as a test case as any and they would have the same # of paint layers.

Peel Away comes right out and say is takes much longer (anywhere from 2 hours to 48 hours depending upon the # of paint layers) so that was a bit of a bummer to the instant gratification desire in me. Kleanstrip indicates it needs about 15 minutes to work. Kleanstrip: 1 pt, Peel Away 0.

The consistency of Kleanstrip is a bit like clear snot. Not as sticky as would be ideal for a vertical surface and its colorlessness makes it a bit difficult to see where you have applied vs where you have missed. Peel Away is more like a loose frosting. Very easy to see and nice and thick. Peel Away: 1 pt; Kleanstrip: 1 pt.

As soon as I managed to pry open the child safe top of Kleanstrip, the smell was THERE in full force. To be expected with anything that can burn thru a hundred years of paint, no? So no surprise. But Peel Away is odorless (or as odorless as something that I wont actually put my nose in to smell is). No child proof cap either which is nice for a klutz like me but probably a negative if you have a child who might eat some of this odorless frosting looking substance that can burn a whole in your stomach. Anyway, no smell is a point for Peel Away from me. Peel Away: 2pts, KleanStrip: 1 pt.

And here is the money shot. I wait 15 minutes, both surfaces seem to be bubbling the multiple coats of paint under there. So far, both on equal footing. I wait 15 minutes and try to scrape the Kleanstrip off. Not so good. It sort of comes off but I have really scrape. Its only a few square inches and Im already exhausted. Not a good sign. I reapply and leave it on for about an hour figuring if it took 100 years to get this many layers, I can wait an hour, right? An hour later..still sucks. About this time I figure I'll give the Peel Away a try. Slides right off. So long Kleanstrip, Peel Away's in town. Bing, bing, bing - Peel Away wins by knockout.

So we have a winner....not much of a fight really.

On to a real test...the bannister!

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Comments

I am SO excited to see your new blog! As for paint removal, we have gone through this for years, and it is one of the biggest jobs we have to do in our former crack-house. No roof/windows? Nothing compared to stripping paint! What we do is make a first pass with the silent paint remover. It is unbelievable! But then we do 1 (and only 1 needed) coat of Rock Miracle for a finish, with steel wool. It is amazing. The silent paint remover is about $400, but has totally paid for itself, because of the $$ we saved in stripper. It is not good on rounded surfaces though, but still can be used for a first pass. GOOD LUCK!! And keep these posts coming!

Posted by: Anonymous at January 30, 2007 10:12 AM

Almost everything we plan on stripping (at least in the first go round) is somewhat rounded or has some curved detail...so I ruled out silent paint remover even though it gets great reviews on flat surfaces.

Add that to the fact Im a complete klutz and could set the house afire if I used some kind of heat tool, I need more idiot friendly products :)

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 30, 2007 11:17 AM

I would be curious to see how peel away does on woodwork that has detail. Sadly i have a lot of painted surface in my parlor and really want the paint gone but there is a good amount of detail and i don't want to ruin it...

Posted by: Anonymous at January 30, 2007 12:29 PM

I've had mixed results with Peel Away. Leave it on too long, especially on a non-flat surface, and you could have real problems removing it all after it hardens. A neighbor who obsessively stripped every stick of wood in his brownstone ruined a couple of doors by leaving the Peel Away on too long and badly warping the recessed door panels. I've done a lot of stripping, and the nasty, messy old chemical strippers like Klean Strip are just better. I'd be surprised if you get it all off with P-Away. I bet you resort to chemicals eventually, at least for final removal and clean up. Good luck.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 30, 2007 1:43 PM

Anon 12:29 - Im going to give Peel Away a try on somethign very ornate as soon as it gets a wee bit warmer (ive heard from those in the know that pa doesnt work that great when its less than 60 degrees). I'll report back.

Anon: Maybe I just got a bad batch but the only way to get the paint off using Kleanstrip was to practically hack the first layer of wood off with it...and that was on a very small flat surface. Is there another kind that works better?

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 30, 2007 3:45 PM

I find the Kleanstrip works best when it is appled very thick and sits for at least a half and hour. Then all the paint and gel come off pretty good. But it is such a mess! This stuff is really strong too. Respirator and gloves a must! After stripping I used Denatured Alcohol with some steel wool and that cleaned up the wood nicely. Then stain...and polyurethane...
I am a big fan of the Silent Paintremover...but I understand your fear of the heat. I can darken the wood if you leave it in the same area too long.

Posted by: Tom at January 30, 2007 4:12 PM

We have a limestone like yours , only in Crown Heights. We bought it 3 years ago, lots of beautiful details. All the doors and window moulding had been painted and so I set about stripping them. Super toxic, super hard work and I realised we had bigger things that needed doing. We eventually found a great guy to strip our wood named Victor. He takes incredible pride in his work, a supreme perfectionist, you will never achieve his finish, sorry to say so. We are very slowly stripping our wood, we do it in stages, you know inbetween having a new roof done, plumbing etc. If you ever want his # don't hesitate to e mail me.

Posted by: Jill Nicholls at January 30, 2007 11:24 PM

Thanks Jill. What is he charging for that work? We got an estimate in the 5 figures but we didnt bother looking after hearing that. At anywhere near that price its either a diy job or painted over for us.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 31, 2007 9:13 AM

Be very careful using strippers on ornamentation as some of it was made from a wood putty like substance. It will melt/dissolve with stipper.

Posted by: Tim at February 4, 2007 9:13 PM

*please* update us when you attmept the bannister. i've been experimenting with trying to get paint off ours but i fear the number of layers + total length of the bannister = not gonna do it. but if you have some success it may well inspire me to keep at it.

Posted by: Jimmy Legs at February 5, 2007 4:20 PM