Stone Floorboard Discovery?
At the suggestion of a contractor, I scraped a bit of the paint off the floorboards at the base of the walls in my Park Slope bathroom. To my surprise, the bit of exposed surface is smooth, and would seem to be stone–marble? These “boards” are roughly 6″ wide, and about an inch thick. Is…
At the suggestion of a contractor, I scraped a bit of the paint off the floorboards at the base of the walls in my Park Slope bathroom. To my surprise, the bit of exposed surface is smooth, and would seem to be stone–marble? These “boards” are roughly 6″ wide, and about an inch thick. Is it plausible in one of the buildings between 8th and 7th Aves with the “V” shaped (not bay) windows? Is there a sane way to remove the pain from such stone?
I don’t know about Park Slope bathrooms in particular, but 1880s bathrooms certainly could have marble. The examples I have seen used them under sinks and toilets, but not as baseboards around an entire room.
Thanks for the advice. The preliminary question is, however, is this likely marble, or something else; and the greedy question: would this have been original to this 1880’s building?
Marble is a pretty fragile stone, and can be damaged if the correct cleaner isn’t used. An acid cleaner will etch or even disintegrate marble (which is essentially compressed limestone).
Looking at Dumond’s website (www.dumondchemicals.com), the manufacturer of Peel Away, I don’t see anything that is specific for marble. The only PA product that might work is Peel Away Smart Strip. It lists “stone” as one of the materials that it can strip, and it’s Ph neutral, so you don’t have to worry about acidity. Still, I think that it would be both a v. good idea to call Dumond, and to do a test sample if the product can, indeed, be used on marble.
There is a limestone cleaner, Save ‘n’ Easy Limestone cleaner that will work on marble, but I think that’s only for surface soiling, and not for paint removal. Again, call and ask.
NAYY, but Dumond is located right here in NYC: 212-869-6250, and employes people whose job it is to match your problem with one of their products. Give them a call.
Peel Away 7 for porous stones like Marble or you can use their latest Eco Strip stuff. Both are mild enough not to damage the stone, but will remove the paint if you let it dwell for 8-24 hours. They are also environmentally friendly, especially the later, although you will want gloves to prevent skin irritation.
I second Peel Away. It is amazing.
Peal Away stripper may work for you. However, all paint stripping can be a real mess. Peal Away isn’t toxic like other strippers.