Comments on: And, So It Begins

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:34:19 +0000

This doesn’t work in all situations, I guess it depends on the chemical make-up of the adhesive used to tack down the tar paper, but it DID work for us. I covered the floor with warm water, a good amount…think sopping not flooding. Then I covered the water with paper towels but you could use wet rags, old newspapers, etc. and let it sit overnight. The next day the adhesive and tar paper came up super easily with a paint scraper. My husband says, “Like butter”. I hope this works for you.

Here is an article where I talk about removing linoleum adhesive. There is a lot of good information and alternative techniques in the comments: http://1912bungalow.com/2004/07/removing-linoleum-adhesive

Best of luck!

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:08:55 +0000

The last picture of the little back hallway floor in this post is very familiar! We just recently stripped off 5 layers of linoleum from our floor. Underneath is what appears to be a tar paper kind of thing… just like you have in that picture. Any tips on getting that stuff off easily? We are down to hand scraping bit by bit and would love a tip if you have one. We would love to get to the Douglas fir floors beneath. Thanks!

By: Barbra

Barbra — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:32:57 +0000

I am having old fir floors in my kitchen refinished. The kitchen adjoins the dining room that has pecan floors. After sanding – I would like to leave the original fir (rather than staining them), but I’m concerned that they will look hodge podgy next to the dining room. Decorators always say to have continuity with your wood flooring. What’s everyone’s opinion on that?

By: Kevin Nash

Kevin Nash — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:09:25 +0000

Wow,

What a great site and what a great thing you have done here. I just happened upon your site as I was looking at some real estate sites for work and found you.

I have become far behind in what I needed to be doing because of your fascinating stories. I look forward to reading more of your adventures like readying a good book.

Have a great day!
Kevin Nash
Germantown, WI

By: Lorri

Lorri — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 05:44:53 +0000

Some very interesting comments here. I would like to add a few myself. The first house we bought had painted woodwork upstairs. My husband figured out a sort of system for stripping all the trim and doors. I would like to mention that we had the paint tested for lead before we started because we have small children and thought that it was the wise thing to do. Anyways, he first used the heat gun to get the majority of the old paint off. Then he used Citrustrip (smells like oranges). It is a gel and goops on nicely. He would let it sit for a bit and work it around with a brush (like a kitchen dish cleaning brush). Then he would gently scrape off the paint. He used old discarded dental tools from a local dentist to get into the nooks and crannies. Then he wiped it all down with a water-dampened sponge. After it was dried, he sanded it. I must mention that it was old Southern Yellow Pine and was beautiful. However, staining it was a trick. The darker the stain the trickier. Since the grain does not absorb evenly, it can look blotchy. He got the stain custom mixed to take on an almost reddish-orange tone to match the trim downstairs that had aged for 80 years. He finished it off with a high-gloss shalack to again match the older trim. The ornate banister was so pretty. Needless to say, we moved next door and hope the new owner doesn’t decide to paint over all that hard work. However, we now live in an early 1900′s bungalow with oak woodwork, quarter-sawn oak flooring downstairs and yellow and red birch flooring upstairs. And thankfully, no one painted over any trim!! Just wish I had some decorating savvy to do justice to this beautiful house. Still trying to pick out a paint color for the dining room. Husband is very patient, but I think he is going to pick the paint color soon. Keep at it, you will be glad in the end.

By: heather

heather — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 23:42:13 +0000

Hi Tina. Dust from lead paint is a real concern. Are you sure the paint you are removing contains lead? They sell kits that test for lead paint. I think it’s always a good idea to know what you are working with. I have heard that a general rule of thumb is that most homes built prior to 1960 contain lead paint.

The problem with sanding is that it creates large amounts of lead dust and this can lead to lead poisoning. If you type in “lead paint dust” into Goggle or any search engine I’m sure you will find lots of information on lead exposure.

I would definately wear a mask. I’d also use a heavy plastic to cover doorways or any open areas to other parts of the house – create a containment area for where you are working. Make sure you have good ventilation. Be careful not to track any dust to other parts of your home from your shoes or your clothes.

I have mainly heard about lead exposure being dangerous for children, so I’m sure it is not safe for dogs either. They could get the lead dust on their paws and ingest it when they lick their feet to clean themselves. I’d keep the dogs outside and away from the work area.

I’m really no expert so do some research, but it’s always best to error on the side of caution.

Godd luck!

By: Tina

Tina — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 21:25:38 +0000

Hi Heather-
Since you and Dave are the masters of paint removal I have a very basic question that I thought I’d shoot your way. I know you were using some fairly toxic paint strippers but if you could only have used sand paper would you still wear a mask due to the lead paint fumes? My paint is coming off of my wood pretty easily but I worry about the lead fumes for myself and my dogs. Do they make respirators for dogs?

By: Emily

Emily — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 14:58:02 +0000

thank you so much for posting back! i actually called the McBride company after not finding anything similar here in texas, but unfortunately they can’t ship due to all the weird toxic regulations in shipping now. i’m hangin in! and was reinspired when I found this woman’s work – found it on a thread about those other products… http://ayers.smugmug.com/gallery/13219/1/12984611

By: heather

heather — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 03:13:42 +0000

Hey. Good for you – sorry it didn’t work out but at least you started.

The only product I tried from the ones you mentioned is PeelAway. Personally, I didn’t love it. I realize that everyone’s situation is different so maybe some products will work better for different people depending on their circumstances. We know several people who used PeelAway with great success and loved the product. For us, it just didn’t cut through all the layers of paint very well even after we left it for hours.

Our friends who liked PeelAway thought the special paper you have to buy got too expensive after a while. They ended up switching to plastic wrap instead and it worked fine for them.

Master Strip, Formula A Remover from the McBride Company (Los Angeles, CA 818.507.8900) worked really well in our house. It’s not environmentally friendly though, so if that is a concern this probably wouldn’t be the best choice.

I hope it goes better next time around. We had to try several different things before we found something that worked.

Hang in there.

By: Emily

Emily — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 02:10:39 +0000

Okay I started. took 30 minutes to figure out that the product I bought will not work AT ALL. so much for getting an expert opinion. Have been reading and rereading about paint stripping and was wondering if you had ever tried ReadyStrip or PeelAway or RemovAll?? i’m going to look into it tomorrow, but wanted to see if you had tried it already. I love the blog, partick the recent recap of the first 4 years, we’ve just entered year 2…