stripping – Green Bungalow Craftworks

Mom and I worked on the door a bit more the other day because the weather was nice. After an application of chemical stripper, much patient, diligent scrubbing with stiff bristled brushes (mom) and whining, stomping, and a hasty once-over scrub (me), I declared we were done with the stripper. I’ve had enough of this project. Remind me to thank my grandfather for thinning his paint and applying it in so many tissue thin layers.

We pulled out the big guns. Now we were finally seeing some results. I started with 60 grit on the orbital sander, then moved to 100 grit. Mom played around with her new 3D sander, which has three small rotating discs that flex; nice if you are working on something curved. Think men’s electric razor. I guess I should have snapped a picture of it in action, but we were both tired by then.

The sanders made pretty quick work of those last two stubborn layers. Makes me wonder if we shouldn’t have broken out the sanders earlier in the game. We flipped the door and gave the other side a quick wipe down with the denatured alcohol. For some reason I had it in my head that there was shellac on this side, not sure why. Turns out that’s not the case, so all the denatured alcohol did was take off the top layer of dirt. I’ll let Jack worry about what to do here.

Speaking of Jack, we expect him to pay us a visit any day now. He’ll come and pick up the “new” front door, and the shiny new storm/screen door. Jack will take them back to his workshop, do his magic and when he returns them they’ll both match in color and both look shiny new. I’m not sure exactly how he’ll get the stained side to match, or anything about his process, but quite frankly at this point I don’t care, just so long as someone else takes this project off my hands. Mom and I have done as much as we have the skills and patience for. Now it is up to Jack. I’m sure I won’t feel as surly about the front door by the time it is returned to us, so maybe I’ll ask Jack about his process. Then I can share that part of the saga with all of you.

p.s. for my friends and family who only read my blog to see pictures of Oliver, sorry to disappoint today, but chemicals, power tools, and puppies don’t mix.

We had some freakishly warm weather this past Wednesday, considering it is February in Pennsylvania. It was blustery, but with temperatures in the low 60s, mom and I couldn’t ignore the siren call of the stripping project we started more than a month ago, when we had temperatures in the high 50s in January.

So we hauled out the chemical stripper, orange gloves, and all manner of scrapers. The door, saw horses, and drop cloths were all still out on the front porch, ’cause we’re klassy like that.

We set up, and got through two or three layers of stripper. I can’t remember which. Mom was doing most of the work, while I was scraping and whining. The wind made it feel like it was in the 40s, not the 60s. My mom is such a good sport.

When we were done, we wiped it all down with mineral spirits, and decided that our next move would be to take the sander to all the flat parts. The sanding I am pretty good at. As for the mullions, I think they are going to get slatered with chemicals a couple more times. I’ve heard that they make special scrappers for curves and small corners. I must look into this.
You may have noticed that we didn’t strip the bottom panel. Well there is good reason for that. As many people suspected, it is in fact a veneer over four vertical boards. I truly don’t know how we overlooked it before. I feel kind of silly now, it is so obvious. So since the bottom panel’s veneer is so damaged, it will just need to be replaced. Keep in mind, this is the bottom of what was the exterior when it was on my grandparent’s house. At the bungalow, it will be on the interior, and the only moisture it will be subject to are Oli nose prints!
Speaking of Oliver, he is anxious for us to complete this project so that he can once again be allowed out on his front porch.