Sunday, June 24, 2007

not so stubborn paint

Having exhausted the hi-tech options, we tried the low-tech ones...

It turns out that simply spraying the recalcitrant paint with plain water (not the water & vinegar mix that was left in the spray bottle - that reacts with the plaster), leaving it a minute then applying the scraper gets 90% of the paint off. Much of the rest is the "washable green" layer that wipes off with a damp cloth.

So the remaining part of the hallway took about four people-hours, as opposed to the 8-10 (with much dust) or 20 (with heat gun) it would have taken otherwise.

It still needs to be sanded I think, to level out the rough spots, and needs many little pock-mark holes filled in, but it could be painted once the holes are filled and look alright.

The main hallway looks like it could be done in a day using this method. :-)

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