House in Progress Diary

Yes-shellac.

Use shellac and don't underestimate shellac. There are a couple of keys to using shellac. 1st mix your own shellac from dry flake so you have fresh product. 2nd use dewaxed shellac anywhere you might have contact with water(will reduce the likelyhood of rings). i'm not sure where you are thinking about using it and what other questions you might have?

Check this site.
http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/shellac3.htm
This is where i got most of my shellac.

Shellac is all I use. I use it on all woodwork including floors. The amber shellac looks terrific on pine floors, although I do use a product from Zinnser which allows me to put a coat of poly on top of the shellac. I use poly on the floors because I have dogs. Use denatured alchol and steel wool if you are refinishing something that's not too worn. Then put on your amber shellac and it will look great. Dries fast too!

Slick, slick search engine--even if it did show me that I should shut up already about Unico systems.

This post caught my eye because I'm interested in Shellac right now too. I really like the search engine feater. Good job guys. Searching for "Shellac" the third hit I got was on Petch house. Greg in Eureka and Gary from this old crack house are the woodworking gurus I turn to with questions so I guess the search engine is turning up good hits.

We used a product from http://www.ibacktonature.com/Pages/btnhome.html for both interior and exterior stripping. Outside, we brushed the MultiStrip ( http://www.ibacktonature.com/Pages/multistrip-PD.html ) on our painted brick, waited for the color change and then powerwashed the brick. There was very little damage to the mortar, the brick looks great (it is even textured and the paint came out of the texture) and no "white wash" effect that you will sometimes get with other stuff. Plus - using the power washer we were concerned about chemicals - I don't know how much faith to place in the claim (based on the results we got) that "It is biodegradable, non-flammable, and contains no methylene chloride or caustic. Multi-Strip™ is odor free and can be easily cleaned up with water." The cleaning up with water is true. It does have an odor - but we couldn't pin it down. Its not a harsh smell - but there is something. It did cause some burning of our grass, but it recovered the next year just fine.

Inside, we used the ReadyStrip ( http://www.ibacktonature.com/Pages/readystrip-PD.html )from the same company (takes off less layers at once). We saw the product on a stupid infomercial and said no way it could actually work like that. We saw it at the Andersons (a regional based store here in Ohio) and picked some up. The stuff really worked. You don't mess with it - just brush it on and let it work. When it turns white you scrape it off. And scraping is a loose term - the paint often just slid off. I am not joking. The stuff is not cheap, but it works. Just let it change colors - the paint basically delaminates from the surface. Good luck.

I found your 'blog' because we were looking for info on the Pax wardrobes from Ikea. We are doing something similar. Any regrets? Problems? We are going to build a wall to enclose them like a built in unit.

Another cheer for shellac.

I recently attended a session on house restoration hosted by the Twin Cities Bungalow Club featuring Bob Yapp, former host of "About Your House" on PBS. Bob recommended shellac not just for its historical authenticity and environmental friendliness, but because it is forgiving and easily maintained. He stressed that all finishes eventually need to be refinished-- shellac is easy to maintain, remove, and reapply.

As for your question about wood stripping, Bob highly recommended the Silent Paint Remover, with which you are already acquainted.

I've got a lot of paint to strip in my own bungalow but I haven't gotten to it yet. Thanks for the home improvement inspiration and tips. You also helped inspire me to try houseblogging. Keep up the good work!

What is the best techniques for stripping Shellac??? I am currently using Jasco water-based stripper. Specifically my question is what are the procedures after applying and taking off the stripper? I am using steel wool and then mopping the floor afterwords; it just doesn't seem to be looking the way I imangined. Any words of wisdom but be a great help.