The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
House Painting
Burning off is done with an instrument called a painter's torch, which burns alcohol, naphtha, or kerosene, and with which a strong blast of flame can be directed against a surface. The paint is not really burned; but it softens and seems to melt, and is then immediately scraped off with a steel scraper. It is, of course, a slow and consequently somewhat expensive operation; but there are cases where it is the cheapest thing to do, in the end.
Besides the painter's torch, varnish removers are used to take off paint and varnish; but, being more expensive, these are used only on indoor work, and especially on moldings and the like, where the torch may do damage. A varnish remover is a liquid which will dissolve dried varnish and paint; it softens the film so that it may be scraped off, or cleaned off with a very stiff scrubbing brush. It is usually made of acetone, benzole, and similar liquids, and the best contain some waxy substance which prevents the film from drying up again rapidly. They are inflammable and must be used with care. The best are patented. After removing the old paint or varnish, the paint remover is washed off with benzine, but the surface should stand exposed to the air at least a week to let the last of it evaporate, before repainting.
A Colored Finish Without Paint
A very handsome and comparatively new finish for open-grained woods consists in dyeing the wood with a water-stain; when it is dry the grain is filled with a colored filler; this filler may be an ordinary colorless silica paste-filler to which has been added a pigment of a suitable color, or it may be paste white lead if a white color is desired. As the oil and turpentine in the filler do not tend to dissolve or mix with the color of the water-stain, we have a sharp contrast between the dyed wood, which forms a background, and the filler in the grain of the wood; for instance, the latter may be white on a blue ground, or dark blue on pale blue, or any other combination of colors which may strike the fancy of the designer. In this way very striking effects, harmonizing with the general color scheme of the room- furnishings, may be easily obtained. Of course, the wood will be subsequently finished with a transparent varnish, as any other wood-work would be. Some very costly and artistic buildings, both public and private, have been done in this way.
