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Wow. You have so many things going on that it’s impossible to get real specific. The Thompson’s is nothing but a wax emulsion. My guess is that a coat of wax is not going to do much to help wood last in hot, dry country. What it can do, and we don’t know how much, is seal the wood so the ocher stain just sits on the surface. The “mostly thinner”/paint thinner/mineral spirits is a solvent for wax but we don’t know how much of the wax is still there and where it went if it was there to be dissolved. I suspect that there is not much wax left on the wood now but, again, without seeing and feeling before and after the staining, you can’t be definative. What do your senses tell you now?
At this point, I do think that any film finish will not bond well to the surface and tend to peel off eventually. The wax and linseed oil will not help adhesion. Depending on how much rain or other moisture you get over the winter, you can make some decisions in the spring. If you are in a place where water pools and puddles over the winter and spring, the wood that is in the ground will be the first to show problems with rot. My guess is that your property will have easy run-off and drainage and moisture will not be much of a problem. (Old adobe houses in the area will give you clues on this. If they last for years, there can’t be much water washing them away.)
If you are in an area where water stays, then the spar varnish will be the best solution for wood that’s above ground. I would do nothing about this until next fall when you have had a summer in the sun to get rid of things on the surface of the wood that will prevent adhesion. Then you can power wash, stain with a product that your local paint store says works well in your area and seal/varnish with a varnish that your paint store says works well.
If you are in an area where water is not much of an issue, you might consider just replacing the linseed oil or linseed oil and pigment every year or so. That will provide some protection from water and be relatively cheap and easy to do.
Henry in MI
Kevin, there are a lot of different sizes and shapes of structural foam cove moldings available that will fit your needs. Check http://www.spectis.com and http://www.chemcrest.com to start.
Also, you can put moldings together if you can’t find what you want. One way is to start by putting a flat board against the wall and then put the shaped molding between the wall/molding and the ceiling. For wood and small foam moldings, you will want to check out how to do cope cuts for inside corners at http://mywebpages.comcast.net/krumy/. Look down the home page for the list of topics.
Henry in MI
Vicky, there is another way and that is to remove the drywall and the brick. Sometime this can be easier to remove and replace than just the brick if you have a really big area of the brick.
Henry in MI
Getting the glue off your ring can be done with one of the many super glue removers available at a home center or other store where they sell a lot of different kinds of glue. The remover may not work as well on your countertop though because it is a petroleum based solvent that might attack the countertop and cause you a lot more problems. I would start on the glue on the countertop with a single-edged razor blade. That should get it off with no problem as long as you work carefully. One of the many kinds of razor blade holders will make this easier for you. Don’t try the super glue remover on your countertop unless you have tested it on an out-of-the-way location to be sure that it doesn’t soften or melt the top material.
Henry in MI
Children’s stores that have furniture and furniture stores that have children’s furniture are probably sources. From my experience, the items that you are looking for are pretty standard and should be easy to locate. I would start with the phone book and take the old part along when you go pick up the new ones for comparison.
Henry in MI
Your floor most probably has a finish that is petroleum based so you will want to start with plain old soap and water. Go easy on the amount of water, just enough to carry the ink away is enough. If that doesn’t work, I would try alcohol. Any kind of alcohol will work about the same in equal concentations. Denatured alcohol would be the best, if you have it around, but you can even use cheap aftershave lotion or perfume just for a trial or for a small amount of ink.
Henry in MI
There are so many safety issues involved with installation of an electrically operated item in an environment that will reach temperatures above 600 degrees that it isn’t realistic for a homeowner to consider doing.
Henry in MI
If you have yet to apply the paint, you can reduce the amount of shine. Once it has been applied, I don’t know of a realistic way to reduce the amount of gloss.
For paint that has yet to be applied, you can add talcum powder to the paint in the can. I can’t tell you how much to add and the best way to determine this is to paint a small test patch on a piece of white paper (like you probably have for your computer printer). Let this dry and use a hair dryer if you must to get the sample reasonably dry to get a good idea of the amount of shine you will have.
Talc, sold as body powder at your drug store or drug department, tends to settle out of paint just like the talc, Fuller’s earth or diatomacious earth that the paint companies use to flatten their products. You have to stir the talc into the paint well and stir well before application and stir occasionally as you proceed through your project to achieve an even gloss level. This is just like what the instructions tell you for anything less than a full gloss paint.
Henry in MI
There are so many different designs of bed rail ends and widths, plus headboard methods of attachments, that have been used that it’s impossible to give you one answer. You just have to see what you have available on the headboard and try to go from there.
If your headboard really is older than 1978, I would have it sandblasted, then repaint. This is to be sure that there is no possibility that it has lead based paint. You might not think that this is not an issue today but you never know what tomorrow will bring. Since you only have a little to paint, I would use a spray primer first and then a spray enamel. The sandblasting not only removes old paint but it also gives the surface a nice “tooth” to hold new paint. Get the primer on pretty quickly after the blasting as it does not take long for rust to start up on bare metal.
Henry in MI
The information presented by studio1 is correct but there are some questions you have to answer first. Sanding the old floor will remove 1/8″ of wood. How much wood will be left? Will you be down to where your tongue and groove joints, if any, will not hold up? Will you be down to where the nails will come through when you sand and tear up the expensive paper on the drum sander, and maybe tear up the drum also? You can try to answer some of these questions by removing heating duct covers or similar openings in the floor to get a look. While any flooring is made to last a long time, no comfortable flooring will last forever. It’s better to be sure that you can refinish your floor before you start and wind up in a big mess.
Henry in MI
One good source for hinges is http://www.vandykes.com. If they don’t have it then I would start trying to find a method to take advantage of that big local wholesaler that is in your area. I don’t know who the one is in your area since I don’t know where you are but I do know that about every area has one. Most will not talk directly to a homeowner so take your door with the hinge to a local cabinet shop or lumber yard. Don’t bother with the big box stores. Good luck.
Henry in MI
Lauren, that varnish on the wood will prevent even absorbtion of stain and you would have to also revarnish to prevent the new stain from just rubbing off. The revarnishing can cause all sorts of compatibility problems as there are 3 different kinds of varnish that a homeowner can apply as some similar materials that can be applied commercially. The bottom line is that you will probably end up with a streaky mess.
The best way is to strip and refinish. There are some good strippers that do not use methyl chloride and I would look for one of these as they are generally safer. Follow the manufacturers directions for use.
Henry in MI
There is a lot of technical information about corrosion of metal in technical libraries and you will need it. Combustion products and residues (ashes) are very corrosive to common metals. Cast iron or staionless steel are fairly corrosion resistant but difficult to join and can be expensive. That is why ceramic (brick) is a good choice for large outdoor grill structures. If you really want metal, a portable stainless grill or a portable grill made from new 55 gallon drums are good alternatives.
Henry in MI
The darker or stronger paint colors do not appear to cover as well as lighter colors and red shades are known for being difficult to get full coverage. Primer now would just put you back a step in the process. Another coat of red paint will put you closer to where you want to be. Make your decision where you want to go from there AFTER the red has dried for several hours and over night is better.
Henry in MI
Oil based polyurethane is the best water protection for wood that can reasonably be applied by a homeowner. I’ve been pretty happy with Park’s Oil-Modified Pro Finisher Polyurethane, which is made for floors. Water based poly is not as good and I would suggest calling the manufacturer for their recommendation if you question this.
I like to use a spit coat of shellac to consolidate the wood prior to finishing with poly but you will have a lot of alcohol fumes present if you do this so treat it like it was pure alcohol and follow the manufacturers directions for both products, the shellac and the alcohol. A spit coat is 5 parts of denatured alcohol to 1 part shellac.
Cleanliness will be a key to a good and easy finishing process. Get ALL the sanding dust out by vacuuming and using tack rags before you apply poly.
Henry in MI
