c1906 Triple Brick Victorian

[Gothichome]

Sinoed, been to Middland many times, parents lived in Pennetang for a dozen years or so. I too work in Alberta(at least for now). We bought our home in Chatham six years ago now. I cashed in the Calgary house last year before the down turn. Welcome to the district, we have maybe a half dozen Canucks here, all with fine century homes, oh and one mid century.

[Sinoed]

So far it seems like there is only one coat of awful black paint on the fireplace and one coat of white on the woodwork. I have heard that acetone works really well to get into the little cracks in the stone, paint stripper seemed to be "ok" with a lot of elbow grease. I actually think it's going to take several attempts to get the fireplace clean. It's interesting that the fireplace is unique! Now I'll search the papers and see if anything turns up.

I'd like to tackle the white woodwork but I keep looking at the terrible condition of the dining room trim. The purplish mahogany color which is completely wrong, chipped and sad looking is almost more offensive than clean white. I'm not sure if soy gel is the best route or just regular stripper, it will have to go back to bare wood. It's a modern (and really poor) finish that was completed recently.

I kind of wish I'd sold my house in Alberta a year ago but I didn't so I'm stuck here for a bit until the economy recovers. I will lose more than I care to think about if I cash out now and buying high then selling low is against investing 101. Lol.

Next set of pictures I post I'll try to get them turned properly in an editor first - thanks.

[1918ColonialRevival]

The first thing you're going to need to do with the dining room woodwork is figure out what was used so you'll know the best way to remove it. If it was an oil based stain, hope that it didn't soak into the wood very far. I've used various strippers meant for stains and varnishes and had mixed results. It basically comes down to the type of wood, how much stain was applied, and what kinds of top coats it had. You'll probably have to try several methods before you find something that will help. Resist the temptation to sand it off. Sanding is an "if all else fails" solution and really shouldn't be used in a situation like this. As you try removal methods, start in a corner behind a door or somewhere else inconspicuous.

I don't know why people feel the need to slop paint or other products on finished woodwork.

For the crevices in the masonry, start with some naphtha, some old toothbrushes, and about a hundred scotch brite pads. An old vegetable brush or two will come in handy as well. Expect to build up your arm muscles getting all that off.

[Texas_Ranger]

I don't know why people feel the need to slop paint or other products on finished woodwork.

Oh, I do! They simply don't like the wood colour or think the wood is too damaged to leave exposed and rate their personal comfort higher than that of anyone who might come after them.

I recently stripped a huge wardrobe intending to leave it shellaced but my mom - who's ultimately going to live with it, it's not in my place) - doesn't like the colour of the ruby shellac over what seems to be oak and there is indeed a bit of damage so paint it'll be. I love the wood tone and think it'd be a great match for the oak floor but there'd be a lot of work restoring the whole thing (extensive veneer repair and stain matching) and it would definitely make the hall where it stands a lot darker. So yes, although I don't like it I can understand why people paint woodwork.

[Sinoed]

Well I went back to Ontario for a bit and finished the backsplash. Unfortunately, previous owners decided to glue orange melamine to the walls (which absolutely had to go). Tearing it off left a pretty rough surface which would be impossible to keep clean, so tiling was a good option over repairing/replacing all the walls. I found a nice subway tile with a slight beveled edge for $2.77/sq ft so it wasn't that expensive. It isn't perfect but it will help to keep things clean until I completely re-do everything with new cabinets and the works.

I've also been researching the age and the house was shown on the 1904 fire insurance mapping so I know it was built before then. One strange thing are some marks to indicate shutters on the fire map. There are no shutters on the house now, but the fire map says they were there. I took a really good look at the brickwork and couldn't see any holes for attaching them. I'll have to check out other homes in the area to look for originals.

[JacquieJet]

Looking good! I love the grey of your cabinets, too.

I'm in the process of paint stripping over here, too- ugh. Tedious! Luckily (?) for me, all the trim in the house seems to have been originally painted, so I won't have to take it all off (trying to keep as much original look as possible in this regard). I'm only stripping the paint over the stained wood (the stairs) and where it has poor adhesion/bubbles on the trim.

[Swedesboro Castle]

Love that main staircase!

[1850Farmer]

Welcome,

What a grand home! I love all of the trim details and look forward to seeing more pictures as you move along.