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Frugal Fireplace Refinishing « Suddenly Frugal Blog
Frugal Fireplace Refinishing

When Bill and I started our home renovation, we knew that one of the projects we wanted done was refinishing the fireplace in the dining room. It was painted white with a sky-blue mantle, and it just wasn’t our taste. (That’s probably why we just piled the crap in it that you see in this picture and never used it as a proper fireplace.) But after finding out how much professionals wanted to do the job (how’s $600 for you?), we knew we needed to do this refinishing project ourselves.

I did some Internet research on the best–and least toxic–way to get paint off a fireplace and get the bricks back to their natural color. I’m pleased to report that in less than 24 hours–and for not a lot of money–we were able to get the job done. Here’s what we did.

First, I removed the wood mantle so that we could get to all of the exposed brick underneath. Notice the lovely yellow paint that was hiding behind the mantle. I used a crowbar to pry the mantle away from the wall, gently, of course, so it would come off in one piece. It did, and I ended up selling the mantle on Craigslist for $30.

Next, we bought a citrus-based paint remover called Citristrip at our local home improvement store. (Note: give the new FTC rules on bloggers and disclosure, neither Citristrip nor my local home improvement store has paid me to mention them.) It’s an orange-colored gel that’s somewhere between marshmallow Fluff and hair conditioner, that you’re supposed to spread liberally all over the bricks. Because it’s a paint remover, we were warned that, if spilled or splattered on wood floors, it could also take the varnish off. So we spread plastic sheets around the fireplace and over the nearby furniture just in case. It was amazingly affordable–only $12 for the bottle.

Then, we spread the stuff on using paint brushes. (We wore gloves and protective eyewear, too.) It smelled surprisingly good–nothing sickening like the insulation our contractor originally choose–and went on easily. Now, we had to wait for it to do its job of loosening the paint, but we didn’t have to wait long. Within 30 minutes we knew the stuff was working because the gel was bubbling up and the paint was starting to fall off the brick on its own. So we got out our scrapers and started, well, scraping!

We were amazed to discover that this fireplace had actually been painted four times. Working backwards, from the layers we removed, the fireplace was white, then before that blue, then green, then before than yellow–no, wait harvest gold. Why the original owners didn’t just leave it the natural, beautiful red brick is beyond me. Then again, this house was built in the 1960s and I’d be willing to bet that the harvest gold paint was applied around the same time that my own mother was investing in harvest gold appliances for the kitchen in the house where she raised me!

While metals scrapers were able to get off most of the peeling paint, eventually we had to bring out the big guns–namely a wire brush attached to a power drill, a power sander and then the Dremel to get any of the stubborn paint off the bricks. This part was the most time-consuming–see Bill sitting down on the job here.

But eventually our hard work paid off as you can see in the lovely, natural brick we were able to restore. As soon as we have a new mantel built and installed (Bill is doing both himself), I’ll post a picture of the finished job.

Bottom line: in keeping with my earlier 10 Grand in My Hand post, we were able to keep $588 in our hands by refinishing our fireplace ourselves. Then if you add in the $30 we made on selling the mantle, we actually ended up “saving” or “keeping” $618!

American Clay’s High-Demand, Single-Coat Sustainable “Enjarre” Plaster Now in 100s of Colors
With the drywall market the most dominant in commercial construction, American Clay made this market its primary target with Enjarre and therefore, considered carefully the varying regional building habits/costs during their R&D phase to ensure their ability to compete. Typical wall finishes range from (a) gypsum plus paint on drywall with an average cost (product + labor) of $1.75/sq. ft. to (b) texture plus paint, average $.85/sq. ft., or (c) smooth wall plus paint, average $1.26/sq. ft. Enjarre sales are increasing monthly, largely due to the price competiveness to paint and gypsum plasters. These sales show the cost for product alone to be from $.45 to contractors and $.58 per sq. ft. to retail buyers. Sprayed or troweled-on projects of 20,000 square feet or more see application, including product, costs of $1-1.60/sq. ft.

Your Place / Home Q & A : Life : The Buffalo News
Your Place / Home Q & A
By Al Heavens
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
October 04, 2009, 7:13 AM / 0 comments
Story tools:

Q:We have a 1948 house with pink tile in the bathroom that we have wanted to do something about for years, but we have been receiving conflicting advice.

Some say painting the tiles will not last long and will start flaking off quickly. Is there a product that has proven to permanently adhere to tile in a high-moisture environment?

We are told the pink tiles are set in a concrete base and will be a major job costing many thousands ($12,000 to $15,000) to remove and replace. The tiles are on the floor (small squares) and the walls throughout the room up to 50 inches from the floor including a full backdrop to the tub. The bathroom is on the second floor with wet-plaster ceilings below, which might not take the removal process well.

A: I’ve seen lots of efforts on the cheap-design shows such as TV’s “Trading Spaces” to change tile color with paint. Since the shows never return to the scene of their crimes, I have no idea how long the paint lasts.

I would assume moisture would be an issue, even if you used a paint designed for areas where the humidity can be high. In addition, if the tiles are glossy, they need to be deglossed or scuffed up to get the paint to adhere to the surface. Floor tiles would be more difficult to keep painted than the ones on the wall because you walk on them.

I’ve seen tile after it has been painted, and it looks painted. You might be able to tile over the pink, if the floor is level and can support the weight. I understand that has a greater success rate than painting tiles.

Fresco isn’t just a wall painting

From the Palette
If you read “The Da Vinci Code” you probably saw the word “fresco” in reference to painting. But what exactly is a “fresco?”

If asked to define a fresco, most people would say that it’s a mural, or “wall painting.” True, but real fresco is a wall painting of a special kind. And murals are not frescos. A mural can be painted on a wall in any of several techniques, including acrylics (such as the one in downtown Van Wert) and oil paints. Most murals today aren’t painted right on the wall, but are painted on canvas or huge specially prepared boards and then glued or mounted to the wall. That makes them murals, but they are not frescos.

When people visit Italy for the first time, they are sometimes surprised to find that some of the paintings they are familiar with from reproductions in books actually cover enormous wall surfaces, the same surfaces into which they were originally painted. Notice that we use the word “into.” True frescos are actually painted INTO the wall, not onto it.

A real fresco is actually part of the wall. The painter works with pure pigment, using only water as a medium to hold the pigment. Timing is essential, because the artist paints directly on a fresh plaster coating as the plaster dries. If the wall is still too wet, it won’t accept pigment; if it’s too dry, the pigment won’t enter the plaster and will powder off later on. The painter must complete the work during the few hours when the surface is just dry enough to suck in the pigment and just wet enough to combine its own moisture with the water containing the pigment. During those few hours, the plaster will absorb the pigment a fraction of an inch below its surface, and will hold it there.

The fresco painter plasters only as much of the wall as he expects to be able to cover that day. The next day he has to chip away any unpainted dried plaster and lay on a fresh area next to the finished work. Every day’s work must be completed that day; it’s not possible to go back and make corrections or paint into yesterday’s work to unite it with today’s.

The fresco painter has to have the whole scheme visualized in detail before he works on any part of it. If the color of any area must be changed, even slightly, he has to chip off the offending part and start over again.

An additional complication is that the color changes as the plaster dries. The fresco painter is painting two pictures at once; one a picture in the colors he sees as he paints, and the other a picture in the colors he’ll see the next morning when the plaster has dried. He has to match yesterday’s colors by remembering how they looked before drying, an extremely difficult task.

Finished fresco paintings share the fortunes of the building itself. It may be neglected, abused, or cherished. If the wall cracks, the fresco cracks. A fresco is so organically united with architecture that you have to be present in the building to get the full impact of the painting. Mere pictures in a magazine or book do not give us a sense of the wall and location that are a vital element in fresco painting.

Ironically, the author of “The Da Vinci Code” was in error when he called “The Last Supper” a fresco. “The Last Supper” was an experiment by Da Vinci using tempera painting on DRY plaster. ON, not INTO. The painting took four years to complete and it was a disaster. Humidity caused the paint to separate from the plaster on which it was painted. Whole pieces of paint fell off the wall almost immediately, and it continued to flake and deteriorate for hundreds of years. After 20 years of effort, modern experts have managed to more or less stabilize the piece, but it is a faded, blurry replica of the original painting. If Da Vinci had used the true fresco technique, “The Last Supper”: would still be as gloriously brilliant as Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling fresco is today.

colour fo house – Webmaster Forum
hi everyone
I am going to paint my house.but I am confused which colour or combination of colour i hv use??? please suggest me the outer colour for my house.I m thinking for combination of dark choclate and light choclate and light cream colour is it o.k. or some outher colour.

When painting an exterior door, the more paint you paint on will make it darker? | Cost to Paint a House – Answers
When painting an exterior door, the more paint you paint on will make it darker?
PostDateIcon October 4th, 2009 | PostAuthorIcon Author: admin

I am painting an exterior metal door the color clay pot. I am wondering if the more coats I paint on it will the color get darker. I have painted two coats on it already!

Hi,

On exterior metal, you should use a bonding primer first since the paint may not stick well or adhere appropriately.

The color should be what is advertised – it does not matter how many coats you apply. However, if it is a deep base color you are using you may need several coats to cover the door properly.

Ask your paint store for the bonding primer and if the color you are using is considered deep base.

If you need any other help, you can ask me any questions you’d like for free by going to my blog at blog.ezpaintinginc.com and clicking on “Ask Mike”.

Sincerely,
Mike
E-Z Painting Inc.
blog.ezpaintinginc.com

Sharper Impressions Painting » Blog Archive » The Sky’s the Limit!

Professional House Painting Contractor For Over 18 Years!
« Summer Memories: Charity Painting Project Leaves a Big “Impression”
The Sky’s the Limit!

Things just got a little greener here at Sharper Impressions Painting… and I’m not talking about a new color of paint. The new skylights installed in our 3,000 square foot office and warehouse are another step we’ve taken to operate our business in a more environmentally friendly way.

In the past year, we’ve implemented several other green initiatives that have had a huge, positive impact on the environment.

* We erased our carbon footprint by joining Carbonfund.org
* We are a nearly paperless office thanks to our Intranet database
* All Sharper Impressions Painting products continue to be Low or No VOC
* Our bee boxes support the local honey bee population’s struggling pollination efforts
* Newly installed insulation increases energy efficiency and reduces costs
* All possible office waste is recycled
* Finally, our new skylights are installed!

With the skylights, we’re saving money by harnessing solar energy, replacing over 800 watts of office and warehouse lighting used each year. Not only was our old lighting system costly, with warehouse lights on the same circuits as other office lighting, but many times they were left on without need, especially when only one late-night worker was in another part of the building. A big waste!

We anticipated saving the use of only four large high bay lights. However, after installation, we are surprisingly proud to announce, that NO lighting needs to be turned on in the office during the regular work day. The skylights have been a great addition to our green efforts.

Aside from the economic and financial positives, the skylights improve our office atmosphere. There’s an outdoors-y feel and a calming view of clouds passing by. Employees who work on the second floor no longer have to contend with the bright, glaring electric light and all of us have noticed the absence of that annoying “buzz” from rows of fixtures. Overall there’s a cozier, more natural feeling to our workspace. Stop by to see us, anytime!

While the profit from electrical cost-savings won’t be seen for about 8 years, we feel pretty good about doing our part to help operate an eco-friendly business and… getting closer to nature at the same time.

 

Ultra Modern Switch Restaurant Arabic Interior Design – newhouseofart.com – Home Decorating and Accessories For Your Dream House
Most excellent and futuristic restaurant interior design located in Dubai, UAE by Karim Rashid called Arabic Switch Restaurant with ultra modern and luxury design. This is new innovation idea for modern and minimalist interior design for a restaurant. Why it is called “Switch”? Because the interior of restaurant wall paint color may be change automatically and continuously, from time to time it colorized in violet, yellow, green even blue. The designer want switch to be a physically powerful, regular vision collected of a permanent, rolling wall that wraps approximately the room. The restaurant interior design makes an attractive texture for light and shadow, suggesting the sand dunes in the desert. It is an exclusive environment of regularity and steadiness that totally encloses the guests. Each experience is calm of smells, views, tastes and sounds; here, the mind makes personality backgrounds for a really astounding worldwide dining experience. The backlit ceiling artwork consists of stylized inspiring Arabic expressions. The incessant wave seating offers a special efficient and lively working scheme. Here is the best photos of restaurant interior design from Ultra Modern Switch Restaurant Arabic Interior Design.

Posted in Decorating | Tags: color, interior, paint | No Comments »