Barnwood

I have been sidetracked with many things these days. One is a stack of barnwood I have been going through in the search for what is salvageable. Although a very big barn in length it was rather small in depth and sat along a slough. It fell sometime ago- perhaps over 50 years ago... While much of the barn is no good there are pieces that I can bring back to life. I have plans already for some plank flooring in the bathroom and hall way. A table perhaps? It is worn and windblown, but is old growth redwood and THAT is enough to save as much of this treasure as I can... I left my camera in the rain, now I need to buy another one.

closer.....

I seem to be closing in on the combination for removing paint off my windows and trim.
Soygel.....leave it on for at least a day, in the hotter weather cover with plastic so the gel does not dry. I bet if my house was only 50 this would be easy....,but boy do I have a lot of paint on this place.
Anyhow leave the gel on to work use a scraper to get the big stuff off then, hook your hose up to the hot water for your washer, and spray away. I then use the heat gun to get the smaller stuff off. i know most people want to avoid using heat guns, but at this point there is little to get off so it works great.
REMEMBER THOUGH...

This stuff takes a ton of time. This would be great for the teenagers in your world. Unfortunately it is just me.

I also have come to the conclusion that as soon as you can get the glass out the better.

I am also changing a lot of the glass out with new glass. Not planned though I just cannot seem to stop breaking them. It usually happens when I nearly have the glaser points and most of the old putty removed....GRRRRRanimals.

i do love this work though. I need a shop though. Which makes me look at my barn and go argh!

On a good note- I today received my Japanese saws. Geeked I am about this whole japanese woodworker style.

I hope to get in a class in Oakland for the spring.
I hope I can make the time.

the hunt?

I spent the last two days on a ranch with my dad brother friends labs and a bunch of guns.

The last time I fired a weapon Reagan might have still been in the white house.....

Anyhow. After a few safety issues ( the shotgun's safety really liked to stay engaged) I actually took a few shots to get the feeling back in my veins...With doves, quail, rabbit and pheasant (why we all went out as it was opening day) we had a bunch of wildlife to view. We took a break to buy a sickle bar mower in Woodland from a guy who has 100 tractors.........yes thats 100.

Anyhow if you say I collect something it often is no big deal if you have 100 - " Hey I have 100 nickels" ...not too impressive BUT when the item is tractors you must have ( a bunch in a few barns too) a wad of cash and Cooter Brown like mentality.....

So dad and I spend 450.00 and get a mower for dads 1954 Farmall tractor. Its raining and mud is everywhere, but dad decides to go home and we to pick up wine. LOTS of cheese and wine.

My body quits at 1030p.m. I don't even say I'm going down. It is lights out in London! I had called another hunter ( Rich) to meet up on Sunday with his friend ( now my attorney) and his son and their two dogs. We follow the labs around flushing up pheasant and they also ruin our chance at the wood ducks.......oh well. We are very surprised though at the end of the day when we run the property later and come upon a bunch of turkeys. I later talk to Rebecca, and say " Do you have turkeys?" and she replies, No.
Uh well we just shot one.......

I am going back next weekend for sure. I was going surfing but there was this tanker accident that has a lot a oil in the SF bay. Unbelievable.

Anyhow. Although I never killed anything ( the little doves were just too little) I hope to get a turkey, duck or pheasant.....
Now I want to get a deer in the winter as well. A far jump from the vegi i had been for 10 years.....

Whats this got to do with 3057?

This weekend was lost to an adventure. I never got to work on the house. I did a few times feel bad, but I though hey i could work on the house in the rain another time. It was sunny today....It was a great day BUT i should have been working on the windows in the kitchen. Bad homeowner.....

and then he said goodnight.

SOY GEL the second coming.....

I ordered some new soy gel and have begun the fun again. At some point Ill have this all down. I've learned sometimes you cannot be so rough removing trim. And even when you try real hard you crack a piece only to find there were so many nails you could not see from all angles that is is a wonder you did not end with only splinters in your hand.

I love this stuff though. I love working outside with it ( I remove the trim from the wall, but others apply on the wall when it stands) even though it is non toxic and all that----NOTE if you get it on your skin though and only wipe it off you'll have these nice red marks that are really called chemical burns to the trained professional. Wear gloves.

I pulled screen door out of the barn. It had a great green milk paint like color on it. The side of my barn has this same look. I guess it went with the barn and maybe a little room that once lived off of it. But I have a few doors that have come out of the barn and who knows where they really came from.

I have the windows in the kitchen out getting Soygelled right now in the back. Working outside in CA rules!!! Especially since it is probably 70 degrees and it is November!

I'll get some pictures up here one of these days. Actual photos express the fact that although the house looks fine, it is not the future that I want and so to me the house looks very undone. Now that the green room just needs paint in some spots and a bit of electrical work I do feel so much better.

The heater stopped working though and although I am not freaking out yet, I will be. The heater definately was not in any budget real or imaginary.

I'm going back outside now.

The green room

The green room is getting its finishing touches on its trim now. I'll pull the doors off and look to the kitchen for the next project.

I used a simple stain on the red fir trim in the green room that with all the bumps and bruises it gave me that good old weathered look i was aiming for. Their had been cracks and scrapes and nicks and nail head holes. Some I attempted to cover others not. In the end though it worked out. I learned that SOYGEL is pretty cool, but pricey and bought another gallon to work in the kitchen with. I hope to have a more refined kitchen look-cleaner I guess. I plan to rip out a window adding a door in its place. I am unsure if I want to use american plaster ( I think thats what it is called) to soften the look of the walls. I will be using concrete for the counters and this winter I'll see how that goes. Any how thats it for now its been a while ( i forgot I had this thing)

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The never ending story.....1912 Sacramento Bungalow

Already many hours into the "green room" re-do, I am still going. The Energizer bunny I am not!
After first removing the Berber carpet and laying down a Hickory floor, I coould not wait to get all the paint removed from the trim.

First I scraped with a heat gun..........After getting sort of somewhere I ended up with a pile of all the trim on the kitchen table. I ignored the stack knowing that even looking at it for a period of time would make me annoyed that it takes so long to get the paint off.

I became inspired again last week and broke out the heat gun and sander. Many layers of paint and belts later I had barely made a dent. Some of this trim has over twenty layers........I guess intead of washing the trim the former owners just painted it witha a myriad of colors...

Next try....Citris based remover. Not bad, faster YES! But MESSSSSY. Ugh, I have piles of paint all over the porch. It has become very hot in Ca as of late and a sweaty messy job is not the best when you have to wear gloves that become caked with remover and paint and get slippery constantly.

Next try after an online search..... Soy based stripper.....

It does work much better though. You can with hot water ( hook up the hose to the laundry connections) squirt off the soy based stripper. It makes an easier clean up no doubt......i just did a door like this thought.