My Favorite Stripper is Now Soy

In our continuing quest to spruce up Humphrey House in advance of the Green Home Tour, we're finally getting around to attaching the trim in the first-floor bathroom. While we had removed a lot of adhesive off the original porcelain tiles last spring, there was a slight haze in spaces (noticeably, in the grout). So we took one last stab at it with a new product, and I can happily say, I'll never use another stripper again.

Last month at the Illinois Renewable Energy Fair, we ran into a vendor selling Soy-based industrial cleaning products. One in particular that caught my eye was a Soy-based stripper called Soy-Gel, manufactured in Bloomington, IL. Knowing we had a front door we may want to strip the paint off of, we purchased a liter for $20. Not only is it environmentally safe, but it has very low VOC's when compared to other stripping products, meaning it won't burn a hole in your nose when working with it.

After we purchased it, we decided to paint and not strip the front door. So when i was staring at the bathroom floor one day, I realized that may be a perfect place to try out the soy stripper. I brushed a layer of the gel stuff on the entire floor and let it sit for a few hours (Label said: The longer it remains on surface, the better). After a few hours, I couldn't hold it anymore (and neither could the in-laws who were staying with us), and I went to wipe up the jelly stripper.

As soon as I started rubbing a paper towel across the floor, the gel turned yellow, indicating the gel had lifted up residual adhesive glue. And let me tell you, there was a lot of it. Apparently much more than I had thought. It must have been hiding in the grout! In any case, the floor cleaned up very nicely and the old tiles don't look nearly as aged as they did before. Best of all, there was no lingering smell. Once I washed the floor, any traces were eliminated.

I think this is one of my new favorite products, and I still have half a liter left to use! Hmm.. what to strip, what to strip...

(finished floor)

Now that's a right proper back porch ....

Happy with no teeth
Happy here in hibernation
Slurpin' on a peach
Starin' at the situation
Kitty at my foot
Meowin out a conversation
Rocking back and forth
That's my only destination
- from "Back Porch" by Presidents of the United States of America

That's right, folks. Since as far as the top floor goes we're kinda stalled out like the old zeldamobile at a four way stop until we get some contractor quotes, we decided to look for other ways to occupy our time.

RING RING RING. 9am Saturday morning. "Hey guys, it's Julie. You got anything I can smash? I'm in a smashy mood."

I eye the back porch through the grogginess of half-awaketown, and say "Sure. Bring a hammer."

Viola .... DESTRUCTION, properly sanctified by the fact that it's a 100+ year old porch in need of some serious attention. Like, now. So thanks, Julie, for kicking the porch screen's ass into oblivion. That, and for the Brokeback Mountain. :)

While it's still a far cry from finished, at least we got it started!!!

Getting By With A Little Help From Our Friends

Sometimes Jay and I just sit and marvel at the willingness of our friends to help us on Humphrey House. It's really amazing. You know you have the best friends and family you could ever want when everyone is ready to pitch in like this. I'm more than a little moved by their generosity and goodwill, if you can tell.

Either that, or everybody just wants that trip to Jamaica REAL BAD. :) Seriously, tho, this weekend we had just an amazing WEEKEND WARRIOR TEAM.

Jason's maternal grandpa, "Grandpa Duck," is a tough old guy who runs a handyman business in the city. He came out to assist in some serious window construction, and will be guiding us (who am I kidding, he'll be building it) in the reconstruction of a new stairwell. Grampa Duck rules, and guess what kids, he does one helluva mean "Donald Duck."

Props to Marsha for making the five hour train ride (10 roundtrip) from Carbondale to refinish our front door (among other things). She's my soulsisterfriend from WAY back - the person I've known longest in my life! - and a bit of a slavedriver to boot. It was 97 degrees in the shade, and this girl was outside, in full sun, with JEANS ON, slathering stripper on our new front door (which we discovered had been painted tan, yellow, burnt orange and fugly babyshit yellow before you got down to the beautiful oak [?] beneath) for over FOUR HOURS. Actually, I lost count after that. But it looks AMAZING.

Scott continued working on his "dirtiest guy in da house" reputation by removing the remaining plaster and lathe walls around the staircase, thereby making it the most dangerous space in the house! Scott was, as usual, covered head to toe in black soot. I think I'll start calling Scott "Burt" ... I think that was Ms. Poppin's boyfriend's name in "Mary Poppins." You know, the chimney sweep? :)

It's a long fall from the 2nd floor to the basement ... it's so creepy now walking upstairs and seeing the floor of the basement with every step you take. I think we're making a ban on treks upstairs till further notice. At least until we get that waiver Julie was talking about....

My brother Matt & his fiance Erika also came up and joined in the fun this past weekend. Matt worked on installing the windows, while Erika (a self-proclaimed victim of "project add (attention deficit disorder)" took on a few jobs in the course of the day: stripping with Marsha (woo-howdy!), then stripping the table with me, then peeling off the hideous great-great-grandma-died-in-her-sleep-in-this-bedroom-20-years-ago-and-we've-never-touched-the-room-since blue wallpaper in the bedroom/family room area.


All in all, an incredibly productive weekend. THANKS TO YOU ALL - we'd still be running in circles in a panic in the basement without your help.

SEE THE PHOTOS FROM THE WEEKEND HERE!

Warm again? Makes me think of stripping...

For the second time in two weeks, it's 60 degrees in Chicago in the dead of winter. I knew global warming would eventually turn Chicagoland into a moderate climate, but this is ridiculus!

Anyway, it's made me think of summer. And summer makes me think of things to do outside. One task on our plate is to strip, prime, and paint the wood eaves, fascias, and soffits of our house. They are in really bad shape. So I did some research and found a great article on This Old House that discussed traditional paint removal methods, and also brought up a couple of interesting new products:

1. Removall - a water-based chemical stripper that doesn't attempt to dissolve the paint as other chemical strippers do but instead breaks the bond between paint and substrate. Very Eco-friendly and nontoxic, but sounds pricey. [read TOH review]


2. Silent Paint Remover - Interesting new techno-heat gun that uses infrared heat instead of normal heat. This ensures the wood isn't damaged by someone who doesn't know what they're doing (me), and also actually helps seal the wood by drawing any residiual sap to the surface. Sounds pretty cool!