Restoration project (the continuing saga) ...
After several weekends of working (not to mention almost loosing my religion a couple of times [huh] ), I finally got all the old paint and old varnish striped off my fireplace mantel. :eusa_clap All that is left now is to seal it with a protective coat of something. I'm not sure if I want to use a dark colored sealer, or leave it looking "new".
Getting the old paint off was way more work that I had thought, and there was a point where I wished I'd never started this project. But, now that it's just about completed, I'm glad I did.
My grandparents moved into the old house in 1917 (the house was built in 1907). I know that my grandfather did a lot of work on the house after they bought it, such as digging a basement, closing in one of the fireplaces to burn coal, adding a flue in the "front room", building a bathroom off the back porch, etc. From "clues" I've been able to piece together, I believe the old fireplace mantel was painted over for the first time in the 1920's.
Once I give the mantel its final finish (and paint the room), I'll post a picture of the completed project (like any project is ever "completed").
After several weekends of working (not to mention almost loosing my religion a couple of times [huh] ), I finally got all the old paint and old varnish striped off my fireplace mantel. :eusa_clap All that is left now is to seal it with a protective coat of something. I'm not sure if I want to use a dark colored sealer, or leave it looking "new".
Getting the old paint off was way more work that I had thought, and there was a point where I wished I'd never started this project. But, now that it's just about completed, I'm glad I did.
My grandparents moved into the old house in 1917 (the house was built in 1907). I know that my grandfather did a lot of work on the house after they bought it, such as digging a basement, closing in one of the fireplaces to burn coal, adding a flue in the "front room", building a bathroom off the back porch, etc. From "clues" I've been able to piece together, I believe the old fireplace mantel was painted over for the first time in the 1920's.
Once I give the mantel its final finish (and paint the room), I'll post a picture of the completed project (like any project is ever "completed").