Home DIY

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric-Infrared-Paint-Stripper-/121991745668?hash=item1c67465084:g:zn8AAOxyoA1RSc7T

Like this?

To be fair I wondered whether it would be worth it and I'm stripping victorian paint maybe 20-30 days a year. I've honestly not bought another tool that has made such a huge difference to the process. It's so far ahead of any other method. I guess they'll be cheaper versions around in the future but the cost of the bulbs seems to be the main factor.

That's the one. I've never used it but the spiel on the back of the box is pretty much in line with my experience. I did increase my public liability to include working with heat as I could see a potential for a sash box catching fire if I was having a bad day!

It will slowly burn the backs of your hands, after a day of using it I feel like I've got sunburn. You'll need some decent scrapers too, the Speedheater (swedish not american) ones are good but a simple flat blade carbide scraper and a profile set would set you back £30 and they would be handy for a lifetime of jobs.

Just had a couple of guys round. We did some tests and they had a poke about. It might be bacuase they used 22mm pipes instead of 15mm on the shower/bath.
Another quote in too, around 3k... sans suite. Guess thats what people charge round these parts.

I might just do it, for the banister alone it could be worth it. Not to mention if I want to strip any of the really old door paint.

Just gave the cupboards another lick of paint and will fit the rails tomorrow. Enough room for 2 rows of shirts and 18 pairs of shoes

So these things are ok to use on old (lead) paint?

If you are careful enough not to heat the lead paint to the point where is smokes. I'm not but I wear a mask. It is much better than the alternatives for lead paint because it creates less dust but I'm heating mine until it smokes or burns a little here and there.

I've been exposed to all sorts of dust over time and it will probably have shortened my life but that's part of the game for me. I wouldn't take risks in a house with small children or pets but there are plenty of good working practices regarding lead that will reduce exposure to very very low or negligible levels and this method of stripping lead paint is part of that approach.

The parts are available from RS components to diy one using a ceramic heater. 500w heater is £18.

The housing parts are available but they're more expensive than the bulbs. If you were daring and only wanted to do one job you could mount it on a stick!! I'm not recommending this obvs at your own risk etc etc.

Make have a diy version build.

To be fair I wondered whether it would be worth it and I'm stripping victorian paint maybe 20-30 days a year. I've honestly not bought another tool that has made such a huge difference to the process. It's so far ahead of any other method. I guess they'll be cheaper versions around in the future but the cost of the bulbs seems to be the main factor.

This sounds interesting. I took a week off in March to refurbish a few sashes and had a fun time with a carbide scraper/chisels and elbow grease. No matter how careful I was there are always a few gouges. I've got a fair few more windows to do so even for this I'm tempted! Do you use any shielding to protect the glass from the IR heater or is it quite well focussed?

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the machine eats it's own safety guards

oooh, that's evil..

It's a massive difference on sash windows. Here's a few pics of my local type of sash window which I restore a lot. The putty had failed on both sides of the glass in this sash so all the glass had to come out, I think it's 21 panes in the top sash. The IR heater softens the putty and it comes out a treat. You can see I'm using a bit of glass wrapped in mirror backing to stop the pane on the other side of the beading from cracking due to heat.

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Looking at the time stamps it took 2 1/2 hours to strip all that lambs tongue moulding. I could have seen that taking days before to get back to the wood and there was next to no filling required.

The glass is more likely to crack in small old panes and even then it only happened with the putty side of the window where the beading is lower profile and the putty needs more heating to soften than paint on the mouldings. Overall I lost 3 panes of glass from 2 top sashes out of 42. None once I started shielding the glass. On the rails and stiles I use a long piece of hardboard covered in mirror backing to protect the glass.

Lovely job @Airhead! I did quite enjoy sorting the windows but stripping took such a long time - simplyfing that bit will give me the encouragement I need to get the others done. I think a self-birthday-present is in order.

That's impressive!

I think I have finally decided on brand/taps... @Airhead any experience with these? http://www.cphart.co.uk/crosswater-kai-lever-wall-mounted-2-hole-basin-mixer/

come on chris, aren't you trying to make an instafamous bathroom?

^ must be forrin. Not enough dead legs.

Ha. I did consider that option, for a second....

Crosswater are the cheapest brand tap I would consider fitting. generally ok, parts available for a while, the chrome is a little thinner than the more expensive stuff but they're ok.

Cheers for that. I'll see if any higher end brands have similar fittings, that set is exactly what I'm after, which has been hard to find.

@chrisbmx116 we're getting kitchen quotes this week and next so if your lot want to throw their costs in let me know asap

They are all booked up, sorry BRO.

Is there some sort of law that bathroom doors HAVE to be opened outside?

Commercial property, yes.