What is this stuff under the paint.

[andrewpreece]

I had this stuff on my soffit boards, under about 6 layers of paint, on my

1939 semi. The advice given is good, use a straight scraper, I used a 2" wide one, heat up the work and get scraping. The trick is to have something available you can clean the scraper with after each pass, as it builds up on the scraper and sets rapidly. I fancied it was some sort of undercoat, it doesn't look as if it was ever transparent, but just a sort of dark brown glop; who knows. Sand it afterwards to get a smooth finish.

Andy.

[Adrian]

Moved into an 1870´s house. Removing the paint (masses of coats) from a window frame and have encountered a blu tac like product which is sticky when heated with a hot air paint gun but is brownish black and hard otherwise.

A real problem to remove.

What is it?

How do I get rid of it easily?

Adrian the exasperated!

[s--p--o--n--i--x]

Sounds like some sort of bitumen based substance?

Dunno.

Does it dissolve in Whire spirit? Maybe chemical paint stripper would shift it.

[Bob Mannix]

Still there in the 1920's house. It's a real PITA. I just kept going with slow forceful scraping and a hot air gun. Bit of a b*gg*r if you don't want to paint over as it's a hell of a job to get back to a neat surface (I was overpainting).

[Michael Mcneil]

Idiots.

It is varnish and you aught to be using Nitromorse or one of the less ferior brands.

You could have the lot done in a couple of days.

[Bob Mannix]

Why thank you. Takes one...

That's true (most likely)

At the time I didn't want to be spending money sloshing gallons of Nitromors around the house - nor did I think I ought to be. Having discovered it was there, applictaion of the right stripping technique brought it off with the paint in one go (mostly).

or one of the less

As you don't know how much I was doing or over what period, I fail to see how you would know :o)

[Steve Jones]

What do you gain from being abusive?

Steve

[Rob Morley]

Varnish

Plenty of heat (mind the glass) and slow firm scraping with a flat scraper (not a shave hook) should remove most of it and leave a usable surface for repainting.

[s--p--o--n--i--x]

Eh? The OP said it was like Blu Tak. Since when has varnish had the consistency of Blu Tak?

[Bob Mannix]

Ah, I believe - when it's very old, has been buried under lots of paint for years and then heated with a hot-air paint stripper! It's possible it's something else but more likely Michael is correct (it is possible to be rude and right :o) ) .

[fred]

In article , Adrian writes

If it's anything like the stuff in my own place (1904) then it is varnish as others have said. It was common in the time to use softwood and then use a dark varnish to make it look like something more expensive. I used a 2 stage process of taking off the top layers with a heatgun then using nitromors master craftsmans (yellow tin) to remove the residue. It comes off a treat. Apply with a paintbrush, leave 5mins, rewet, then scrape off if a flat surface or use medium wire wool on mouldings.

Good luck

[Mary Hinge]

I was talking to an old artexer I used years ago, he swore blind this stuff was actually ancient primer. He mentioned 'in the old days' you used to have priming sheds on a site, where they used to treat both sides of the wood before fitting, and that this was one of his first jobs.

Could be a load of bollox of course but such an outrageous lie would have been out of character for such a nice chap...

[Andy Dingley]

When you try to hot-air strip it.

From 1900 and before some paints and almost all varnishes had a large component of plant-based resins in them. Even today these will soften with hot air and turn into a sticky, smearly mess that's not only unremovable, but actually makes things worse.

If you use a gas torch (same heat, more temperature, less airflow) then you _might_ get it off badly. An electric blower though is basically impossible. Tanking it will do it (with usual caveats) and Nitromors will usually do it _so_long_as_ you haven't already tried and failed with heat.

[Bob Mannix]

Well mine was only on the face side. That's not to say it definitely wasn't a sort of primer but I did also have wood with red (lead?) primer where it wouldn't have been varnished. I still fancy it was a varnish or varnish substitute though.

[Bob Mannix]

I got mine off with a hot air blower, but only good enough to sand and paint. It would have taken significantly more work to get it to varnish/waxing standard.

[Coherers]

I had to strip a window frame with this s**t on it a while back and although it is a pig, I did actually manage it with a hot air gun (I agree that a gas torch would be better). It *can* come off flat surfaces almost as easily as normal paint. But there is a real knack to it. Firstly, you need to

**really** heat the stuff up. Secondly, if you start to scrape at it when it is not ho enough, or if you get the hot gunge back on the clean wood after removing it, it is a devil to take off again. Judging when to start scraping takes some getting used to, because unlike paint, you only get one shot. As been noted, you need a flat scraper, and you need to keep the scraper totally clean of all the gunge it picks up, particularly the surface that can come into contact with the stripped wood.

However, if it is on mouldings etc., or if you don't want all the fumes (!) then it is a chemical paint stripper job.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Shellac knotting?

Don't!

Leave it and sand it down.

[Sam]

We had it in our old house, a victorian terraced cottage. I don't really think there is an easy removal way. IIRC I resorted to heating it with a blowlamp to the point that it ignited and the charred gunge/wood surface could be power sanded off. Horrid Horrid Horrid! The Nitromors type strippers didn't seem to touch it. Though, again IIRC, caustic soda was effective. Again Horrid Horrid Horrid! I do recall that I said we would never have stripped pine in any future house we own!

I don't recall any serious health effects from the job, but I do remember a friends mum got lead poisoning from sanding varnish in a victorian station house. So probably worth being careful.

Sam

[mike ring]

Steve Jones wrote in news:41b993c0$0$19161 $ [e-mail]:

ISTR it's his house style - a google would prolly confirm but ICBA ;-)

mike

[Pete C]

Hi,

Could be pine tar, which would have been used as a preservative and primer. If so don't curse it, it would have helped prevent the frames from rotting over the years.

Probably used as it could be slapped in the joints too as the frame was assembled and would soak into the wood over time.

If restoring an old frame a good soaking with a modern wood preserver will help it last another 100 years.

cheers, Pete.