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My Retro 1930's BUICK SALES and SERVICE GARAGE


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  • 1 month later...

Guess I better play catch up here or else y'all might think I'm gettin lazy.

 

I am working on a small section of ceiling in the garage area and have the office area ceiling to do with same materials so started cleaning some of the painted beadboard. The process goes like:
1. Using a 2 1/2” wide scraper, scrape off 1,2,3 layers of paint to the point that I like the effect of what’s left as far as color and amount of wood grain reveal.
2. Using the sharp corner of the scraper, run down the groove on each side of the center bead in one direction then run down them in the other direction chipping and scraping paint out of them. Then do the same to the groove on the edge.
3. Blow off all the scrapings then using a belt sander with 80 grit, sand the length of the board to the desired look.
4. using a hand block sander with 120 grit, hand sand to smooth and even out edges and further get just the look I want.
5. run the restorer with wire wheel down the tongue side to remove any remaining paint then down the groove side to clean any paint and debris out.
6. flip board over and run the restorer with wire wheel along the back to remove all the 80+ years of attic dust and rat and possum piss.
7. blow both sides clean, put on stack, grab another and repeat.

Each board takes between 15-18 minutes depending on number of coats of paint. I’ve got approximately 160 boards to do.
Bending over and being in the positions I have to be is hell on my DDD and can barely walk straight up to the house by the end of the day. I am seriously checking my sanity this week. But at this point, what is there left to do but do it.

 

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Bought this "Restorer" in hopes it would work to remove the layers of paint on these beadboards. Had watched product promo videos and based on them it should work great for this purpose. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a friggin TOY!!!  It's Craftsman's copy of the Porter Cable "Restorer" but with a slightly higher amp motor. https://www.restorertools.com/

 

It truly works no better than the front wheel of the old Craftsman belt sander at sanding off layers of paint. The only thing I found it useful for was with the wire wheel cylinder. That works great to remove dust and crap from the backs of the boards.

 

 

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uncovering some beautiful old heart pine wood grain. Leaving some of the paint for the “distressed” look. These will end up on 12 ft ceilings surrounding pressed tin centers……..some day……

 

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I am thinking most of this beadboard came from a porch roof. It was common here in the south to paint porch roofs sky blue or blue green. The tighter the grain the harder it is to get it to come out like that when scraping. The wider grain is more raised so the blade of the scraper rides over the paint instead of scraping it off. When the grain is tight the bade scrapes all the paint unless I carefully use just enough pressure to leave the bottom coat. If that makes since.

 

 

 

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And MONOTONOUS it IS!!! I've got it set up on a set of my tallest sawhorses and actually after about the third day my back muscles got use to it and not so bad. I do stretches and backbends periodically which helps a lot. Ended up takin 7  5-6 hour days to complete the stack.  And I thought "Oh 3 maybe 4 days and I'll have these knocked out"  Ha Ha Ha

 

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Edited by MrEarl (see edit history)
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here’s the differences in the grains I was speaking of. The scraper just sorta glides over the top of the grain a on theright but if not careful will pull all the paint off the tight heart pine grain on the left
 

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Put your nose real close to the computer or iphone screen, you should be able to smell the lighter wood in this picture

 

 

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I may save some of these burl looking pieces for some lower trim or furniture or picture frames or something.

 

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Edited by MrEarl (see edit history)
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To give y'all some insight as to my plans for all this beadboard.....This ain’t my first beadboard ceiling. Somehow Rita and I found time while working full time and raising kids to do this kitchen when we built our house back in 87-88.

 

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Then I got into some much different boards. A single coat of dark green. Not very conducive to leaving anything for affect so just cleaning down to the grain. Wood is definitely not as old, probably more from the 40s-50s than turn of the century like the rest. Each board takes on average 23.5 minutes. Here’s one days run

 

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There should be just enough of these to do the smaller area in the shop area and I'll save the blue/green for the larger office area,

 

 

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Edited by MrEarl (see edit history)
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6 hours ago, Ronnie said:

I can't view the photos that were posted today. Anyone else having this problem?

Please tell me you can now.

 

I have been posting most of these most recent photos on another Garage site and thought I could cross post by copying and pasting from there to here but NOPE didn't work. They were showing up on my computer but nowhere else. I had to go back and find them all in my files and match and attach them all here. 

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12 hours ago, dship said:

Yes, I can now see them.  Dang!  Where do you get all the fine wood from?

 

I think I spoke of it way earlier but I found it on Craigslist. A young mom was deconstructing her great grandmothers house that was built in the late 1800's. I am only now beginning to appreciate how well she cleaned it of most of the nails and sorted it into all the different lumber types and lengths.  As can somewhat  be seen here it consisted of shellacked beadboard, painted beadboard, unpainted beadboard, heart pine painted and unpainted wall board and heart pine flooring. All sorted to different lengths, stacked and wrapped with plastic wrap on both ends.

 

 

 

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Edited by MrEarl (see edit history)
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Wow, that is a lot of work.  The grain is very nice and the residual color is appealing. I have to wonder how effective a jointer might be at taking most of the paint off or at least quickly getting you to a point close to where you want it?  I know it would be a bad idea if the boards were twisted or cupped.

 

The time investment always seems to pay off for you.  Take care of yourself with that old paint (probably not unleaded).  I’ll patiently wait for the results, and wondering how you’ll get the right light up there to show off this work.

 

P.S. - no borax treatment on these? 😬
 

 

Edited by JoelsBuicks (see edit history)
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23 hours ago, JoelsBuicks said:

Take care of yourself with that old paint (probably not unleaded).

Given the time periods these boards were painted in, I do suspect the paint contains lead Joel. I am wearing masks and long sleeves but have most likely had exposure. Hell I already exhibit all the typical symptoms so will be hard to tell if I suffer from lead poisoning.

Although children are primarily at risk, lead poisoning is also dangerous for adults. Signs and symptoms in adults might include:

  • High blood pressure
  • Joint and muscle pain
  • Difficulties with memory or concentration
  • Headache
  • Abdominal pain
  • Mood disorders
  • Reduced sperm count and abnormal sperm
  • Miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth in pregnant women

Time will tell I suppose.

 

 

23 hours ago, JoelsBuicks said:

P.S. - no borax treatment on these?

Not on these particular beadboard Joel.  I looked over each board closely as I was cleaning and saw no signs whatsoever of any powder post beetle. I suspect the reason being is the fact they are only 1/2" thick and are mostly heart pine.

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 Here are the ones that were painted green being installed in the front most section of the shop area. The center plywood section will be covered with pressed tin ceiling panels.

 

First had to add some additional 2x6 rafters as nailers.

 

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Then hang the 1/2" plywood.Which was going fine til I discovered I had forgotten to lock the wheels on the scaffolding.

 

 

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And finally wrapped that piece-mill beam.

 

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and done

 

 

 

Edited by MrEarl (see edit history)
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  • 1 month later...
14 minutes ago, JoelsBuicks said:

You got a helper?  Or is that you crawling around up there?  You picked the right time of the year to be messing with that attic stuff.

 

yep, ol hit and miss is back. A big help though when he shows. Actually pretty regular 2-3 days a week lately. Mostly cleaning all this old lumber for spraying down with the Boracare for powder post beetle. Thanks for stoppin in.

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I am way behind on progress of the office area build out due pretty much to spending all my days working  at it and too tired at night to post. So will try and catch up a bit with mostly pictures and little text.

After completing the rough wiring and insulation I set about cleaning all the salvage material discussed above. The cleaning involved using a scraper and small screwdriver to clean the tongue and grooves then the Craftsman Restorer to wire brush the bottoms, tongue side, groove side and on the flooring, the top. The bottoms had to be cleaned to insure that the Boracare (for powder post beetle if present and for future protection) soaked into the wood adequately. After the previous problem of this product turning the surface of all my lumber white, I decided to apply it only on the back but at a heavier dose. The cleaning and spraying with Boracare took no less than 4 weeks, and I'm talkin six and seven day weeks for myself and typially 3 day weeks for my helper. Very slow, monotonous,and labor intensive work.

Started with the shellacked beadboard

 

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reckon the bearings were going bad in this saw?....
 

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Then on to the 1"x 5" flooring which was some nasty stuff, just imagine what all can accumulate between each board in over 100+ years of farm family usage. There was also several hundred LF of 3/4 x 6 wallboards, painted and unpainted that I'm not finding pictures of....

 

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See the years of build up of probably cow, horse, pig, chicken manure and no telling what else that was between each of these floor boards.

 

 

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Sprayed with Boracare and left to air dry under fans.
 

 

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Here are the only pictures I could find of the wallboards, taken during the Boracare treatment... about half were never painted and are some beautiful old growth and heart pine boards, hate i didn't get any pics of the top faces....

 

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See all the PPB holes!!!! Have not seen any evidence (powder) of actual current infestation though. This pictures represents the worse case by far, all in all not a lot evidence seen.
 

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and the flooring

 

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Edited by MrEarl (see edit history)
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After weeks of nothing but cleaning and treating all the salvage lumber, it was truly exhilarating to finally start installing some of it. As you'll see here, I have skipped the boring times of installation of electrical and insulation.

First was to install the 3/4" lath for the wainscoting. I wanted the wainscot and chair rail to stand out proper from the upper wall board.

 

 

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Your patience and commitment to doing this project right are incredible. And the installed cabinetry and countertop are beautiful. The day you drive the last nail and turn the last screw on that project will be cause for much celebration. It's been fun following your progress.

Edited by Machine Gun
Grammar. (see edit history)
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1 hour ago, Machine Gun said:

Your patience and commitment to doing this project right are incredible. And the installed cabinetry and countertop are beautiful. The day you drive the last nail and turn the last screw on that project will be cause for much celebration. It's been fun following your progress.

 

Thanks Jim, I appreciate it. Patience wears thin at times but am damn sure committed to finishing this and thankful that the Lord has given me the health, strength and initiative to see it through as far as I have.

 

Finally installed some of the beadboard.

 

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The 2x2 pine strips are temporary stops for the tops of the bb and will be pulled and replaced with some nice heart pine chair rail.
 

 

 

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I love working with shellac, any mistakes or later scratches can be corrected by just rubbing out with denatured alcohol. It can also be rejuvenated in the same way although that process takes some trial and error to figure out to what amount/extent to apply and remove the da.
 

 

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and a not so good 360 video....

 

 

Edited by MrEarl (see edit history)
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Nice work Lamar...looks great.  I've always liked the look of shellac on wood.  But unfortunately, I haven't applied it to anything since my 7th grade shop class.  It's been polyurethane ever since.

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19 hours ago, dship said:

Nice work Lamar...looks great.  I've always liked the look of shellac on wood.  But unfortunately, I haven't applied it to anything since my 7th grade shop class.  It's been polyurethane ever since.

 

My mom use to use shellac on little things she built, tha's where I learned about it. Ohh, ohh, here's my chance to show off the pantry I built when the pandemic first hit and Rita said we need more room for food storage......I used shellac on the cedar...

 

GRRRRRR>>> enjoy the neck exercises...

 

 

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Before....

 

 

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Elvis's shelf

 

 

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My shelf....

 

 

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4 hours ago, alsancle said:

Allow me to post my bi-monthly  "Where the bleep do you get the energy?" comment.

 

Rita asks the same thing and I generally tell her there's an old man behind me, I can't let him catch up with me, if I stop or slow down, he will.

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2 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

Too pretty for cars?

 

For my beautiful Buicks, who've been waiting patiently for years for this thing to get finished for them to be moved into and worked on, not too pretty at all Ben, they rate even better. The biggest mistake I made on this project was the time estimate of a couple years to complete...going on 7 now... but I'm beginning to see the light at the end and it feels good.

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Enough OT, back to the build.....

 

In preparation for installing the wall board above the wainscoting, I sanded a couple of the nicer pieces of 1" x 5 " heart pine flooring and cut it down to 3" to use for the chair rail. Nailed in the two pieces on the end walls but left the ones either side of the doors and windows loose so they could be removed and cut to length after the door and window trims are installed.

 

 

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Knowing the amount of sanding I would be doing to all the salvage flooring and wallboard I would be using as wallboard I knew my old Craftsman 3x21 wouldn't be up to the task in regards to time efficiency I purchased this Makita 24"x4" belt sander and absolutely love it.

 

 

 

 

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Edited by MrEarl (see edit history)
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After spending almost two days cleaning and rejuvenating the shellac on the beadboard already installed as wainscoting, I decided to clean and rejuvenate the rest prior to installation on the above wall. Went much much better....

 

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and in this video you can see how this old man did it. Basically, clean any dirty spots first, brush the DA on and into the shellac thoroughly,  then wipe back off. It's critical to also hit each of the three beads or else they will be too dark and shinny. (btw, he reason he is leaning over so is he didn't want to get the shellac and denatured alcohol on his new boots)

 

 

 

 

 

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