Table Refinishing: Phase One

[rosdrise]

I said I would document my first solo journey into the world of home decor projects, and here it is:

Table Refinishing: Phase One

Thanks to a tip from my mother, I decided to use a table stripping gel rather than plain ol' paint stripper because it's safer and not as time sensitive. Meaning, it can stay on the surface for up to 24 hours without evaporating. And when someone is as slow as I am at projects, this is an awesome thing.

So, I came home on Friday (two weeks ago, because, as I just stated, I'm really slow thus this late post) and it was time to get to business. First I had to scare away the neighborhood cat that has been taunting my cats recently. Earl has a fit everytime this guy walks by. His tail gets HUGE, which is hilarious, but alas, was not captured in this photo

Anyway, enough about my stupid cats. Let's get back to business, table business. Here is the table that I inherited from my uncle when he gave me my futon (RIP). It was a bonus and has come in handy, alas, I despise the paint job. Let say goodbye to Southwester Style, shall we?

Good riddance.

OK, now I take off the glass piece and set it aside. Both of the cats found this incredibly interesting and waranting of further investigation.

Let's leave them to their glass sniffing.

STEP ONE: Prepare your work area

With huge piece of glass removed the table is a thousand times easier to move. So I lay out the tarp over some cardboard on my little patio and set the table on it. Observe the stellar mulching job of my community! *cough*

STEP TWO: Assemble your tools

This evening we are just applying the stripping gel, so we don't need that many things.

1. Metal paint tray, since the gel would eat through plastic.

2. Paint Brush, to apply the gel

3. Stripping Gel, found at your local Home Depot (environmentally friendly!)

4. Gloves, so your skin will remain on your person.

Earl wanted to help, but he doesn't have opposable thumbs, so I felt he would just get in the way.

STEP THREE: Apply the gel

Pour the gel into the paint tray and brush it on to the table surface

It was goopy. Fun and gross all at the same time. Plus, no fumes to really speak of, so that was extra nice.

STEP FOUR: Wait

Watch the gel do it's business. It looks like my table stayed in the bath a little too long.

STEP FIVE: Have a beer and watch "Life on Mars" (I finally finished it, and it was awesome!)

Then, go to sleep because you'll have a FULL day tomorrow

STEP SIX: Wake up bright and early and assemble your tools again!

This time we need quite a bit more

1. Disposable baking trays, to hold all of the stripped paint

2. Gloves, duh

3. Paper Towels, in case of any unfortunate accidents

4. Reusable sandpaper, a god send let me tell you

5. Steel wool, I never ended up using this, but it's a good option

6. Stiff brush, for helping to get the paint out of cracks

7. Lots of putty knives in a variety of sizes and flavors, because differend areas of the table have different needs

After having set all night the table is super pruney and ready for stripping!

STEP SEVEN: Start Stripping!

The fun parts were the flat sides of the table, because they were super easy. The rest was a bitch.

Actually it all was a bitch, because the primer underneath the paint did NOT want to come up.

I went through about twenty pairs of gloves because they kept tearing. I don't know if heavy duty gloves would be any better. I suspect you'd pay $5 for a pair and they'd still end up getting torn.

STEP EIGHT: Reapply the gel

Because the primer is a bitch.

STEP NINE: Get to Stripping AGAIN

The second time around it was really gross. The primer didn't come off in sheets and pieces like the paint. It kind of melted and came off in watery globs that stuck to everything.

This is where the reusable sandpaper came in handy. It got off all the residue that the putty knives couldn't scrap off.

STEP TEN: Congratulate Yourself on a Job Well Done.

Viola!

STEP ELEVEN: Get Over It

You're not done! There is still the matter of all the paint still stuck in the cracks of the detail work. That's what I'm doing this weekend: sitting down with a toothbrush and tsp and going after this mother.

I'm so excited for the part where I get to stain it!

Comments

[sailorgaia.livejournal.com]

Wow! It already looks cooler with all the paint stripped off! XD Cats investigating = instant hilarity!

Way to go finishing Life on Mars!! ::hi-5's:: Glad to you enjoyed it! <3

Can't wait to see the final product!! I love DIY!! :D

[cranberrysheep.livejournal.com]

I'm loving the raw wood. It's so pretty. I'm going to stain it fairly dark and it's going to be SO PRETTY. You know, as long as I don't screw it up.

[dali-lamb.livejournal.com]

Wow, this is awesome looking! I love it when someone takes the time to document things like this--I know I'll probably look back at this in the future when I'm doing a DIY job! It's appreciated~

WOOT for finishing Life on Mars! You finished the second season right? Wasn't it super squee awesome?? X3

Good luck scraping out all those crevices, it looks like a daunting job o.O

~Tori

[cranberrysheep.livejournal.com]

It was fun documenting it, though I had to be careful to keep the stripper off of my camera.

Yeah, I finished the second season and I'm pretty pleased with how they wrapped it all up. The soundtrack was awesome. I love 70's music.

[csense-ilinmn.livejournal.com]

You are just all-around handy! Painting, stripping paint, installing doors... do you do electrical? I need to install a couple of light fixtures.