Much Ado About Lots of Things
So I was up entirely too early this morning after staying up entirely too late last night. I had so much fun, though, so it was worth every minute of lost sleep.
Anyway, I started a project today that I've been wanting to start for some time - restoring the front door. The front door to my house has been in a sad state of disrepair since I moved in almost three years ago. It's a gorgeous door, and there's no other door in the neighborhood with the same pattern, but it just looks awful. It's probably the original door, so it has been weathered to say the least.
After meeting with my landlord this morning and much discussion on the amount of work that I am in for, I started stripping the paint off of the door around noon or so. This is the door before I started.
Here's is a close up of one of the bad spots. You can see that the wood is totally exposed and the paint is peeling away completely.
So today I used a heat gun as well as a chemical stripping agent, and I worked on the door for about four or five hours straight. For those of you who aren't in Baltimore, I'd like to mention that it was 90 degrees today. Yep. I am not a person that appreciates sweating. I loathe sweating, and today it was unavoidable. I was pouring sweat as I stood on a ladder in my foyer with no cross breeze and holding a heat gun. Ugh.
About halfway through, I took another series of photos. Here are two 'in progress' photos. Neither the heat gun or the chemical worked best everywhere, so I used the heat gun for the wide, flat sections and the chemical for some of the more detailed areas.
As you can see, the exterior color was a red/maroon, and underneath there is a white and a yellow. The white and yellow are nearly impossible to remove. God only knows how old that paint is.
At some point I had to pack it up for the night, so after cleaning up the piles of peeled paint and collecting all of the tools, this is the status of the door after Day One. I'm quite proud of my progress!
Here's another close up of the detail. I still have a long way to go, but I think I am making good progress. Not bad for a girl who has never done this before, eh?
So after a lovely shower, I realized that my apartment is a wreck because I haven't devoted any of my normal Sunday time to cleaning. Cross your fingers... because this is my to do list before bedtime:
1. Take out trash - Done
2. Unload dishwasher - Done
3. Load dishwasher - Done
4. LOTS of laundry - In progress
5. Vacuum - Done
6. Swiffer - Done
7. Clean bathroom - Done
8. Dust - Done
9. Put laundry away - In progress
10. Choose outfit for tomorrow - In progress
Anyway, I started a project today that I've been wanting to start for some time - restoring the front door. The front door to my house has been in a sad state of disrepair since I moved in almost three years ago. It's a gorgeous door, and there's no other door in the neighborhood with the same pattern, but it just looks awful. It's probably the original door, so it has been weathered to say the least.
After meeting with my landlord this morning and much discussion on the amount of work that I am in for, I started stripping the paint off of the door around noon or so. This is the door before I started.
Here's is a close up of one of the bad spots. You can see that the wood is totally exposed and the paint is peeling away completely.So today I used a heat gun as well as a chemical stripping agent, and I worked on the door for about four or five hours straight. For those of you who aren't in Baltimore, I'd like to mention that it was 90 degrees today. Yep. I am not a person that appreciates sweating. I loathe sweating, and today it was unavoidable. I was pouring sweat as I stood on a ladder in my foyer with no cross breeze and holding a heat gun. Ugh.
About halfway through, I took another series of photos. Here are two 'in progress' photos. Neither the heat gun or the chemical worked best everywhere, so I used the heat gun for the wide, flat sections and the chemical for some of the more detailed areas. 
As you can see, the exterior color was a red/maroon, and underneath there is a white and a yellow. The white and yellow are nearly impossible to remove. God only knows how old that paint is.
At some point I had to pack it up for the night, so after cleaning up the piles of peeled paint and collecting all of the tools, this is the status of the door after Day One. I'm quite proud of my progress! 
Here's another close up of the detail. I still have a long way to go, but I think I am making good progress. Not bad for a girl who has never done this before, eh?So after a lovely shower, I realized that my apartment is a wreck because I haven't devoted any of my normal Sunday time to cleaning. Cross your fingers... because this is my to do list before bedtime:
1. Take out trash - Done
2. Unload dishwasher - Done
3. Load dishwasher - Done
4. LOTS of laundry - In progress
5. Vacuum - Done
6. Swiffer - Done
7. Clean bathroom - Done
8. Dust - Done
9. Put laundry away - In progress
10. Choose outfit for tomorrow - In progress
posted by Charissa at 8:01 PM
7 Comments:
The door looks like it is coming along nicely. I can't wait to see when it is done.
Looks like you did a good job, Charissa! The door looks pretty well stripped down. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product!
I have the same door, and, yes yours is probably the original door to the house. I stripped my door down years ago with the idea that I could get it down to the wood, only to find that there was some sort of white layer that was used to even the wood finish out. So I had to repaint, using an oil based paint. You may find the same thing under all that paint. Be careful with that door, it is an antique. Hardware parts can be found over at second chance. And if you really screw it up they can probably find you the same door.
How wonderful Charissa, to save what is there rather then to replace it with the new.
you are your fathers' daughter.
Door will be great when you finish...Bet your landlord loves you! I am going to be restoring some furniture this winter....might need your help on stripping agents....talk to you soon....
It looks great! (all the hard work you did!) You're pretty impressive C!
If you need help, advice etc. let me know. It's what I do!
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