Going From Paint to Stain

For this project I have a wooden handrail that goes on top of a low wall in a staircase. The wood has several coats of paint on it and the owner of the home would like the wood to be replaced with a wood that has a cherry stain. Instead of replacing the wood I've talked him into stripping the original wood and staining it. His house was built in the 1970s and I know that underneath this paint will be some really nice wood. I know it's more work but I also know that if I were to replace the wood with a piece of wood from Home Depot I wouldn't be able to find a nice piece of wood without knots. This way the finished product will look much better than a new piece of wood that may have flaws in it. So, let's get to work.

Materials Needed for this job:

a Makita belt sander, a can of paint stripper, cherry stain (or the stain color of your choice), a finish glossy clear coat, 2 clean paint brushes, a putty knife

When sanding you might want to use a respirator or a great dust mask. You can't be too safe or sure that the paint that is on your wood is safe to breathe in.

Hey, the sanding is working pretty good. I can see at least four or five different coats of paint on here. Lol!


The sanding is working pretty good but I want to see how this paint stripper works for future projects.

I'm applying the paint stripper spray on the second plank just to see if I can save time. At $9 a can I'm a little skeptical.

Here's how it looks after I've sprayed the entire plank. Make sure you let it set for at least 15 minutes.

After about 15-20 minutes go ahead and start scraping off the layers of paint with a plastic putty knife. It's taking the paint off but it seems like it's only taking off one layer at a time. At 15-20 minutes per layer, I don't have that kind of time. Remember: time is money! So I prefer the sanding method.
I used a 50 grit piece of sand paper then after most of the paint was off I used an 80 grit and then used a 120 grit to make sure there were no rough edges. Like I said, this is a handrail....we don't want any splinters.


What'd I tell you about that 1970 wood? Told you there would be no knots. Just nice pretty grain (besides my pre-drilled holes that I put in to use to screw it into the wall)

Wow, look at that wood! Now let's get ready to stain it! Before you stain make sure that there is no dust or debris on your wood. You can use a tack cloth to take care of that problem.

We're using a Minwax wood finish cherry stain. Make sure you shake your quart up really well before you open it.

When applying your stain you don't have to use a real expensive brush. Just a cheap throw away one will be okay because you'll never be able to use it again anyway. VERY IMPORTANT: When you apply the stain make sure you go with the grain!

After applying the stain I usually grab a couple of paper towels and wipe it down being careful once again, to go with the grain. This helps it to really seal the wood and saves on drying time.

After about 20-30 minutes you can go ahead and apply your gloss (varnish). On this one I use a decent paint brush. This is the finished product and you want it to be smooth and shiny.

Again, with your paint brush you are going to go with the grain and the more coats you put on it the shinier it will get. For this project I'm just putting on two coats.

Remember what they looked like before....ooooooooh.....Take a look at what they look like now.........aaaaaahhh! Not bad huh? I think the owner will be pleased! Catch you guys on the next project!

Got a Hole in the Wall?

Got kids? Then you've seen this from them slamming the doorknob into the wall. I'm going to show you how to fix this hole in the wall.Here is a sample piece of drywall with a hole in it that I will show you how to repair. There are many different ways to repair it. I'm going to show you what I think is the best and easiest way to do it.

Materials Needed: a keyhole saw, a circle cutter or a nice round object (slightly bigger than the hole in your wall), a cordless screw gun, some screws.

Step 1 - Using either use your circle cutter or a round object (remember: it should be slightly larger than the hole in your wall) draw a circle around the base of your round object making sure you completely cover the hole in your wall.

Step 2: Cut out the circle that you just drew in step 1 to make your damaged hole a perfectly round hole.

Step 3 - You are going to create another circle from the scrap piece of drywall to fit perfectly inside the hole you just created. To do this you need to measure the hole that you just made in Step 2. You can do this by using your circle cutter measurement or using the same round object as you did in Step 1. In this case my hole is 4 inches so I set my circle cutter to 4 inches.

Remember: if you don't have a circle cutter you can use the same object that you used in Step 1.

You can buy a scrap piece of drywall at Home Depot...or call me...I might have some laying around.

Step 4 - Create your plug from the scrap piece of drywall.

Step 5 - Cut out your plug.

Now that you have your plug you want to fit it into the hole in your wall.

Hmmm....but be careful...the plug will want to fall down into the wall!

What to do? What to do?

I got an idea!

Step 6 - Take a scrap piece of 2X4 no longer than 1 foot long so that you can get it into your wall. In my case I'm using a metal stud which is pretty much the same as a 2x4. Before putting it in the hole you'll want to put a screw directly in the middle of the stud.

As you put the stud into the wall be careful not to drop it. One way to make sure that doesn't happen is to keep ahold of the screw with a pair of pliers.

Step 7 - While holding the screw with a pair of pliers pull with the hand holding the pliers and screw the drywall into the stud. As you screw into the drywall make sure you countersink your screws about 1/8" so that later on you can fill those screws with mud (putty). Step 8 - Once the drywall is screwed into the stud you can screw the plug into the stud.
And....you're done! Again, like I said in the beginning, there are many ways to do this. To me, this is the best and easiest way. Now you have a stud behind your wall which will help prevent this from happening again. Next time your kid opens the door too hard you won't have to worry about him putting a hole in your wall! The stud acts like a door stop. You may get a ding or dent in your wall...but no hole!

You didn't think I would just leave your wall looking like that with a bunch of unsightly screws in it, did you? Check back later to see how we can get it ready for paint.

Removing Cottage Cheese Ceilings

Everyone has seen those old 1970's cottage cheese looking ceilings. I'm going to show you how to remove. But first of all I'm going to give you a little background. Why was this stuff invented? Back in the 1960's homes were built in tracks (square blocks) Whole neighborhoods had houses that looked exactly the same. There may be 3 types of home layouts and every 3rd house would be the same. This allowed contractors and carpenters to work quickly and effectively in an assembly line like production. First foundation, the framing, exterior, drywall and then paint work. A fast and cheap way to complete the ceilings was this cottage cheese type ceilings. Tapers and painters saved a lot of steps by simply spraying the ceilings. It helped insulate the ceiling, skipping the steps of preperation for paint, and it also provided a decorative look. Just take a look at some houses that have glitter included in their ceiling!

But now it's 2009 and how do we get rid of this crap. First of all, you have to be careful. You don't want to just get up there and start scraping away. It could be messy, dusty and dangerous. Dangerous? Yes, it could have asbestos in it. Asbestos helps control heat. Remember when I told you that it was used for insulation? But asbestos could be dangerous when broken up and has been linked to cancer. Depending upon the year that your house was built, you could have asbestos in your cottage cheese ceiling. Any house newer than about 1972 probably doesn't have to worry about it because the use of asbestos in cottage cheese ceilings was banned in 1972. So, if your house was built before 1972 you may have asbestos in your ceiling and you might want to check it out. It's easy to do. Just scrap off a little 1 square inch piece and have it tested. There are companies out there that specialize in testing for asbestos.

If you've decided that you do not have asbestos in your ceiling here are a few simple and easy steps to help you remove the unsightly cottage cheese look.

Step 1 - Gather your materials. The materials that you will need for this process are: a hepa sprayer, a scraper, a broom (don't forget the dustpan), and a sanding paddle with a stick on it so you don't have to use a ladder, and sunglasses so you can look cool doing it! lol...

Step 2 - grab your hepa sprayer...don't forget to smile! Smiling keeps you in a good mood.

Step 3 - add water to your hepa sprayer and pump it up real good

Step 4 - Spray on to that popcorn ceiling. Don't spray too much! You don't want it to get too wet and get the drywall underneath wet. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. HINT: You'll know it's too wet if when you begin to scrape the ceiling, the paper from your drywall begins to come off.

Step 5 - After waiting about 5 minutes to let the water soak in...go ahead and begin scraping it off.

Step 6 - After scraping let the area dry then sand the area lightly with 120 grit sandpaper.

Step 7 - Now you're all done! A little touch up work and you're ready for paint. Did you notice the spots where I sprayed it with too much water? Try to avoid that.

Okay...now go for it! If you have any questions leave me a comment and I'll answer back as soon as I can!