Harbor Freight has a well-deserved reputation for tools that last almost as long as needed to finish whatever project you bought them for. They put the "eep" in "cheep".

My house was built in 1952. I was planning to sell it and move elsewhere. When I do sell it, it will get hauled off in a dumpster to make room for yet another mcmansion ... I am a mile or so from where amazon is building their new offices. So I haven't done a lot of maintenance over the last ten or 15 years. The house was last painted in about 1994. But now, we may be here for a bit since house prices everywhere have gone nutzo.

The living room window faces south. The paint on the window frame has been flaking off for a couple years. It's gotten pretty bad and the wood is starting to deteriorate. We're not going to replace the window, so Mrs pj has strongly encouraged me to slap some paint on it.

I stopped by Harbor Freight to see what they had to make the job easier. I found some nylon sanding wheels to go on a power drill. I got the flat brush and a small cup. They were about $5 and $4 respectively. I think there were one or two other styles.









These things worked great. I didn't want to use a wire brush since the wood is so old, I figured even a brass brush would chew up the wood. The nylon did take off a bit of wood where I really dug in to the paint, but no more than a little sandpaper would have. They got into the corners pretty well... I had to get the last half inch or so with a paint scraper and a box knife.


After an hour or two with the paint scraper and the sanding brushes, it's ready for some primer. I need to liberally apply some fresh caulk in places, too. Actually I think I spent as much time taping up the window to avoid scratching it and laying out some plastic sheeting to minimize the flakes and dust going into the planter box.



Mrs pj and DD did say that the noise inside the house was very loud.

Anyhoo, I recommend these little guys. I may use them for cleaning some old bathroom tile and maybe the grill.

I see that the plant stand could also use some fresh paint... I can use the brushes to knock off the old stuff first. Yay.

Thanks
Like your description of Harbor Freight.

Funny - I have a compound sliding miter saw from them that crapped out after the very last cut on finishing my basement. Needs a new switch, but there is has sat since 2003.

quote:

Originally posted by Mikhailoh:
Funny - I have a compound sliding miter saw from them that crapped out after the very last cut on finishing my basement. Needs a new switch, but there is has sat since 2003.

Hmmm... they didn't adjust the timing properly. It's supposed to quit just as you're STARTING the last cut, not a few seconds after it.

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:

quote:

Originally posted by Mikhailoh:
Funny - I have a compound sliding miter saw from them that crapped out after the very last cut on finishing my basement. Needs a new switch, but there is has sat since 2003.

Hmmm... they didn't adjust the timing properly. It's supposed to quit just as you're STARTING the last cut, not a few seconds after it.

No doubt that has been corrected.

Looks like they did the job. I need to refinish some wrought iron railing. About 100 feet of it. A pretty daunting task. I have tried the wire brush drill attachments. It's not something I think I will ever do actually. lol

Mark, I'd take those pieces down and have them sandblasted.

...and another thing!

I had some walls that were pretty scudgey... a long-disused basement bathroom that I am putting back into service. The walls are covered with a vinyl that's like flooring, but apparently for walls and looks like fake tile. My mother used to have me put floor wax on it. Well, 40 years later, the wax is cruddy and just attracted and retained dirt and stuff -- I had a housemate who smoked cigars in the basement every day for five years.

A sponge and Simple Green were not doing much. In fact, it would leave long dribbley streaks where I sprayed it on and it ran down the wall.

I've seen a few Buzzfeed features on cleaning products that you really ought to have. One was a scrub brush you put on a drill. I found these at Home Despot for less than $10. They come in a couple other shapes and with soft, medium, or coarse bristles. I got the medium ones.



It still took a while and the trick was keeping the surface wet while scrubbing. I got a spray bottle with a little Simple Green and a lot of warm water. I'd spray with one hand while running the drill/brush with the other. It took two passes of scrubbing and rinsing, but I got nearly all of the old wax and dirt and gunk off the walls, finishing up with a sponge mop.

I used a 4 inch hex drive extension to minimize water splashing back onto the drill. The bottle brush gets into both nooks and crannies with ease.

The best part is that after prolonged scrubbing, the bristles start to lean in one direction, but you can switch the direction of rotation periodically. That also lets you control the direction the spray is going... toward the floor, or toward your face.


Deep cleaning just got a lot easier.

quote:

Originally posted by Mikhailoh:
Mark, I'd take those pieces down and have them sandblasted.

Then powder coated.

Try using wax stripper. It takes off wax with little effort.

So does ammonia.

I was going to use ammonia, but Mrs pj politely asked me not to due to the fumes.

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:
I was going to use ammonia, but Mrs pj politely asked me not to due to the fumes.

Wax stripper, then. No odor to speak of.

Huh. Never heard of it. The job is done now. But thanks for the tip.