paint or paper on the wall in good shape. Look around for the
places where the water comes in, point it out to the owner, and
if he fails to stop the leak have it _understood_ that the work
is done at _his risk_; or, what is better, refuse to do the work;
because, when a job comes off, or turns out badly, you will take
the blame generally, no matter whether it is your fault or not.
A job may be made to last awhile by a waterproof coating, or by
sheathing with thin lumber, but it is only a question of time when
the lining material will become water-soaked and spoil the paint or
paper, to your discredit. I have usually been _too busy_ to take
jobs of this kind. If the water can be cut off, the next thing is
to dry the wall, which you can do at the surface only by setting
a stove near it, or with the flame of a paint burner; then, after
all your trouble, the water, which remains in the wall, if of brick
or stone, may find its way to the surface, and destroy your work.
Sheet lead cemented to the wall will answer a good purpose for a
time, but the dampness will finally destroy the cement and let the
metal loose.
Battening out for lath and plaster is the best for basement or damp
stone walls, but that is the plasterer’s work, and is rarely ever
done except in private residences.
Battening and canvasing is next best; nail your battens up and down
18 inches apart. Have the canvas stitched in sheets the right size
to cover the large blank spaces of the wall. Then stretch and tack
it on the battens, and give it a coat of glue and alum size.
When dampness is caused by condensation the best remedy is to
remove the cause and dry the wall.
TO PAPER ON A BOARD PARTITION.
When paper is pasted on boards, it must crack, when the lumber
shrinks. If you paste cloth over the cracks, it must crack, if the
cracks open further than the cloth will stretch. When you tack
cloth on a partition and size it, if the size goes through the
cloth and sticks it fast to the boards, it will be likely to crack
when the lumber shrinks. For a good job I would advise that you
first cover the partition _with paper tacked on_, then when you
size the cloth, it will stick to the paper, and not to the boards.
I have met with uniform success in this way; because the boards
are left free to shrink and swell without breaking the cloth or
paper. I like to sew the cloth together with a running seam in
pieces large enough to cover all broad spaces, turn the smooth side
out, stretch well, and fasten the edges only; drive the tacks an
inch from the edges of the cloth, so that you can fasten them down
smoothly with paste. When a man has been unwise enough to put a
board partition across one end of an otherwise fine room, and is
willing to pay for his folly: first, take measurements of the blank
spaces, and sew together some fairly strong _unbleached_ muslin,
stretch on frames, and give it a coat of glue and alum size, and
whiting; when dry, carefully fit each piece in its place and tack
it an inch from the edges and fasten the edges down smooth with
strong flour paste. Tack only at the edges, and if you are careful
to butt edge the different pieces over the doors, etc., you can
make a nice smooth job in this way. By using this method the paste
will not stick the cloth to the wall. Use tinned tacks to prevent
rust.
SANDPAPERING.
This is a job none of us like very well, but since it must be done,
it is worth while to be able to do it to the best advantage. The
first thing to look for is good paper. To test the strength of the
sand, rub two pieces together, and if the sand don’t fly off, it
is good in that respect; next see if the paper is tough and will
not tear easily. Chalk the back of your paper before you double it
and it will not slip. Don’t lose time using old, worn-out paper.
New paper will, of course, cut faster than old paper, and the
difference in the time gained by using sharp paper will pay for the
new paper twice over. Using old dull paper is like trying to save
money by using an old stub brush. Better use up fifty cents’ worth
of paper than to fool away dollars’ worth of time trying to save
money by using old paper.
If you have old, hard paint to cut down, which dry sandpaper
will not touch, keep the work wet with benzine, and you will be
surprised to see how fast the sandpaper will cut the paint. To put
on benzine use a small spring-bottomed can, such as is used for
oiling machinery. You can use any grade of sandpaper, and it will
not soak up or gum. No. 1 paper is the best for this purpose. A
good deal of time may be lost where scrapers could be used to much
better advantage. A broad, flat scraper to shove endwise is always
in order, and a few narrow ones with various shaped ends to fit in
headings, moldings, etc., are a great help.
A STENCILED BORDER.
This makes a nice finish for a painted or kalsomined room. To make
it look at its best, paint a stripe as wide as your stencil in a
pleasant contrast to the paint on the room and put the stencil on
that in soft harmonizing colors.
REPAINTING SCALED WORK.
To repaint a job which has commenced to scale, without taking off
all the old paint, is very uncertain work, but if you have to try
it, have it understood in writing, or before witnesses, that it is
done at the owner’s risk. First scrape off the loose paint, then go
over the job with raw oil; put it on freely and let it stand until
dry; then scrape off all the paint loosened by the oil, and coat
up with strictly pure white lead and oil. Avoid zinc, and mixtures
of zinc, and barytes, on jobs of this kind; because they are more
or less liable to crack, and pull off more of the old paint. White
lead and oil lightly tinted will hold it if anything will. Use raw
oil and a little good japan.
TO MIX WATER COLORS.
Light weight colors which will not mix well with water may be
easily mixed to a stiff paste with molasses or sirup, then mix in
glue size for a binder and thin with water.
TO SIZE MUSLIN FOR LETTERING.
Use a thin size of white glue in water, or a thin starch paste. For
a sign to stand weather, dissolve white wax in turpentine by heat.
Melt the wax in a kettle, then take it outside and by degrees add
sufficient spirits of turpentine and make a thin size.
One ounce of wax to the quart of turps is about right. Put it on
warm with a brush.
ANOTHER FOR WHITE WORK.
Slake a little good, fresh lime in hot water and mix a size with
skim milk. Then strain through cheese cloth. This size is, when
dry, insoluble in water and will hold lettering as long as the
cloth lasts. May be tinted.
[Illustration: No. 4. OLD STYLE EXTENDED.
A B C D E F
G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z & , .
a b c d e f g h
i j k l m n o
p q r s t u v
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]
TEST OF THE PURITY OF WHITE LEAD.
The following is an infallible and simple commercial test of the
purity of white lead:
Take a piece of firm, close-grained charcoal, and near one end of
it scoop out a cavity about half an inch in diameter and a quarter
of an inch in depth. Place in the cavity a sample of the lead to be
tested, about the size of a small pea, and apply to it continuously
the _blue_ or _hottest_ part of the flame of the blow-pipe; if the
sample be strictly pure it will, in a very short time, say two
minutes, be reduced to metallic lead, leaving no residue; but if it
be adulterated, even to the extent of 10 per cent. only, with oxide
of zinc, sulphate of baryta, whiting or any other carbonate of lime
(which substances are the principal adulterations used), or if it
be composed entirely of these materials, as is sometimes the case
with cheap lead (so-called), it cannot be reduced, but will remain
on the charcoal an infuscatible mass.
A blow-pipe can be obtained from any jeweler at small cost. An
alcohol lamp, star candle, or a lard oil lamp furnishes the best
flame for use of the blow-pipe. This test is very simple and anyone
can very soon learn to make it with ease and skill.
POLISH TO RENOVATE VARNISHED WORK.
One quart good vinegar, 2 ounces butter of antimony, 2 ounces
alcohol, 1 quart oil. Shake before using.
BRONZES--COLORS.
White,
Light Gold,
Lemon,
Copper,
Lilac,
Silver,
Dark Gold,
Orange,
Carmine,
Violet,
Flesh,
Rich Gold,
Fire,
Crimson,
Brown,
Light and Dark Greens.
BLACK VARNISH FOR IRON.
Asphaltum, 2 pounds.
Boiled linseed oil, 1 pint.
Spirits turpentine, 2 quarts.
Melt the asphaltum with the oil in an iron kettle. Stir well before
removing from the fire. When partly cool add the turpentine and a
little good japan.
TO FREE BENZINE FROM ITS OFFENSIVE ODOR.
To deodorize benzine, add 3 ounces quicklime to the gallon of
benzine; shake well. Let the lime settle and pour off and filter
the benzine.
PAINT TO PREVENT WOOD EXPOSED TO THE GROUND FROM ROTTING.
Take of linseed oil, 4 parts; whiting, 40 parts; rosin, 50 parts;
clean sand, 300 parts; heat together in a kettle until the rosin
melts; then add 2 parts sulphate of copper; the mass to be well
stirred, and thinned to workable consistency with linseed oil.
RECIPES FOR BLACKBOARD SLATING.
Dissolve 1 pound shellac in 1 gallon 95 per cent. alcohol; then add
½ pound best powdered ivory black, 5 ounces finest emery flour, 2
ounces ultramarine blue; mix well and keep air tight. When using
stir frequently. If thick enough to show brush marks, add more
alcohol; work quick with a fine brush.
TO MAKE A BLACKBOARD ON COMMON PLASTER.
Stop all cracks and holes with plaster paris mixed in glue size.
When dry sandpaper until all is smooth; then paper the wall with
white blank wall paper, butt the edges, put on with strong paste,
and be careful to rub out all blisters. When dry prime with oil
paint, then sandpaper with fine paper, and put on two coats of
above slating. This makes an excellent blackboard. Boards which I
made in this way twenty years ago are in good shape yet, and will
last for years to come with an occasional repainting.
CHEAP SLATING, BUT GOOD.
Mix lamp black, 4 parts; ultramarine blue, 1 part, by weight, in
turpentine, with sufficient good japan and a very little oil to
bind it, then add one part by weight of _fine pumice stone_. Have
it thin enough to flow on and not leave brush marks.
WATERPROOF OIL RUBBER PAINT FOR CLOTH.
Melt 2½ pounds of india rubber in ½ gallon of boiled oil by
boiling. If too thick, add more oil; if too thin, add more rubber,
and a little japan to dry it. Apply warm.
TO CLEAN PAINT.
Have some whiting on a plate, then dip a piece of flannel in warm,
soft water and squeeze nearly dry, then take up some of the whiting
by dipping the flannel in it, and rub the paint until it looks
clean, then rub dry with a soft cloth or chamois skin.
GOOD QUICK STAIN FOR A BRICK CHIMNEY.
For red stain, take Venetian red, 2 parts; yellow ochre, 1
part--both dry--and mix with skim milk. For yellow stain, use
water-lime, tinted with yellow ochre. Mix as above.
Skim milk when mixed with common quicklime, Portland cement, or
Venetian red, is converted into an insoluble binder, which renders
the mixture waterproof, so that it will not wash off when wet;
neither will it rub up when dry. Other pigments can be added,
by way of coloring, up to 25 per cent., without affecting the
insolubility of the paint.
For a brick wall, which has not been rubbed or painted, Venetian
red toned down with yellow ochre, beats any glue and acid mixture
for durability.
TO CLEAN DOOR PLATES.
Put on with a rag a weak solution of ammonia in water, and rub to
dryness.
TO CLEAN VARNISHED PAINT.
In a gallon of water, boil a pound of wheat bran, and wash the
varnish with the water.
SLOWING THE DRYING OF PAINT.
In wall painting or otherwise, especially in hot weather, if the
paint dries so fast as to show laps in spite of your best efforts
with the brush, the addition of a little cotton seed oil will make
the paint dry slower without hurting the gloss; or if you are using
flat color, and it dries too fast, a little cotton seed oil will
make it dry slower, and not make a gloss. You can, by a little
experiment, determine how much of cotton seed oil to use in each
case.
FINE BRONZE FOR METALS.
Red aniline (fuchsine), 20 parts; purple aniline, 10 parts; 95 per
cent. alcohol, 200 parts; acid benzoic, 10 parts. Dissolve the
colors in the spirit in a porcelain vessel in a water or sand bath;
add the acid and boil until the mixture changes from a greenish
color to a beautiful bronze color. Lay it on the bright metal with
a brush.
REPAINTING BLISTERED DOORS.
When the paint commences to blister or scale on a door, it is very
liable to keep on blistering and scaling from time to time, as
long as any of the old paint is left on the door, no matter how
carefully it may be repainted, because in most cases whatever
caused the paint to scale off in spots, weakened the entire coat
of paint on the door, making it liable to raise up, or come off
in other places, whenever exposed to any extra strain, such as
sun heat, or the drying of new coats of paint or varnish over it;
hence, to have a sure thing on painting a scaled or blistered door,
take off all the old paint. Put on a thin prime of pure white lead
and linseed oil; use the priming sparingly _and rub it out thin_;
let the prime dry and coat up with lead and oil paint, mixed with
good body; put in a little turps and spread the _paint out thin_,
so it will dry solid; rub each coat in the same way; give each coat
time to dry solid. For work to be varnished, prime as above, and
coat up flat. I think blistering is often caused by flowing on too
much paint having too much oil in it, in proportion to the pigment,
hence it does not dry solid, the oil is softened and expanded by
heat, and the coating, which is more of an oil skin than a body
of paint, lets go its hold on the wood and puffs out in a blister
to make room for the softened and expanding oil skin. If painters
will mix their paint with good body, and use more elbow grease in
rubbing it out, they will have less trouble with blisters.
FIREPROOF PAINT FOR ROOFS, ETC.
A recipe published thirty years ago in the Maine _Farmer_:
Slake stone lime by putting it into a tub to be covered to keep
in the steam. When slacked pass the powder through a fine sieve,
and to each 6 quarts of it add 1 quart rock salt, and water, 1
gallon; then boil and skim clean. To each five gallons of this add
pulverized alum, 1 pound; pulverized copperas, ½ pound; then slowly
add powdered potash, ¾ pound; then add hardwood ashes sifted, 4
pounds; now add any color and apply with a brush. This paint stops
small leaks in roofs, prevents moss, is incombustible, and renders
brick waterproof. It is durable as stone.
VARNISH FOR IRON.
Genuine asphaltum 8 pounds, melt in an iron kettle, slowly adding
boiled linseed oil, 5 gallons; litharge, 1 pound, and sulphate of
zinc, ½ pound; continue to boil three hours, then add dark gum
amber, 1½ pounds, and boil two hours longer. When cool thin with
turpentine to good working consistency.
BLACK VARNISH FOR IRON.
Genuine asphaltum (not coal tar imitation), 1 pound; lamp black, ¼
pound; rosin, ½ pound; spirits turpentine, 1 quart. Dissolve the
asphaltum and rosin in the turpentine, then rub up the lamp black
with linseed oil, only sufficient to form a paste, and mix with the
others.
TO MIX DRY LAMP BLACK.
First cut it up in benzine or turpentine to a thick paste, stir
well and add linseed oil; if the black is to be used as an oil
paint, a little at first, stir well and you may add more. In this
way you will have no trouble in mixing it with other paint, if you
do it when the paint is rather stiff.
TO CLEAN BRASS.
One-half ounce oxalic acid, 3 ounces rotten stone, ¼ ounce gum
arabic, each in powder; made into a paste with sweet oil. Use
sparingly and rub dry with flannel.
DIPPING PAINT.
Grind dry colors in japan and turps, with only enough japan to bind
the pigment. When dry varnish, use any pigment you like, or use
bolted whiting and color as you like.
TO MAKE WAX FINISH FOR FLOORS.
Take 2 ounces pearlash and 2 pounds white wax. Slice the wax thin,
and boil it with the pearlash in 2 quarts of water; stir until the
wax is melted and unites with the water.
Put on the finish with a brush, and polish with cloth or plush.
This finish will be good only for light service.
SPIRIT VARNISHES.
There are numerous recipes which might be given here for making
the fine elastic varnishes, but it would not be practicable for
the painter to make them, even if he had the requisite skill and
experience, but with spirit varnishes it is very different, and
the painter can make them by a formula as well as an expert can.
(For formulas for white and orange shellac varnish see article on
wood finishing.) For inside work, where the family is living at the
time the work is being done, the alcohol varnish is preferable.
First, because it dries very quickly, and second, because it is
free from sickening or disagreeable odors.
Below are several recipes for making varnishes, which dry hard and
lustrous. The spirit used is wood or grain alcohol; in either case,
the spirit should be 95 per cent. proof.
BROWN HARD SPIRIT VARNISH (SELECTED).
1. Sandarac, 1 pound; shellac, ½ pound; gum elemi, 4 ounces; Venice
turpentine, 4 ounces; spirit, 1 gallon.
2. Gum sandarac, 1½ pounds; shellac, 1 pound; spirit, 1 gallon.
After the gums are dissolved, put in rosin turpentine varnish, 1
pint. This makes a good varnish, not as quick drying as pure spirit
varnishes.
A brown varnish may be made by mixing shellac, 1½ pounds; pale
rosin, 1½ pounds; spirit, 2 gallons.
WHITE HARD VARNISH.
1. Sandarac, 2½ pounds; gum thus, 1 pound; spirit, 1 gallon.
2. Mastic, ½ pound; sandarac, 2 pounds; elemi gum, 4 ounces;
spirit, 1 gallon.
3. Mastic, ½ pound; sandarac, 1 pound; turps, 2 ounces; spirit, 1
gallon.
These are all prepared by mixing and setting in a warm place
until the gums are dissolved, then they are ready for use. Shake
occasionally. For fine work strain carefully.
PURE WHITE VARNISHES.
1. Pale manila copal, 8 ounces; gum camphor, 1 ounce; mastic, 2
ounces; venice turpentine, 1 ounce; spirit, 1 quart.
2. Sandarac, 8 ounces; mastic, 2 ounces; Canada balsam, 4 ounces;
spirit, 1 quart.
3. Sandarac, 8 ounces; damar, 4 ounces; gum thus, 8 ounces; manila
copal, 8 ounces; elemi, 8 ounces; spirit, ½ gallon. This is a good
pale article.
4. Gum thus, 8 ounces; gum benzoin, 4 ounces; manila elemi, 4
ounces; spirit, 1 quart.
VARNISH PAINTS.
These are made by mixing opaque pigments with almost any varnish,
using sufficient turps to make them spread well.
GOLD VARNISH.
Shellac, 8 ounces; sandarac, 8 ounces; mastic, 8 ounces; gamboge,
2 ounces; dragon’s blood, 1 ounce; turmeric, 4 ounces; spirit, 1
gallon.
FURNITURE VARNISH.
Shellac, 1¾ pounds; sandarac, 4 ounces; mastic, 4 ounces; spirit, 1
gallon.
DAMAR VARNISH.
Damar, 1 ounce; sandarac, 5 ounces, mastic, 1 ounce; turps, 20
ounces. Digest at gentle heat until dissolved. If necessary add
more turps to bring down to the proper consistency.
LACQUERS FOR BRASS AND TIN.
Pale gold lacquer.--Spirit, 1 gallon; orange shellac, 1 ounce;
gamboge, ½ ounce.
Deep gold.--Orange shellac, 10 ounces; turmeric, 4 ounces; gamboge,
4 ounces; dragon’s blood, ½ ounce; spirit, ¾ gallon.
Brass lacquer.--Shellac, 14 ounces; turmeric, 4 ounces; annotto, 1
ounce; saffron, ½ ounce; spirit, 1 gallon.
LEATHER VARNISH (BLACK).
Shellac, 12 ounces; gum thus, 5 ounces; sandarac, 2 ounces; lamp
black, 1 ounce; turpentine, 4 ounces; spirit, ¾ gallon.
Mix the ingredients, and give them time to dissolve in the spirit
in a warm place. A shake-up now and then will quicken the process.
PAPER HANGER’S OUTFIT.
Bib overalls, large pocket in front, side pockets for rule and
shears, long trimming shears, shorter wet shears, straightedge,
paste board, plumb bob, rule, paper brush, paste pail, size kettle,
step-ladders and rollers, some sandpaper, soft cloths and long
blotting paper to use under your roller on seams, when needed, and
a plank for scaffold, when papering ceilings. For common sized
rooms two step-ladders are good in the place of trestles to hold
up the plank. For butt edging I can recommend James Marks’ paper
cutters. See description on another page.
PAPER HANGERS’ PASTE.
Beat up four pounds of sifted wheat flour in cold water sufficient
to make a stiff batter; beat out all the lumps, then add enough
cold water to make it like pudding batter. Then pour in a little
hot water and stir, then pour in hot water fast, and stir until the
paste swells and thickens, and turns darker. It is then cooked. To
keep the paste from “going back” and staining the paper, add about
two ounces of powdered or well pounded alum to the boiling water
which you pour on the batter. This will make three-quarters of a
common wooden pail full of paste. It will do better and go further
if you let it cool before using. Turn a little cold water on the
top to prevent it skinning over while you wait for it to cool. When
ready to use it, thin with cold water, until it works easily under
the brush, and according to the wall. A very rough porous wall
needs a stout paste and plenty of it, while a hard, smooth wall
should have the paste thinned and less of it. I have known paper
to crack and fall off from a smooth wall, because too much or too
thick paste was put on. Just enough to cement the paper to such a
wall is best; a body of paste between the paper and plaster will
decay and peel off, and take the paper with it. The other extreme
must be avoided also. Some hangers prepare this paste without the
alum.
If hanging paper on a glossy painted surface, leave out the alum
and add one-half pint of nice clear sirup to each gallon of paste.
TO MAKE A PASTE FOR PAPERING OVER PAINTED OR VARNISHED WALLS.
In a kettle mix some flour in water in the same way as in the above
formula, but make the batter thinner. To each gallon of the batter
add one ounce of powdered resin. Set the kettle on a moderate fire,
and keep stirring it until it boils and thickens, and the resin is
melted into the paste. When cool, thin down with a weak solution of
gum arabic.
LIQUID GLUE.
Fine glue dissolved in alcohol makes a nice binder for fine water
colors.
TO CRYSTALIZE GLASS.
Lay the glass flat and flow heavy alum water over it. Let it dry.
SIZE FOR WALLS BEFORE PAPERING OR KALSOMINING.
One pound good white glue, 1 pound good bar soap, 2 pounds
pulverized alum. Dissolve each separately in one quart boiling
water, having first soaked the glue. Mix the glue and soap water,
and then slowly add the alum water, stirring all the time. Add cold
water to make one gallon.
STAIN OAK WOOD.
Wash with a solution of bi-chromate of potash and acid water. One
ounce to a quart of water.
SIZING WALLS.
“Anybody can do it!” Yes, but it takes an expert to do it right.
It is not a difficult matter to make paper stick to whitewash, but
the whitewash splits as far in as the paste goes, and a part of it
invariably sticks to the paper when it comes off and a part of it
is left on the wall. As a rule, if you size whitewash with flour
paste and let it stand a few days it will crack and roll up. Now,
pure glue size does not have this effect upon whitewash, but, on
the contrary, it not only acts as a binder, but as an intervening
coat between the paste and the whitewash. In other words, the glue
size will stick the whitewash fast without causing it to crack,
and the paste will adhere to the glue size without bad effects
upon either. Now, in order to bind the whitewash, the glue should
penetrate as far as possible. Hence, the size should be put on
warm, and the room should be warm, otherwise the glue will get cold
and stiff like jelly before it has time to penetrate; hence it will
remain on the surface instead of going into whitewash as a binder.
The idea is to get all you can into the wall and leave as little as
possible on the outside. Another thing to look after is the quality
of the glue. Very much of the white glue found on the market is not
genuine glue. Some of it is adulterated with starch and white clay,
some of it is not glue at all. A glue which will dissolve in cold
water is not good glue, or if it melts readily in hot water without
being soaked an hour or two in cold water, it is not first-class.
If it has a dead white look it is not good. Good glue should be
glossy and semi-transparent, and should soften and swell in cold
water, but not dissolve in it. When put into hot water without
being first soaked in cold water, it should not dissolve at once,
but form into a lump and resist the action of the hot water for
some time.
HOW TO APPLY WHITE ENAMELED LETTERS TO GLASS.
An extract from a circular issued by the manufacturers of these
letters: