LESLIE: Next up, we’re going to take a call from Georgia where Jeramy has a wood lattice situation.
Jeramy, what are you working on?
JERAMY: I have an old, historic home that the front porch has a lot of gingerbread in it. We’re considering refinishing the woodwork and redoing the tongue-and-groove porch. I’m just trying to – two-part question. Just trying to figure out what’s the best way to handle the wooden gingerbread and then also the tongue-and-groove porch.
LESLIE: And so the gingerbread and the latticework, all of it is in good condition; you just need to sort of strip it down so you can refinish it?
JERAMY: Yes. The wood is heart pine.
LESLIE: But you’re dealing with a lot of small, intricate detail spaces.
JERAMY: That’s very true. Yes, that’s right.
LESLIE: What about that new Ryobi product, Tom, that cat scratch sander, that gets into all those really tight spaces?
TOM: Yeah, I mean the bottom line is you’re going to have to do a lot of hand work on this. I mean the strippers are not going to really do it here. You’re really going to need to rough that surface up and get in there and do a good job of sanding that old surface. I wouldn’t recommend you use a pressure washer because that can blow off the – I mean it takes the paint off but it also can damage the wood fiber and make it hard for the primer to stick. So the best thing is to get off as much loose paint as you can, sand it, and then make sure you use a very good-quality primer. That’s going to be real important. That’s what’s going to make sure that after doing all this work, Jeramy, that the new paint actually sticks and lasts you for a good seven or eight or nine years.
JERAMY: Any recommendations on oil versus latex versus …?
TOM: Yeah, I would recommend that you use an oil-based primer and a latex-based topcoat because the oil-based primer is going to give you better adhesion than a latex-based primer.
JERAMY: Alright, very good. And any recommendations on the tongue-and-groove?
TOM: Well, it’s pretty much the same situation, though in that case – is this a painted floor or is it a clear finish floor?
JERAMY: It is a painted floor and …
TOM: Painted floor? Now in the case of the floor, I would recommend you use an oil-based paint on the floor. Because although latex paint is better on almost all surfaces, the one quality they’ve not been able to replace is the wear resistance. The oil-based floors are just a lot tougher when it comes to wear resistance and it won’t come off nearly as quickly as a latex-based floor.
JERAMY: I appreciate the help.
TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks again for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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