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RadiatorsSpecial pains should be taken when painting a radiator to avoid having the paint crack and peel off within a few months. With the proper procedure, you can usually avoid this condition. Do not paint a radiator when it is hot. If you paint it during the summer, you avoid turning it off when it is needed to heat a room and you allow yourself sufficient time to do lasting work. If this is inconvenient, you can paint a radiator when it is warm. If the old paint has chipped and is cracked, it should be removed before a new finish is applied. Use a stiff wire brush, coarse sandpaper, and steel wool for this task. It may be necessary to chip off some of the paint with a cold chisel or an old screwdriver. Remove all traces of rust and wipe off the grease with petrol. Apply a coat of red lead or some equally good metal primer. Use a special radiator brush for this work. These brushes are long and thin so that they can be worked into difficult places with a minimum amount of effort to coat with paint places otherwise inaccessible. After the priming coat is dry, use a flat wall paint for the finish coat. Add a small amount of linseed oil to the paint to prevent it from cracking. ConcreteCement, and Portland cement stucco, can be painted with nearly any kind of paint, provided that certain conditions are observed. Cement paintsCement paints are special water paints intended for use on concrete. They are mixed with water and are obtainable in several colours. No special preparation of the surface is necessary when these paints are used, but do not put them over another finish. They must be applied directly to the concrete. Water paints Water paints, such as calcimine, can also be applied directly to a new concrete surface ; as these are water soluble paints, however, they can only be used for interior work. Apply the paint with a brush or a spray gun. Oil paintOil paint can be used on cement if the cement does not contain any moisture. Do not paint cement for several days after a rain, as its porous texture holds a good deal of moisture. Do not put oil paint on new concrete until a solution is applied to neutralize the lime. Lime has the same destructive effect on oil paints as on new plaster. You can make a solution for neutralizing lime by dissolving 3 lbs. of zinc sulphate crystals in 1 gal. of water. Apply this solution freely to the surface and allow about a week to soak into the concrete and dry. After this has been done, you may apply the oil paint. Any white crust on the concrete must be removed before painting. Concrete that has been standing a year or more can be painted with oil paints, and it is not necessary to use a neutralizing solution. Brush the concrete to remove any dirt or loose bits of cement. Use any good exterior paint for the finish, but use a varnish base paint for the first coat, because of the rough, porous nature of concrete. This will seal off the pores so that the following coats of paint can be easily applied and produce an even finish.
Cement floorsCement floors can be painted only if there is no moisture present. A good test is to put a strip of waterproof paper on the floor and leave it there for several days. If at the end of this time there is no moisture under the paper, the floor can be painted. Use a tough floor enamel on cement floors, as other kinds of paint will not stand up very long. Wood shinglesWood shingles used on roofs and as siding can be painted or stained to prevent rotting. Shingle stains may be purchased ready for use in various colours. A somewhat less expensive method is to finish shingles with creosote, which can be coloured or applied as it is bought. The best time to stain shingles is before they are nailed on. This is done by dipping them into a bucket of stain and putting them aside until dry. If this is not done during the construction of the house, you can stain the shingles by applying the stain with a brush or, better, a spray gun. This is not as effective as the first method because only the top of the shingle is covered. It does, however, offer some protection to the most exposed portion of the shingle. If the stain is applied with a brush, use a large, old brush, as the uneven surface will damage a new one. After a rain, allow plenty of time for the shingles to dry before staining. When singles are to be painted, thin the first coat with linseed oil so that it can be brushed into the wood pores. Once shingles have been painted they cannot be stained unless all the paint is removed-and this would be a large undertaking. Stained shingles, in turn, should not be painted for several months, as the stain is likely to bleed through the paint. Stoves and stove pipesStoves, stove pipes, and other metal objects about the house that are subject to excessive heat can be refinished with a special, heat-resistant enamel. These enamels are designed to withstand rather high temperatures, but they will not last long on surfaces which become red hot. Before the finish is applied, the surface must be free of rust and dirt. Use sandpaper or emery cloth to remove the rust, and wipe the surface with petrol to get rid of all grease. Do not apply the finish if the surface is hot. WhitewashWhitewash is the cheapest kind of finish available, but it has many valuable characteristics which make it ideal for use on unfinished basement walls where some covering is desirable but where the use of an expensive paint would be a waste of money. Whitewash should be applied only to a clean surface. Brush off all dirt and loose bits of concrete with a stiff wire brush. Old whitewash can be removed with warm water and a stiff fibre brush.
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