Floating Phil

Trying to stay in touch with the world while sharing my adventure, posting some photographs and recording my thoughts.

DIY Friday – The spray job.

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Phil

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There are still one or two (small) things about my home that I would like to change, 
 
In the lounge, above my gas fireplace and below the TV is a little, wood-finish floating shelf.  It is kind of important for two reasons: One, it provides a heat barrier between the fireplace and the TV, ensuring the heat does not melt the TV and secondly it keeps the center speaker of the sound system in the correct place.  So what is the problem you might ask… well the wood-finish colour is the problem.  Everything I own, in the front of my lounge is black, so it does not work for the engineer in me to have a brown shelf floating there.  To cut a looong story short, I decided to spray paint it black, but for the life of me cannot figure out how to remove it from the wall (without damaging the shelf or the wall).  It is mounted and mounted well, so after trying to remove it for more than 18 months, I decided to spray it “as is, where is”. 
 
Step 1, it started with very careful and precise masking.  Using all my creative energy (and tools) to get the masking tape exactly where I wanted it, all around the shelf.  Step 2, create a complete, sealed, spray booth inside my lounge and mask everything else inside it.  This includes the ceiling, wall, TV, fireplace and floor.
 
Step 3, Wash down the shelf, first with soapy water and then with a little stronger solvents, to make sure no greasiness remains.  Step 4, warm up the room, spray booth with its contents and the primer paint to ensure it goes on well with a nice “flat” finish.  I was lucky enough to find high quality, flat black primer paint, helping out with the colour change on the first coat.  So far so good.  After waiting for it to dry and ventilating the room I checked out my work.  Even if I have to say so myself, I am very happy with the outcome so far.  What a great way to spend a day?
    
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43.5323 – 172.5567
28 June 2024
FP-169

2 responses to “DIY Friday – The spray job.”

  1. WOW that precision!
    Looks like you getting rid of a highly contaminating virus 🙃

    • Yep, it looks a little bit like a scene from the series “Dexter”. I can assure everyone, no animals or humans were harmed during the process. LOL.