Letter 6028

Tin ceiling restoration 

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How do I restore (strip/paint) the tin ceiling in my 100 year old kitchen? Is it possible to restore the natural metallic finish?

Wilma Nachsin
- Evanston, IL USA

What's your ceiling like at the moment?

Ian Brooke
- Scotland

Thanks for asking. The painted surface of the tin ceiling has large bubbles where the paint is pulling away. We poked through one of the bubbles and found the dark gray tin surface underneath. Under the paint, the ceiling seems tarnished, but otherwise in great condition.

Wilma Nachsin
- Evanston, IL USA

While looking for info on this same topic, I came across a snippet on another board about using Easy-Off Oven Cleaner...

We had tried to use a few other things (Strypeeze, not thick enough to adhere to an upside-down surface; Citristrip [link is to product info at Rockler], less caustic and supposedly strips with a very thin layer - didn't work well; RediStrip, a paste like remover that works upside down and is not caustic, but is very expensive and did not work well on the pressed detail of the Tin)...

After seeing the tip about oven cleaner, we decided to give it a try... it was just short of amazing compared to the other products "designed" for paint-removal...

Our ceiling had at least 5 coats of paint, the first one having been put on around 1910 or so... The first application of oven cleaner completely loosened the top 2 heavy layers of paint. After cleaning that with a plastic putty knife, another application of oven cleaner was applied that loosened most of the rest of the paint which we then took off again with the plastic putty knife. There was still quite a bit of paint left in the recesses of the decorative tin, so we applied one more application of oven cleaner and used a stiff plastic bristle brush to get into the crevices. Then wiped the whole surface with damp rags to remove the residue. It came out beautifully.

We waited about 2 hours after applying the oven cleaner before removing the loosened paint and made sure to have plastic sheeting below as the cleaner would eat into the hardwood floors. NOTE: The cleaner is supposed to be safe on metal (it is designed for ovens) but, do not leave the last application on for more than a few hours as it may leave minor poc marks in the old tin.

Joe Varga
- Rochester, NY, USA

I am glad to hear that it worked, Joe. Sort of . . .

I am also very concerned about people working overhead with oven cleaner. One drop in your eye and there's a very good chance you are blind.

 
Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com Inc. - Brick, NJ

Yes, I suppose that's true... oven cleaner in the eye could blind a person, but I do believe that just about any chemical that can strip paint could blind you if gotten in the eye... hence the common sense use of good eye protection when working with any caustic chemicals whether overhead or not...

Joe Varga
- Rochester, NY, USA

I did this on two ceilings about 8 years ago. I tried everything for removal; Chipping, propane torch, Methylene chloride. I finally found a product called "Peel Away [link is to product info at Amazon]". It is a Sodium Hydroxide paste that is troweled on and a paper-plastic film that is pressed against the paste. The next day the film is peeled off with the paint sticking to the paper. Sometimes it will just fall down from the weight. No toxic fumes but use rubber gloves and eye protection; NaOH burns the skin. Applying thicker paste means less work cleaning in the details but this has to be balanced against the cost. At that time a 5 gal bucket was about $125. It was still a lot of nasty work but I could not have completed the project without this product.
There were too many different shades of gray to leave the metal unpainted. I used some kind of white primer, I think it was a Zissner oil base that cleaned up with water. The finish coat was a latex base with metallic powder mixed in. One room was done in bronze, the other with brass color. It was applied with a HVLP sprayer and I was very pleased with the result.I think the paint was called Chromatone from Cresent Bronze Powder Co. in Chicago and it was also expensive. Our building inspector commented that this was the only remaining original residential tin celling in town that he knew of.

Bob Kesley
- Lake Geneva, WI, USA

Hi, we installed a new tin (unpainted) tin ceiling in our kitchen about 6 years ago. Despite fairly meticulous care it has become rusted in spots where steam from cooking has reached it. It is also very dirty and is not easy (to say the least) to clean. Are there any products out there that may help? Thanks for any info.

Lisa Aurello
DIYer - Brewster, NY

I have a very old copper ceiling, probably from around the turn of the century. it is rather ornate and has many ridges and dentals. can anyone please advise me as to how I could restore, or remove the layers of paint. can I power wash it? I have tried chemical strippers but the paint seems to be so thick that the chemicals just seem to move the paint around. it is rather beautiful would be unfortunate to have to get rid of it! what should I do?

Mark English
homeowner/carpenter - Astoria, New York, USA

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