apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Wow! Your hunch served you well, that is gorgeous brick.

What were people thinking!!

Not sure what your style is so I don't want make any comments re: the mantel yet.

Oh dear god what a relief! have you found polished hardwoods under that carpet yet? Maybe its a magic house?
more pictures!

That brick work in the back is bangin. More evidence that old stuff is better, because people cared if it was well constructed all over - EVEN IF IT HAD A FIRE RAGING INSIDE IT!

Gorgeous! Lucky you. :-)

wow, the mantel, mirrors, green carpet, that's quite a combo! :)

i think the brick looks GORGEOUS!!

Can you use a heat gun to get the paint off? Friend used on thruout her home. Took the paint off the doors and trim. Need to be careful, but worked. Only took a bit of gentle remover (orange stuff) to get the rest off.

Just a thought.

You are so lucky. I dream of a house like that.

DahliaCactus: polished hardwood? possibly at one time! we found wood that had been through a lot...along with more staples than we could imagine. we've been pulling up staples for a couple weeks now. some rooms had layers of plywood, vinyl tiles, AND carpet. pretty crazy stuff!!

wow amazing brick it looks brand new. okay i must be stupid but i see nothing wrong with the paint on the mantle. maybe just pry those mirrors off.. i would work on the carpet first though.

What a find. I also would try to strip the paint off -- prefer chemical strippers over heat gun (for safety and possible lead paint issues.)

I have spent a lot of time stripping off old paint, and most strippers work fine on latex, but once the old lead paint layers surface, they stay put. You can remove the paint, but be prepared for a long messy job and lots of tedious work. If you can remove the mantle and get it stripped off site, or have pros come in, I would recommend paying whatever it takes to have that done. If that is not an option, here is another one that has worked for me.

The one product I would recommend for your fireplace is Framar chemical's Soy Gel, a totally safe stripper made from soybeans. It works slowly and is $$$ (about 65.00 a gallon) but it is worth every penny, since you can strip paint and still breathe and think at the same time. The gel also mitigates the lead paint dust by encasing it in goo so it does not chip off, flying into your lungs. I used it to remove layers of paint from the historic 1926 medicine cabinet in my bungalow bathroom, and I am using it to remove paint from the trim in one of the bedrooms.

Here are some paint removal Tips- the first few layers of paint will peel off easily, but a second application is needed to remove the older lead paint underneath. You need a sturdy putty knife, and some specialty scrapers, such as a triangular shaped scraper, a curved surface scraper, and finally, you need some dental or jewelry tools for the last nooks and crannies. Soy-Gel is messy, put down lots of plastic. Although, unlike citri-solve, it cleans up with water, no special solvents are needed. After the wood is stripped, it takes a while for the wood to dry out, so painting or staining should wait a week or two. I found out about this stripper from Old House Journal, but I couldn't find it in any stores around town, so I ordered my gallon from Ebay. Good Luck!