Next up in the closet is a coat of plaster on the ceiling. Similar to the walls, most of the ceiling is pretty secure. There were a few plaster washers I needed to add but overall not much movement with the existing plaster. Since I didn’t like how the Limeworks extra fine plaster mixed up, I go back to Takcoat for my skimcoat. The Takcoat is harder to work, but it doesn’t have the weird issues with unmixed little granular pieces.

While the plaster cures, I focus on the next room. This room is turning out to be really tricky to strip. I need to use multiple applications of CitriStrip to get the many layers of paint off. Then after the paint is loosened and scraped off, I then follow up with washing with TSP and a Brillo pad. It’s very tedious and the little pockets of paint that aren’t removed from the stripper don’t come off easily with just the scrubbing. Since I will no longer use CitriStrip for wood stripping, the plaster is a good option to get a less toxic stripper. The heavier stripper I still use for woodwork, but have to be careful to wear gloves or it will burn.

Taking a little peek at what’s under the paint in the built-in.

Wall is pretty clean, but still lots of paint on the ceiling.

This is what the ceiling looks like after a couple of application of chemical stripper. Nothing comes off cleanly.

Another tricky project is the door. I continue buffing out the last coat of stain to get rid of any nibs and get a smooth surface. The buffing does lighten the color a little but I don’t think too much to start shellac. Looking at the unfinished stain, it does still appear to be rough, but to the touch if feels smooth so I’m going to assume when shellac is applied it will smooth things out. I apply a coat of shellac using a brush and I use a little bit of brown dye in the shellac. The dye is dicey because each shellac coat melts the previous coat so you can easily wipe away a previous section that dyed nicely.