If it’s too good to be true… it probably is. The dining room demo was a breeze. The old wood paneling and press cardboard ceiling tiles came done in a couple of hours. Even ripping down the cheese-cloth-backed 1940s wallpaper pulled off in large strips. What was unforeseen was the tiny little strands left behind every tack used to keep the damp cheesecloth wallpaper in place until it dried. All 6000 tacks. I kid you not. There was no way I was removing each and every one. Even if I wanted to, the tack [metal] was so soft the few tacks I tried to remove bent over (but never came out).
So I recalled that in some clothing factories, they use torches to singe any loose threads to remove them; this of course doesn’t burn the fabric. Thinking I could apply the same concept to 6000 tack heads… I grabbed a small handheld blow torch and struck a match. It worked. I will have to say that it took me several attempts to get the right flame size and distance from the wood – and several scorched wood spots – before I got the hang of it. A few (or several) evenings after work is come home and start burning my dining room. All 4 walls and ceiling. For 85-90% of the tacks it did a great job. Which means some tacks still have the threads and those I plan to paint right over and move on. It was tedious, no joke. But what guy doesn’t like playing with fire.
