Bob Ingrassia

Entries tagged as ‘St. Paul’

My War Against Painted Door and Window Hardware

December 16, 2013 · 4 Comments

house exteriorI’m in the middle of an epic war against painted hardware.

The battlefield is the Victorian house my family recently bought in St. Paul. The bedrooms, nice and bright in times of peace, have been overrun with paint. Hinges, door knobs, latches and window pulls have succumbed to the onslaught of latex.

My battle is ongoing, but I’m pleased to report that I’m advancing nicely against the enemy.

Secret weapon: baking soda. I’ve been attacking the paint by simmering the parts in a pot of baking-soda laced water. My defense against counterattack from any latex fumes is a U.S. Army-issue gas mask. For a detailed battle plan, see my previous post about boiling metal parts.

After the painted parts get out of the pot, I go after the invasive paint with my fingers, a soft wire brush and steel wool. I finish off any dead-enders with a bit of Brasso.

Check out these photos from the front lines:

The Enemy: Painted Hardware

door mortise

door handle

window pull painted

Who paints hinges?

Secret Weapon: Baking Soda

door plates

Winning the Battle

door plates

hardware clean

window pulls after

photo 1

photo 2

photo 3

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , ,

Good enough for government work

March 23, 2010 · 1 Comment

Mistakes were made. A traffic citation was received.

That's always a drag. But, hey, we're not scofflaws and we'll make good on the fine.

It's disheartening, though, to see such a sloppy typo on the citation. Where's the pride St. Paul P.D.? Too lazy to run spell checker, Ramsey District Court?

We all misspell words or make typing mistakes now and then. But on a form that will be printed thousands of times?

Maybe this ridiculous typo is enough to get the infraction tossed.

Ticket

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , ,