Amongst
the correspondence my dad saved, I found the following letter from his brother Earle. You may find it dull reading, but when I read it, I kinda think
I hear my dad chortling away.
The “dark woodwork” my dad painted over was
beautiful and evidently rare “Pacific fir,” with which the farmhouse living and dining rooms were trimmed. The doors and pocket doors were also made of
this wood, and Daddy painted over all of it. Mike recalls that my dad preferred
a painted finish to wood. When we remodeled the farmhouse, we stripped the
paint off the wood and had a cabinetmaker recondition and varnish it.
1804
So. Blvd.
Idaho
Falls, Ida.
Jan.
7, 1945
Dear
Vance,
Your
letter arrived Friday and I am writing so soon to let you know about the
painting. Three coats will be necessary to cover that dark woodwork. You can
use two coats of enamel undercoat first and finish with a coat of enamel. This
would be the best. If you care to you can use first a coat of flat white, then
a coat of enamel undercoat, and last a coat of enamel. This procedure would not
be as good as the first one I have outlined as the flat white is not as good
paint for wood work as enamel undercoat.
First
use some very sharp, coarse sandpaper on the old finish, knocking off the gloss
so the first coat will have something to unite with. Then sand lightly between
coats with No. 0 or No. 00 sandpaper. Of course, the last coat is not sanded.
If you can get Dutch Boy paint it will be splendid. If I were going to do that
job, I’d put on an off white, and I’d use Dutch Boy Satin Eggshell No. 700
enamel for the last coat. It is the most beautiful soft finish I have ever
seen. It is better taste for dining rooms and living rooms. In the kitchen I’d
use the Gloss White No. 300 mentioned above.
You
will find it difficult to get paint in anything but white, therefore let me
give you some instructions on tinting the white: If you choose an off white, as
I suggested above, get a pound can of Burnt Umber – or a small tube will do –
and use about ½ teaspoon to one gallon of paint. If you wish it to be a little
more off, add more burnt umber a very little at a time and stir well, pouring
the gallon back and forth by using two containers. This mixes it better than
any other process. In tinting paint always add the color a little at a time. Of
course you see why. Use the “Colors in Oil” tints. Any brand will be o.k.
In
case you do not want the off-white color and prefer the ivory, get some Raw
Sienna color and add it a little at a time until you reach the right shade. I
prefer light ivories. I’d mix at least one gallon of the enamel for both rooms.
It is always smart, when you have to tint paint, to tint enough for the job, as
it isn’t so easy to mix to a tint afterwards. It can be done, though, by saving
a sample of the original tint.
The
great advantage of doing your own tinting is that you can get the exact tint
you want. If you buy ready-mixed tints you get only standard colors and all
in-between shades are left out. I never buy any other colors except white, and
do my own tinting. It is a lot of fun and if one is careful he can get exactly
what he wants. Perhaps you know this, but in case you don’t, here are a few
other instructions: edges of doors which swing into a room are painted the same
as the room woodwork, e.g., the edge of the stairway door would be painted, and
the recess it occupies when closed would also be painted including that part
where the hinges are. Also clean all paint from window glass immediately. Use a
small brush for painting around the glass. If you need any other information,
let me know.Love, Earle
It’s
amazing what one remembers when prompted. I had forgotten that as a second job,
Uncle Earle painted and hung wallpaper, mostly in the summers. He had excellent
tools – always the best quality. I thought
he taught high school, but apparently it was junior high.
[This is the early photo of Ina's dining room. I don't have good pictures of the wood trim, but this picture, taken from the living room, gives a hint of the pocket doors. The picture of Earle and Bernice Dobson was taken in their home in Idaho Falls, 1943.] KW
5 comments:
Grandpa must have asked for some instruction on the painting, don't you think? Uncle Earle is well suited to teaching! Grandpa probably just wanted to know about the ratio of the tinting, don't you think? Did the tint come in a powder form or was it a densely colored liquid like food coloring?
Yes, Grandpa Vance asked Earle's advice and received plenty of instruction. Covering varnished wood with paint is difficult and not really recommended, so I think Vance was interested in any info. Parents Ina and Julian, whose home Vance is painting, were vacationing in Seattle. Did Ina approve of this plan? Maybe she didn't like the dark wood either. Or maybe dark wood trim was out of vogue.
I think the tint came in tubes and was paste-like in texture.
Talk about getting help from an expert! Earle didn't leave out anything. I'm sure that his detailed instructions were a result of seeing students not doing things correctly. When you tell someone how to do something, never assume anything. What you know, the other person may not.
What a lot of work it must have been for your dad to paint the trim! I, too, am a fan of painted trim. I even wish my cupboards were painted instead of stained wood.
Earle gave great instructions, and it sounds like he really enjoyed doing such work.
I thought it was great to return the wood to original, but I would have preferred painted cabinets in the kitchen. The males in the group didn't share my vision. Why is it that they looked down on "painted" cabinets? Seems to me they clean up nicely. Perhaps the edges chip easily, but it's also easy to touch them up.
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