Mexico Missouri message., 1906-10-04
A DANGEROUS PRACTICE.
Burning on Paint Makes Insurance.
Void

Void.
II seems that considerable danger ia
property exists in the practice OF
burning OF old paint before re.paint
Ing. The question has long been a
subject of debate in the technical
journals, and now householders and
the newspapers have begun to discuss
1t. Those Of us who, with trembling,
have watched the painters blow a
fiery blast from their lamps against
our houses, and have looked sadly at
the size of our painting bill because
OF the time wasted on this prelimin-
airy work, are interested in the in.
Vestigation by the Greenfield MASS }
Gazette and Courier, which gives con-
siderable space to the reasons for the
practice, questions its necessity and
suggests ways to prevent the risk Of
burning down ones house in order to
get the old paint off, 1t says:
There 10 a good deal of discussion
among householders as to the desir-
ability, in painting houses, of burning
on the old paint, a practice that has
grown very common of late in Green
field and elsewhere. Insurance men
are strongly opposed to this method.
1t makes void insurance policies for
hres caused in this manner. Several
houses in Greenfield have gotten afre
rs the result of this method, and in
lone places houses have burned as a
'esult.
1T is undoubtedly true that when
a house has been painted over and
over again there comes to be an &C.
emulation of paint in punches. If
new paint is put on top of these ac-
cumulations 1t is almost sure to bis
ter. To burn it off is the quickest
and cheapest and perhaps the surest
method of getting rid of this old
paint"
The Gazette and Courier quotes GER
tain old patrons to the effect that &C.
cumulations of paint are unnecessary.
These old-timers lay the blame partly
on the painter who fails to brush his
paint in well, partly on the custom of
painting in damp weather or not allow
Ing sufficient time for drying between
coats, and partly to the use of adulter-
ated paints instead of old-fashioned
linseed oil and pure white lead. The
paper says:
Many of the old householders say
that If care is taken at all these points
1t is absolutely unnecessary to have
paint burned of. They advise that
people who have houses painted should
buy their own materials, and to have
them put on by the day, so as to be
sure to get good lead and oil. OF |
course the burning off of paint greatly |
Increases the cost of the job"
The trouble householders everywhere |
have with paint is pretty we'll summed |
up by our contemporary, and the
causes are about the same everywhere.
BY far the most frequent cause of the
necessity for the dangerous practice
of burning old paint is the use of poor
The oil should be pure lin.
'eed and the white lead should be real
white lead. The latter is more often
ampered with than the oil. Earthly
and pulverized rock and
Iuartz, are frequently used as cheap
'ners, to the great detriment of the
paiRt.
Pointers rarely adulterate white
cad themselves and they very seldom
Use ready prepared paints-the most
requent causes Of paint trouble. But
hey do often buy adulterated white
cad because the property owner in
lists on low price and the painter
las to economic somewhere. The
is therefore a good one
hat the property owner investigate
he subject a little, nnd out the name
I some reliable brand of white lead,
nd see that the key is marked with
hat brand.
The hnseed oil is more difficult to
70 sure of, as 1t is usually sold in
ulk when the quantity is small; but
eliable makers of linseed oil can be
earned on inquiry, and, If your dealer
} reliable, you will get what you want.
Pure white lead and linseed oil are
o necessary to good paint that the
title trouble necessary to get them
1ell repays the house owner in dollars
nd cents saved.