Show A DANGEROUS PRACTICE burning Off Paint Makes Insurance Void It seems that considerable danger to property exists in tho practice of burning off old paint before repaint repainting n subject of debate In tho technical journals and now householders and the newspapers have begun to discuss It t Those of us who with trembling have watched tho painters blow a fiery blast from their lamps against our houses and have looked sadly at the slzo if our painting bill because of the time wasted on this prellmln ary work are Interested in the In estlgatlon by tho Greenfield Mass Gazette and Courier which gives con Idernblo space to tho 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 It says There is a good deal of discussion among householders as to tho desirability desir-ability In painting houses of burning off the old paint a practice that has grown very common of lato In Green field and elsewhere Insurance men are strongly opposed to this method It makes void Insurance policies for fires caused In this manner Several houses in Greenfield have gotten afire as tho result of this method and In some places houses have burned as a result It is undoubtedly true that when a house has been painted over andover and-over again there comes to be an accumulation ac-cumulation of paint in bunches If now paint Is put on top of these accumulations ac-cumulations it is almost sure to blls tar To burn It off Is tho quickest and cheapest and perhaps tho surest method of getting rid of this old paint The Gazette and Courier quotes cer tale old patrons to the effect that accumulations ac-cumulations of paint aro unnecessary These oldtimers lay tho blamo partly on the painter who falls to brush his mint in well partly on tho custom of tainting In damp weather or not allow Ing sufficient time for drying between coats and partly to tho uso of adulterated adulter-ated paints Instead of oldfashioned linseed oil and pure white lead The paper says Many of tho old householders say that if caro Is taken at all these points It is absolutely unnecessary to havo paint burned off 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 tho cost of the job 1 110 irouuio Householders everywhere have with paint Is pretty well summed up by our contemporary and the causes are about the same everywhere By far the most frequent cause of tho necessity for the dangerous practice of burning old paint is the uso of poor material The oil should be pure lInseed lIn-seed and the white lead should be real white lead Tho latter Is more often tampered with than the oil Earthy substances and pulverized rock and quartz are frequently used as cheap eners to the great detriment of the paint Painters rarely adulterate white lead themselves and they very seldom use ready prepared paintsthe most frequent causes of paint trouble Bu they do often buy adulterated white lead because the property owner in slsts on a low price and the paInter has to economize somewhere The suggestion is therefore a good one that the property owner investigate the subject a little find out the name of some reliable brand of white lead and see that the keg is marked with that brand The linseed oil is more difficult to be sure of as It is usually sold in I bulk when tho quantity is small but I reliable makers of linseed oil can be learned on inquiry and If your dealer Is reliable you will get what you want Pure white lead and linseed oil are so necessary to good paint that the little trouble necessary to get them well repays the house owner In dollars and cents saved |