HANDYMAN\Instead of removing fake bricks, why not paint them?

Byline: Peter Hotton

Q: I am redoing my 1970s kitchen, which has a lot of fake brick on the walls, applied with adhesive. I don't want to take it down. Can I paint it?

A: Yes, you can, and this time the handyman will not raise his hue and cry over painting brick, because the brick is fake and can do with some improvement, any improvement. Sand the finish to roughen it, then wash with a strong solution of detergent and water. Apply a coat of latex enamel undercoater, and finish with two coats of an eggshell finish latex wall paint. You could use a semigloss latex enamel, but I think the brick will look better with a flat surface. As always with painting, apply thin coats; thick coats are a guarantee of failure.

This is a good alternative to taking that brick off; not only is it difficult and tedious, but the process could wreck the plasterboard.

Q: The little plastic spokes - actually upright prongs - in my dishwasher racks are rusting. How can I stop that rust?

A: You can't stop the rust, but you can cover the prongs with little plastic sleeves. Try the Improvements catalog, [phone]: Item No. 134254, 20 for $5.99.

Or, Walter Drake & Sons catalog [phone]. Item K1549, 20 for $4.99.

Or you could get some Tool Dip, rubberized dip for tools, sold in hardware stores. Dip or brush on prongs.

Q: I took up tiles from an oak floor, which I would like to refinish. Trouble is, some of the oak boards are slightly curled. Can I have those curls sanded smooth?

A: Yes, if the boards are solid oak and the curl is not too severe. It just takes a little more sanding; it should be OK. The curling occurred when the boards got wet. But you have to make sure the boards are curling, not buckling. To determine this, put a short straightedge across a board; if you see daylight under the straightedge, the boards are, indeed curling.

If the boards are straight, it means they are buckling, when they took in moisture and expanded. Since there was no expansion at the borders of the floor, there was no place the wood could expand to, hence the buckling. If you can press down the buckling when you walk on the boards, you can nail them back into place. Use hot zinc-dipped galvanized finish nails and drive them on the face of the boards into joists, if possible at a 45-degree angle. The angle will help the nails hold. Countersink the nails and fill with wood putty. Those filled holes will show, but it can't be helped. The only other cure for buckling boards is to take them up and re-lay them.

Q: I moved into an 1880 house with a tiled ceiling, with handsome crown molding along the edges and a medallion in the middle. These items have been painted so often that they are losing detail. How can I remove the paint?

A: The best way - the only way, really - to handle those plaster items is with chemical paint remover. Use Peel-Away, Safe Strip (a stripper that does not contain methylene chloride) or standard remover. There's a new remover called Citristrip which also could be used.

Because of the many nooks and crannies in the anaglyph (medallion), sanding is not practical. And, if you are able to remove most of the paint with Peel-Away, for instance, you will probably have to finish up with one of the semi-paste removers, in order to get into those nooks cand crannies.

If you are able to get all the paint off to your satisfaction, you can leave the plaster unpainted or paint it with latex ceiling paint.

And, since you mentioned the ceiling is tiled, if it is the familiar fiberlike tiles, take them down some day to give the ceiling its original look.