Actually, it may be linked to my childhood, because I used to fingerpaint the tub walls with my dad's shaving cream, but I never told him this. In my current world, it was a $50 tub from Habitat that was permanently stained so I figured I may as well paint it. Couldn't hurt it, right?
I had a few days open before my schedule gets hectic, so I got on with this project. Life does stay normal here. The first day I was painting away when Sera yelled - the washing machine was leaking water out the bottom. It's a new machine and a quick look indicated the drain pipe had come loose, so I let her and Dennis fix it without my expertise. They crammed it back together and put a fan on the floor to dry things up.
The second day I was painting, Sera yelled again - the stove was on fire. One of the burners had oil spilled and burst into flames. It was extinguished with baking soda, and provided a great example of why I think someone ought to clean these occasionally. I'm not sure she took the hint.
After about 20 hours of painting, I was ready to...
Clear-coat it with spray paint. Right. Half-way through the first can, I realized it says 'flammable' on the front for a reason, so I turned the furnace thermostat to 40 since the furnace is two feet outside the bathroom door. I had the bathroom fan running, but it wasn't near adequate, so I let the vapor thin some while I caught up on breathing and did it in three rounds.
I also checked for excess fumes with my Bic lighter, which I realized wasn't terribly bright, but it 'didn't blow up' before I started another round. I'm not terribly sure how well the paint will hold up over time; I am hoping it works as well as it is on the car. If if chips off too quickly, I'll repaint it with just a swirl one fine summer day (i.e. with the door open and the furnace off).
So today I thought I best give it a second coat of clear spray paint, same method as yesterday when it seems I failed to learn anything from my own advice. Except today when I was gauging fumes with my lighter, I lowered it into the tub proper.
Interesting lesson here, because it seems the fumes settle. Blue flames filled the tub about two feet high and actually caught a small, brief fire (which I blew out when the blue flames dispersed).
No real damage occurred, but I am fully aware that it could have torched the bathroom in short order. My heart rate hit 600 beats per minute and I haven't yet turned the furnace back up today since I get twitchy whenever I walk by it.
It is much prettier but now I don't want to let anyone use it! The worst that will happen, now that the odds are I won't burn down the house (which I have never done - yet - in my life), is the paint won't last and it'll look like it did before I started.If anyone asks if this is a good idea, the answer is NO.
