I have an 8'X12' sandstone fireplace surround that some knucklehead painted some years ago and has since been painted again at least twice. The sandstone "bricks" vary in size from 4"X30" to 1/2"X12". The mortar joints are inset approx. 1/2 ". I would like to get this paint off in an efficient manner. Do I have to use strippers? Can it be media blasted (baking soda, walnut shells, etc.)? If it must be stripped, what's the best way to get mortar joints stripped? Any suggestions/things to watch out for would be appreciated. jmf

Hello. I recently moved into a house with some drywall problems on the bottom half of all the walls. We repaired the damage (cutting out bubbles, coat of polyurethane, coat of mud). I then primed them using Killz, but just the bottom half. After that dried, I applied an eggshell finish paint over the entire wall. The coat covering the primed areas took a lot longer to dry as it was clearly less thirsty than the top half. It has been a full day now, and the bottom half of the walls are still noticeably glossier than the rest of the wall, and much glossier than I have come to expect from an eggshell finish. My questions are: 1. Given enough time, will the bottom half of the walls ever look like the top half, or does the absorbency permanently impact the gloss level? 2. If I am going to need to prime the entire surface in order achieve consistency, is there anyway to get the eggshell finish I was expecting? (by applying an flat paint, maybe?) Thanks in advance. If this is already covered, please feel free to direct me to the appropriate thread. Travis