SPRUCING UP ORIGINAL HOME OF
SPRUCE GOOSE AEROPLANE
PEEL AWAY 7 SELECTED FOR RENOVATION OF
NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK,
NEW YORK
FEBRUARY 1999

When Howard Hughes built the Spruce Goose Aeroplane back in 1947, the Hughes Aircraft facility consisted of a few airplane hangars plunked down on the Playa Vista property in Culver City, CA. Now part of Steven Spielberg's well-known Dreamworks production facility, the site has grown to include more than 20 redwoodand metal hangars. This National Historic Landmark recently underwent an exterior restoration that included completely stripping multiple layers of lead-based paint prior to repainting. AC & S Abatement Contractors, headquartered in Phoenix, handled the stripping and repainting.   According to AC & S Construction Mananger Don Rigerio, the layered paint had never before been stripped to the substrate. He estimated the paint to be about 30 ml thick. "The hangars are both redwood and metal," noted Rigerio, "and we wanted a chemical paint stripper that would work well on both without damaging either the soft wood or the metal. We also wanted a product that was in tune with the environment, and that did contain hazardous chemicals or flammable solvents." Five manufacturers of paint removal products were invited to conduct patch tests of their products. Peel Away 7, manufactured by Dumond Chemicals, Inc., outperformed the competition, even though it does not contain methylene chloride, MEK or the highly flammable solvents commonly foundin paint removal products.
  The AC & S crew used airless spray equipment to apply the Peel Away paste, then covered it with the fibrous laminated Peel Away cloth, which controls evaporation by keeping the paste and paint in a dampstate throughout the removal process while containing minute lead dust particles. After dwelling for 24 hours, the paper was pulled back, and the still-wet paste and paint were easily hand scraped from the surface, with the debris placed in 55-gallon drums for disposal. Other than a poly ground covertocatch debris, no other containment was necessary. On-site monitoring for lead dust was performed throughout the project, with results falling well within the acceptable range. Rigerio reported absolutely no damage to the redwood and metal substrates. 40,0000 square feet were stripped using Peel Away 7 in less than 10 weeks. While citing its performance as a key factor in his selection of Peel Away 7, Rigerio also noted that disposal costs were dramatically less than those associated with products containing hazardous chemicals or solvents.
  Peel Away 7 is a unique, safe system for removing paint and chemically-resistant coatings. Specially formulated to remove oil/latex paints, it will also remove almost all chemically resistant coatings, and is designed for use on a variety of substrates, including wood, brick, stone, plaster,metal, fiberglass, graphite and steel. Headquartered in New York, Dumond Chemicals, Inc. manufactures a full line of restoration and paint-removal products for commercial and industrial use.