A Few of My Favorite Things by Walter Jowers ECEMBER 1988 JLC · D RESTORATION PRIMER When you renovate old houses, your building tools and materials are likely to be a little different from other people's building stuff. Here's a review of some of my favorite old-house building aids. Heat Guns If you do a lot of old-house renovation, you just about have to own a heat gun. Heat guns entered the building trades when a veteran old-house renovator figured out that these tools, originally used for shrinkwrapping, were useful for many renovation jobs. Heat guns work well for stripping paint off old woodwork, especially woodwork with intricate detail, like Victorian mantels and newel posts. They also soften the glue of old tile and
