Oh that's trash...

That's probably what you're thinking looking at the image above. "Oh, that's trash". And that's just what the person that left it behind probably thought, and the manager that brought it over to be tossed out said to me about it. "Oh, that's trash."

So I asked if I could have it and obviously since I'm blogging about it, he agreed.

What it is, is a Rubbermaid 3424-88 Bus or Service Cart. Covered in what I believe is paint and it's missing a wheel, two in the picture above and below but I went back and found the third. No clue what happened to the fourth.

New this cart retails for $200+. What possesses someone to use a two hundred dollar cart to spray paint on without covering it up, I don't know. But they did and did I mention it was covered in paint ?

Lots and lots of paint as you can see by these close-ups of the handles and top shelf.

The middle and bottom shelves were not much better.

I'm not going to bore you with the details of how I spent the next 7 hrs scraping and chipping away at the paint. Or had to resort to sanding much of it with my little Black 'n Decker 10 year old mouse sander I picked up at a yard sale for $5 bucks..  but I did.

And honestly, I wasn't sure when I first agreed to take it I could bring it back. Especially the handles which have a groove grip and were loaded with whatever was sprayed on this cart. The image below is after scraping enough to reach the plastic and reveal the Rubbermaid logo.

But I kept at it. And I knew I couldn't bring it back to perfection but was hoping to make it presentable again. The middle and bottom shelves were a bear to get the over spray off of but my persistance paid off I think you'll agree.

Of course all the uprights had to be sanded clean. Wheels had to be detailed, cleaned and lubed but where in good shape to start.

Put it all back together and...
 Tah Dah!

Hard to believe that's the same cart from the first images.... Right! 😀

Since I sanded the middle and bottom shelf, scraping just wasn't cutting the mustard and the sanding left it slightly dull, I added a shelf liner to the both just to make it easier to clean. What I like about this kind of shelf liner is it's easily removed but sticks in place while in use. Plus it dresses it up a bit.

Yup, even the handles and gullies are all cleaned up nicely.

All that was left to do was order in the wheel, which I did. Once it arrived, installed it and the restoration/repair is completed.

 This one I do believe I'll keep for myself as I can certainly use it for something. Maybe I'll use it for my film developer, I don't know just yet. It'll come in handy for something for sure.

So... 7hrs of work and $16 out of pocket I have a cart that retails for around $275 new. And mine has shelf liners...

Sometimes with a little vision and a little work, you can turn what would've otherwise been or looks like trash, into something respectful looking and useful again. 😉

Till the next post,
Stay creative. Stay Happy!,
Cheers...