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Hey yall,

We are trying to remove paint of the outside walls of our old house. We have tried sandblasting and chemicals. Nothing really
works to well and everything I have googled only talks about "eco" friendly solutions.

Can any of yall recommend a VERY good paint stripper. This house was built like a tank by a lumber company a long long time ago.

Thanks in advance.

That's easy. Here you go...

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=thaP_5d8ZpQ[/youtube]

Pay somebody else to do it.
Really I had a house built in 1901 up in Wisconsin I tried removing the paint off some old trim took a lot of work only to find out there was lead even in the old wood I am guessing it was with the many years of old paint. Long story short I never found a good way and after I found the lead I just covered everything up anyway. It would have looked beautiful if I could have stripped and stained it.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article ... 53,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They ended up using a product called "RemovAll" but then someone showed up with Infrared paint stripper Silent Paint Remover and they were really impressed with it.

The Annoyed Man wrote:That's easy. Here you go...

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=thaP_5d8ZpQ[/youtube]

wish i had one

flb_78 wrote:http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article ... 53,00.html

They ended up using a product called "RemovAll" but then someone showed up with Infrared paint stripper Silent Paint Remover and they were really impressed with it.

We will look into both of them, thanks.

I once used a commercial heat gun to remove several layers of elderly paint from outside wood. I heated and scraped. Then belt sanded some.
Now- I"d say pay someone. Back then-- no $$.


I've had good results with liquid stripper on inside cabnets, ect-- never tried it outside.

Piney wrote:I once used a commercial heat gun to remove several layers of elderly paint from outside wood. I heated and scraped. Then belt sanded some.
Now- I"d say pay someone. Back then-- no $$.


I've had good results with liquid stripper on inside cabnets, ect-- never tried it outside.

About a half century ago, I was assigned the task of stripping the old paint off the barn and repainting. Eventually I borrowed a, state of the art for the 60s, paint stripper that was basically a big multiple burner gas cooktop. After I set fire to the barn, twice, I gave up on that idea, and went back to the chemical and manual method.

One thing I eventually found out was that the base coat was a milk based stain, rather than a paint style overcoat, and that was not coming off. Eventually the old red barn got painted a nice grey, but it took me most of the summer, and the result was that the "easy money" I was making to avoid having a full time job so that I could go out with my girl and my buds every night, turned out to be not quite that easy.

Try a pressure washer. They are great at stripping paint you don't want to remove, seems like it oughta be good for taking of paint you really don't want.

ELB wrote:Try a pressure washer. They are great at stripping paint you don't want to remove, seems like it oughta be good for taking of paint you really don't want.

I hear that if you aren't real careful you will also strip off the wood.

WildBill wrote:

ELB wrote:Try a pressure washer. They are great at stripping paint you don't want to remove, seems like it oughta be good for taking of paint you really don't want.

I hear that if you aren't real careful you will also strip off the wood.

This is indeed true. You need a light, careful hand when pressure washing.

TexasComputerDude wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:That's easy. Here you go...

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=thaP_5d8ZpQ[/youtube]

wish i had one

This is what you use to burn the house down after you decide it's not worth it.



But seriously, paint stripping is one of the worst jobs there is.

All the methods suggested I've tried.

The best method requires a lot of trial and error and success is completely dependent upon finding what works best on the type of wood, the type of paint, the number of layers, the age, the depth of the grain and the decorative detail (if any).

Not sure how bad the surface is right now or just how much of it you want to get off. It may not be necessary to get it down to bare wood.

The stars need to align and it will still take you 8 times longer than you think.

Have any pics?

I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

Been there done that. Problem when I bought the house, still a problem.

I first power washed, that made the smooth wood rustic where the paint did not come off. Great way of finding rotten wood though.

Hand scraped, that only gets a little past where the power washer stopped.

Belt sander, easier to just check your self into the hospital first what with all the lead your going to breathe.

Heat gun, now there is the trick, it is so beautiful when your done. Now if you could just do more than 5 square inches an hour.

So you give up and paint it with 50% of the paint removed. After all the stuff that is on there is really on there, its not coming off no way.

Two years later the edges of every bit of paint that was left on there is pealing up and ruining the new paint job.

Going to replace the wood now, so much faster and easier.