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| I'm pretty much of a newbie, getting ready to re-paint some (large) sections of the exterior of my house where there is some peeling.
So, far, I haven't been too successful with the regular scraping tools available at Home Depot, etc. Even in areas where the paint is obviously loose (I can flick it off with a fingernail), scrapers just seem to go right over the paint without taking it off. Is there a technique involved that I'm not "getting", a different tool I need to know about, a smarter, better way to do this? I'm partial to hand tools, but if it's not practical, I can work with something else. I prefer not to use chemicals, but would still be interested in hearing your best methods. What are your favorite tools/techniques for getting old paint off? Thanks in advance! |
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| I never use a scraper for the reasons you describe. I use a combination of stiff and flexible putty knives, usually 1.5 or 2". I will also use an orbital sander if it is practical. |
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- Posted by moonshadow (My Page) on Wed, Mar 31, 10 at 19:38
| Sometimes I use a big stiff wire brush, or skinny one (with blade on the end) and to get the flaky parts angle it a bit. Can go pretty quickly with that sometimes, depending on condition. Not a fun job, that's for sure. |
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- Posted by weed_cutter (My Page) on Thu, Apr 1, 10 at 10:37
| For me, wetting the surface a few minutes before scraping makes the work more productive. |
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| Well, thanks to you all! At least I know I'm not crazy. I appreciate the helpful input. I'm going to mess around with all three ideas and see how it goes. |
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| Okay, so months later, here's what worked best for me: Orbital sander for the flat parts - definitely the way to go in my opinion - and Peelaway #6 for the grooves in the novelty siding. FYI, the Peelaway worked really well. Just letting people know because it made a really tough job way easier and if it had been recommended by anyone at the beginning, I would have used it off the bat and saved myself lots of trouble. You have to put it on pretty thick. In my case, I left it on overnight. Next day I easily got through two old layers of paint. Had to reapply in places to get off all of the third, deepest layer, but it truly was so much easier than trying to elbow grease my way through it. I highly recommend it and I'm surprised it's not discussed more often in this forum. It's supposed to be relatively non-toxic. I certainly wouldn't eat it, but it didn't have any nasty fumes at all, and it cleans up with water. Also, since the paint comes off in elastic-y strips/clumps, you're not showering yourself and your surroundings with chips and dust. So, there's my two cents for future posters facing the same project. Good luck! |
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