I-STRIP Infra red paint remover

[k-girl]

Has anyone used this item yet?

http://www.i-strip.com.au/page.php?pg_title=The System

It uses Infra red heat to bring the water/wood oils to the surface of the wood, which bubbles the paint and you then peel it off in one scrape. It's super fast, can be used indoors and outdoors. Theres no sanding , no dust everywhere, no chemicals, no fumes. Its safe on windows and other glass and you can repaint immediately.

It's a bit expensive ($1000) and before taking the plunge in buying one I wanted to know if any of you have tried it before?

http://www.infolink.com.au/articles/DC/0C03F0DC.aspx

I can hire it from Kennards for $48 a day - which I'll probably do this week. But I was just curious to see if anyone else has used it yet - and if they can recommend it.

 

[lizzie]

i bought myself a $40 heat gun the other - worked like magic on an old chest of drawers that had been painted. saved around $760 over infra-red.

 

[Bargain Hunter]

I've used a heat gun around the old windows and cracked the corner of the glass. This IR gear sounds great, hopefully the price will drop for us low budget renovators.

k-girl give us a review of the gear once you've given it a try.

Regards

Andrew

 

[k-girl]

Andrew,
I will keep you posted on how well it performs. I have high hopes!

Lizzie,
I've never used a heat gun but have been told that can be dangerous and may even start a fire behind the weatherboards. I don't know if this is true but that is what my neighbour who works at Bunnings said. That said ANYTHING that is easy to use and can fix my flaky weatherboards is damned good in my books!

Question Lizzie,
Did you have to sand back the surface after using the heatgun? Or was everything removed in one go?

 

[lizzie]

i did give it a light sand, only because my scraping wasn't the best. the paint came off no problems - but it took a while before i got my scraping right so that i didn't leave small gouges.

if you're doing a lot of external weatherboards i'd suggest you get a belt sander and wizz it over them ... that's what i did with a reno i did and came up a treat. i didn't have to get all the paint off, just levelled it out and got the flaky stuff off.

took about 3 days to do an entire large 3 bed house.

 

[RichardC]

I have a log cabin (no flat surfaces) chamfer board home with oil based paint on it. A hand held heat gun would have taken forever to clean it unless it was much higher wattage than the little one I have.

So I borrowed a pro's gas torch and it burnt off in large sheets. Reckon they could have seen me from space.

I did however:
a/ Check my insurance to see if applying heat voided my insurance, and
b/ Gurneyed the wall immediately to clean the ash off it and to douse any potential hot spots.

I figured a quick application of high heat was less dangerous than a prolonged one of lower heat and I think the risks are greatly overstated, provided your house is less than a century old and not covered with layers of old lead based paint, in which case you shouldn't be burning or sanding. (I don't know what you should do then, other than hire a pro who is aware of the problem).

This IR heater sounds as if it may be ideal around windows and doors tho.

 

[Twitch]

My current PPOR is a very old house in need of complete repainting. I would guess it hasn't been painted in 30 or more years, that's how bad the existing paintwork is.

So I would assume my paint is lead based? If so does anyone know how I can safely remove it both from inside and out? Or can I lightly sand it (wearing a dust mask) and paint over it?

 

[k-girl]

MDK
According to the website for I-STRIP it is safe for lead based paint:

Is it safe?

Infrared heat has a low operating temperature (100 – 200 degrees c) so it does not burn the wood or the paint like a heat gun. The chances of damaging the wood or accidentally starting a fire are greatly reduced.

It is because of this low operating temperature the Speedheater 1100 is safe to use on lead paint as no plumbic (lead) gases are released at this low temperature, unlike a heat gun.

The infrared heat the Speedheater 1100 uses only gives off as much radiation as produced by the embers of an open fire so it is a safe alternative.

Once removed the paint is dry and can be easily swept up for removal. There is no chemical residue like other methods so no messy clean up tasks afterwards.

What are the advantages of stripping using infrared?

The biggest advantage of using infrared heat is that you are able to use it to remove lead based paint. It is both cost effective and safe.

Infrared heat removes moisture and mildew from the wood, drawing moisture out during the stripping process. The woods natural resins are also drawn to the surface during the infrared process increasing the ability of the wood to withstand moisture.

Removing moisture from the wood creates a porous substrate and a tooth for the primer to grip on to. This extends the life of the new paint layer. Infrared heat opens the grain of the wood much more effectively than any other paint removal methods without damaging the wood.

By painting over old paint your new paint job is only as good as the bottom layer of paint, which could be 30, 50 or even up to 100 years old! By stripping back to the wood you can take advantage of modern paint technology and your paint job could last you up to 30 years. If you paint over old paint it will probably start flaking off after a couple of years. Remember no paint adheres better than the lowest layer.

 

[RichardC]

My current PPOR is a very old house in need of complete repainting. I would guess it hasn't been painted in 30 or more years, that's how bad the existing paintwork is.

So I would assume my paint is lead based? If so does anyone know how I can safely remove it both from inside and out? Or can I lightly sand it (wearing a dust mask) and paint over it?

Take this seriously.

Take samples from various surfaces and have them tested. I think paint suppliers can do this.

If you have lead based paints take their advice. I've heard of a painter who merely scraped the paint and allowed it to fall in the yard. Was up for the clean-up costs (remove/replace topsoil). I'm not an expert but a water-blaster would sound safe for the operator but you would still need to catch the old paint on a drop sheet.

 

[leah]

i have one - purely as I have lead paint - everywhere!!!

I would like to try the arm that comes with it before I tackle outside.

They have a DVD that shows how it works.

I wouldn't use a heat gun on lead paint or sanding. - do a search to see how it can be removed safely - don't ask a painter (you may get one that thinks lead is fine like some builders think asbestos is!!!)

There's a great lead paint test kit - do a search - think it's a nsw product - can do heaps of tests.

 

[kissfan]

Saw the thread title and thought it was about someone stripping. It's only about painting though .

Sorry, no advice here, about the painting that is .

Regards
Marty

 

[skater]

Saw the thread title and thought it was about someone stripping. It's only about painting though .

Sorry, no advice here, about the painting that is .

Regards
Marty

Oh, typical male.

 

[k-girl]

i have one - purely as I have lead paint - everywhere!!!

I would like to try the arm that comes with it before I tackle outside.

They have a DVD that shows how it works.

Leah,
Does it work well? Any probs?

 

[leah]

yeah, can't compare with other methods though, i've never had to take paint off before just clean and paint over. It's meant to be quicker than the heat gun (and a lot safer). We have two coats inside to remove and then there is this green powdery primer or something which causes most of the dust. I'm looking at getting the arm attachment before we tackle outside.

If paint is a bit "stuck" you paint on 80% boiled linseed oil + 20% turps b4 you strip.

Their DVD is good and they are very helpful on the phone.

 

[Twitch]

I've just bought it and can confirm it works very well.

My thoughts are that it is a safe, relatively cheap and effective way to remove lead paint. What you are paying for with this product is a means for safe removal of lead paint; normal heat guns are not safe to do so, nor is dry sanding. Chemical stripping is OK at removal but has too many of it's own problems IMHO.

That said I think the product, given it's price, is probably overkill to remove non-lead paint which doesn't pose the same dangers.

 

[Celeste]

My current PPOR is a very old house in need of complete repainting. I would guess it hasn't been painted in 30 or more years, that's how bad the existing paintwork is.

So I would assume my paint is lead based? If so does anyone know how I can safely remove it both from inside and out? Or can I lightly sand it (wearing a dust mask) and paint over it?

Hi Twitch

I have just researched the lead paint issue myself,

you can get a test kit from a paint shop.
Chemical peel and wet sand, is the safest.

I have just started the window frames - paint stripper and then light sand with a west sand sanding block.
celeste

 

[Twitch]

Hi, I don't believe chemical strip and/or wet sand is the safest method.

The problems with chemical strip are:
- the chemicals are flammable and caustic
- cannot be done in a sealed room
- the chemicals can get absorbed into surfaces
- there is a need to neutralise the wood surfaces after stripping
- lead paint residue is sticky and can be difficult to clean up

The problem with wet sanding is that it still produces some lead dust.

From my research the order of safest method to deal with lead paint to least safe is:
1) do nothing - which is only an option if the paint is in excellent condition
2) cover the paint - only an option if the paint is in very good condition
3) remove painted items and replace with new - eg skirtings, window sills and saches
4) pay a lead paint removal specialist to remove the lead paint (~$50/m2 if you can even find one, not easy in Victoria)
5) DIY infra-red paint removal - the i-strip / speedheater device
6) DIY wet sanding
7) DIY chemical stripping - the peelaway method is probably the safest of these
8) DIY dry powder sanding with hepa-vacuum
9) DIY normal heat gun operated at low temperatures
10) DIY dry sanding w/o hepa vacuum - this option should never be done


Good luck

 

[George]

MDK
According to the website for I-STRIP it is safe for lead based paint:

Is it safe?

Infrared heat has a low operating temperature (100 – 200 degrees c) so it does not burn the wood or the paint like a heat gun. The chances of damaging the wood or accidentally starting a fire are greatly reduced.

It is because of this low operating temperature the Speedheater 1100 is safe to use on lead paint as no plumbic (lead) gases are released at this low temperature, unlike a heat gun.

The infrared heat the Speedheater 1100 uses only gives off as much radiation as produced by the embers of an open fire so it is a safe alternative.

Once removed the paint is dry and can be easily swept up for removal. There is no chemical residue like other methods so no messy clean up tasks afterwards.

What are the advantages of stripping using infrared?

The biggest advantage of using infrared heat is that you are able to use it to remove lead based paint. It is both cost effective and safe.

Infrared heat removes moisture and mildew from the wood, drawing moisture out during the stripping process. The woods natural resins are also drawn to the surface during the infrared process increasing the ability of the wood to withstand moisture.

Removing moisture from the wood creates a porous substrate and a tooth for the primer to grip on to. This extends the life of the new paint layer. Infrared heat opens the grain of the wood much more effectively than any other paint removal methods without damaging the wood.

By painting over old paint your new paint job is only as good as the bottom layer of paint, which could be 30, 50 or even up to 100 years old! By stripping back to the wood you can take advantage of modern paint technology and your paint job could last you up to 30 years. If you paint over old paint it will probably start flaking off after a couple of years. Remember no paint adheres better than the lowest layer.

As to temperature, I saw some heat guns (they start from $70 up) that have temperature control from 100 to 600 degrees, with LED display showing what is current operating temperature.

 

[Twitch]

If I was going to strip <10m2 of lead paint I'd probably take that option. Not quite as safe and much slower; but at $70 it would be hard to beat a low temp heat gun for a small job.