Removing paint from brick

[Sunstone]

Dear guys,

Have an IP where a previous owner has painted the brick. (Lowset red brick)

Preference is not to go down the cement bagging route.

Wanted to get some general feedback on:

1) What is the best way to remove the paint?

2) Can the paint that would have soaked into the mortar joints be removed? If not is there a simple solution so the properties asthetics are not decreased by the remaining paint in the mortar joints?

Thanks.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

 

[dook]

removing paint from old brick.

Hi Sunstone,
I had a plastering business for a while and have been arround the housing game a long time off and on.
I would like to think i speak with some knowledge when i say that once a brick house (or anything large in brick) is painted i.m.o. that is its fate. The time it would take to prepare the surface to render, bag, or coat with any of the acrylic renders would be cost prohibitive. If you have heaps of time up youre sleeve maybe, anything abrasive like a grinder only closes the pours of the brick and makes penetration difficult, or smooths the surface and makes less of a key for anything to stick to.
Again i.m.o. sand blasting would be the only thing i would be happy with and thats impossible with the enviromental issues. and really only good for rendering or bagging.
Paint to me over raked or rolled brickwork retards what you can do to a house other than scrape it down and paint it again. Their may be something on the market now that will help you but i havent seen it . If youre thinking of taking it back to original face brickwork as a finished look i would like to say to you my friend save youreself some heartache and paint it a modern up to date color or maybe some sort of coloured whitewash, they are very popular arround the older and not so old districts here in w.a. especially in fremantle.
Hope i havent dampened youre enthusiasm Sunstone its only one opinion and im sure youll get some more.

Wishing you luck.


"Dook"

 

[Mr Ed]

why do they paint bricks ?????

SS,

I have a brochure @ home somewhere that I picked up at a trade show (for this very reason). It is a (from memory) type of cladding that you can put over the top of bricks that have been painted and the like gives it a rendered look.

I know where is, I'll dig it out for you and post all of it's relevance’s.

Might even have a web address????

Regards

Ed.

 

[suejones]

Sunstone,
Two thoughts

I've seen a product in Haymes paint shops that comes in sheets that is supposed to take paint off brickwork.

Alternatively, Wattyl have a new range of 'Stone' paint that comes in trendy colours and looks textured without having to bag it.
Sue

 

[Mr Ed]

SS

Ok found the brochure…

Have tried the web address no avail www.koolwall.com.au, so I’ll give the local distributor a call & see what he has to say.

What’s the low down…

Eco-Clad building systems and Kool-wall is what the brochure is all about Typing from the brochure it says “Kool-Wall is the latest in inovative lightweight construction materials, offering a direct alternative to masonry and fibre cement sheeting, where non structural rendered finishes are desired” blah blah blah

I picked it up because I saw a use for it with painted brick houses to give them that rendered look, because I reckon that once bricks are painted you wouldn’t be able to render over them, as the mortar wouldn’t stick. And I also thought of the house that has had the second storey put on later & cladded. Being lightweight thought you could put over the top of cladding & get a mod look.

Anyway looks good in brochure and if memory serves me right was a bit cheaper than rendering.

I’ll give Zoran a call & post his answers. Hopefully he hasn’t closed up shop. His details are…

[email protected]
P 02 62602646
F 02 62602645
M 0403 277374

Regards

Ed.

 

[Mr Ed]

SS,

I the meantime I've been doing a search for the said company name and the only refernce that came up was http://www.palm.act.gov.au/qsd/acthers/assesslist/assesslist.pdf and look who else was here in the list Mr Michael Croft.

Ed.

 

[bundy1964]

Originally posted by Mr Ed

Have tried the web address no avail www.koolwall.com.au, so I’ll give the local distributor a call & see what he has to say.

The url works if you remove the comma after au

bundy

 

[watto]

Here you go......


www.koolwall.com.au


cheers
watto

 

[Mr Ed]

Thanks Bundy

Ed

 

[Sunstone]

Dear Dook/Mr Ed/Suejones,

Thanks for all your constructive feedback.

Unfortunately as I thought at this point in time. Something we should educate all parties about "Painting a brick house does not add value."

At this stage I think I will leave it as is. Well I'm still happy, bought for 10.5% yield and the latest rent appraisal will bump that up to 11.6%.

On the haymes site found the cheap rendering part and also like the paint problem solutions.

http://www.peelaway.com/html/appsolutions.htm#graffiti

Just had a further look at the peelaway product.

The Peelaway product that Haymes are distributing/going to distribute looks good for removing small quantities of paint even on a porous surface. The question is now the level of expense that any new technology has before it becomes mainstream and therefore cost-effective.

Thanks for the help guys.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

 

[chumby]

Getting the paint off can be done! Take it from experience.

We live in Hobart and purchased a circa 1880 house 4 years ago which was entirely painted mission brown. That was over "soft' fire kiln bricks and sandstone. We managed to get to paint off ... this is the story.

Do not use sandblasting - will knock your bricks around too much. Do not use peelaway - too expensive (plus it never worked for us.)

We painted on "industrial strength paint stripper" then used a water blaster to get the paint off. The trick though was to use hot water with an extremely low pressure and "steam" off the paint! Worked a treat ... get the right stripper and machine and you can take the paint off anything!

Need any more advice - I can shoot it your way, but with modern bricks and cement mortar there shouldn't be a prob!

Cheers....

 

[Kevmeister]

Could always give Chumby's technique a go on a small area and see if it works.

I don't think the problem will be so much the paint on the bricks, but the paint absorbed into the mortar. I don't think those old red bricks would absorb much paint as they are very hard. The mortar will cause the most trouble in my opinion.

 

[Mr Ed]

Kevmeister

I think u have nothing to loose giving chumby's advice a ago around the side, but food for thought if they painted the house in an acrylic paint then it would be like a "Skin" over the bricks & shouldn't be to hard to remove however if it's the ole mineral type that bites in and stains as well that might well be a differnet caper.

If u don't mind let us know the outcome if u do do it.

Regards

Ed

 

[Sunstone]

Dear Chumby,

Thanks for the post.

However how did you go with the mortar joints? Were you able to remove the paint with the industrial strength painter stripper?

Cheers,

Sunstone.

 

[suejones]

Chumby,
What are the environmental issues with your technique?
Sue

 

[chumby]

Hi Sunstone, Sue et al,

Well as far as the mortar goes ... some good news and some bad news. I think for you it will be good, but for me bad

Basically our house has a mortar mix made of lime putty as the aggregrate - however there were parts of the house that had been "patched up" using a variery of cement based mortars. It must of looked a real mix-match, hence the reason they probably painted it!

The bad news for us was that a lot of the lime putty mortar was blasted out with the water gun and hence had to be replaced. (ie. most of the house!). The good news probably for you however was that the cement mortar was not affected at all, and the paint just peeled off easily with no trouble. Don't forget the pressure we used was not that much stronger than a hose on full pelt ... it was a "mist or steam" effect that did the trick. The machine was a Karacher worth 20K though - so not the type of thng you pick up at the handyman store.

I reckon with a house that hasa cement based mortar ... there won't be a problem.

As far as envioromental issues are concerned it was a massive clean up (vacum, sweep, remoce etc. job) each day. We used a dude pretty up on this stuff so he had many of the machines to clean things up. I think individual councils have different regulations so probably best to check with them...

Hope this helps...

Cheers,
Chumby.

 

[Sunstone]

Dear Chumby,

Thanks for the further feedback.

More food for thought.

Cheers,

Sunstone.