How to Strip Years of Paint Off a House

By: Jefferson Kolle, This Old House magazine (Page 2 of 5)

Photo: Keller & Keller

To penetrate and remove the 10 layers of paint on the siding and trim at the Winchester project, painting contractor Jim Clark (shown here) and his crew used a newly developed, non-caustic stripper that breaks the bond between paint and wood. Before choosing their approach, they considered several methods, detailed in the following slides.

Photo: Keller and Keller

Grinding
(power sanding disk or clapboard sander)
Pros: Fast, efficient, leaves no residue on surface; relatively inexpensive (no chemicals to buy).
Cons: Only works on non patterned siding like clapboards. In inexperienced hands, can scar wood. Noisy; creates airborne dust that's a lead concern and requires a HEPA-filter mask. Some states require vacuum connection.

Photo: Keller & Keller

Burning
(heat plate or heat gun)
Pros: Relatively fast, thorough, and inexpensive (no chemicals to buy).
Cons: Can release some lead along with smoke, so a respirator is recommended. Biggest danger, though, is fire (often delayed when an ember under a clapboard ignites).

Photo: Keller & Keller

Infrared heat
Pros: Very fast (about 20-30 seconds exposure); low operating temperature won't ignite wood; removes all paint with one pass. Requires no mask, gloves, or goggles; inexpensive to operate (no chemicals to buy).
Cons: Not yet widely available; $395 initial cost.

Photo: Keller & Keller

Peel-Away
(available in different formulas, depending on paint type)
Pros: Generally quick to apply and nonflammable. Can be sprayed or brushed on. Most dissolved paint adheres to proprietary paper, which is peeled off.
Cons: Mixed results, often requiring second application; paper is extra hassle.

Photo: Keller & Keller

Methylene chloride-based chemical strippers
Pros: Very powerful and effective chemical. Sprayable or available as nonsagging gel that adheres to vertical surfaces.
Cons: Toxic—must be used with chemical-resistant gloves, respirator, and goggles. Requires ventilation indoors, and some formulations are flammable. Has also been classified by the EPA as a potential cause of cancer in humans.

Photo: Keller & Keller

RemovAll
Pros: Nontoxic-requires no gloves, mask, or goggles. Can be sprayed or brushed on and adheres well.
Cons: Slow-acting (one-hour minimum; best left on overnight); twice as expensive as methylene chloride.

Photo: Keller & Keller

RemovAll, developed in Canada to strip the finishes from jet planes, is sprayed onto the clapboards by crew foreman Volmar Oleivera. Painting contractor Jim Clark says, "If you're stripping your own house, buy an inexpensive airless sprayer from a home center. After you've sprayed all the stripper and removed all the paint, just clean the machine with water and you can use it again to paint the house."

Photo: Keller & Keller

Following the EPA's new guidelines, Massachusetts has reclassified residential lead-paint residue as household trash, which can be discarded with the rest of the rubbish. In the past, a licensed abatement contractor had to be called in. Check with your state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to see if similar laws apply in your area.

Photo: Keller & Keller

Homeowner Kim Whittemore shows the color candidates to TOH general contractor Tom Silva. Rather than relying on small paint color chips, buy small cans of colors being considered and paint swatches on the siding.

Browse Images

How-To Video

Browse More

How to Choose Exterior Paint Schemes

In this how-to video, This Old House host Kevin O'Connor uses computer software to help homeowners choose the perfect exterior paint colors

Watch The Video

On Newsstands Now

In the Magazine

Easy Upgrades That Say Welcome Home

What You'll Learn:

Testing Different Methods

There are three basic methods for stripping paint—grinding, applying heat, and using chemicals. All of them are hard work because the same binders that cause paint to adhere make it hard to remove. Clark and his crew considered using several different methods on the Winchester siding before making a final choice. As the slides to the left reveal, all these approaches have advantages and disadvantages. But every paint-stripping job is a little different, and past experience, along with some empirical testing, helped Clark decide what would work best for the Winchester house.

For instance, grinding—using power sanding disks or clapboard sanders—is very efficient on siding that's in good shape, but it generates lead-laden dust. Although the tools can be fitted with a vacuum hose, the last thing Clark wanted, in a cheek-to-jowl neighborhood like Winchester, was to release any lead-contaminated dust. "The work was scheduled for high summer," says Clark, "when everyone has their windows wide open. On top of the dust, there's the constant loud scouring noise the tools make."

Heat and chemical strippers were also given a try. The big downside of most heat methods is the risk of fire. "Any stripping contractor can tell you a story he's heard of a house burning down," says Clark. "A crew finishes at the end of the day, there's an ember under a dry clapboard...next morning, ashes."

Chemicals are less straightforward because of the different types. The old standard, methylene chloride, is effective but very nasty stuff. Also on the market are some "environmentally friendly" strippers, some of which work better than others. "It's unfortunate," Clark says, "but it seems that the least caustic chemicals are the slowest, and some of the orange-based products I've tried don't really work well."