removal of paint

[angrybird]

I have an internal brick wall that I have decided to remove 170+ years of lime,paint ,waterproof tile adhesive (PO cure for damp :evil: ) and more paint! its been laborious work chipping away but i'm almost there.Any ideas what I could remove the last remains of paint/tile adhesive with please?
many thanks
Jacqueline x

 

[Penners]

I've heard that a steam wallpaper stripper will soften tile adhesive sufficiently for it to be scraped off. But I wouldn't pin too much hope on getting the wall pristine clean. I reckon that would be well nigh impossible without scraping off some of the surface of the bricks too.

 

[andrew gayton]

careful use of a hot air gun or blowtorch should do the trick.

 

[Penners]

Interesting idea, Andrew. Can the adhesive be burned with a blowtorch sufficiently for it to carbonise and be brushed off cleanly?

 

[andrew gayton]

two things can happen; either the covering material heats, expands and detaches itself - or - any interstitial moisture between the substrate and the covering material boils then pushes the material off.

 

[Penners]

That sounds a hell of a lot more effective than just softening it with steam and then scraping it off. Excellent advice, that I shall keep in my mental filing system*.


*From where it will undoubtedly have evaporated by the end of the afternoon.

 

[andrew gayton]

tie a piece of string around your finger (then set light to it with a blowtorch; the burn will remind you until it is engrained in your memory :twisted: )

seriously though, this works really well with external walling where there is a higher level of interstional condensation. Jim the builder has just used this method to remove layers of modern paint from the facade of a former rectory prior to limewashing in the (warmer) spring.

I 'discovered' this trick when I decided that the stripping solution from suffolk was going to hurt my finances.

 

[Penners]

Jim the builder has just used this method to remove layers of modern paint

Excellent! Although I'd be a little bit more confident if it had been Bob.

 

[angrybird]

oh I have a steamer and a heat gun I will give them a go when i go to the house on Friday
many thanks x

 

[Penners]

AB - I'd be inclined to ditch the steamer and take a blowtorch, judging from what Andrew has suggested.