What's the best way to strip paint from the exterior of a house?

Question

Prior to repainting a house, what is the best method of striping off the loose paint?

Answer 1

paint thinner, you can get some from loews or home depot. just ask a sales associate. they have some especially made for what you are doing and also tools to make it easier.

Answer 2

If you just have some loose paint, you can scrape it by hand. You may also be able to power wash first, but be careful about too much pressure. If the house siding is real wood and in very bad shape, you might consider an electric paint stripper/shaver. You should be able to rent one and the job will go a lot easier.

Answer 3

I've done in both by hand with a scrapper & with a pressure washer.  I can tell you from personal experience scraping a whole house by hand absolutely sucks! (especially in the heat of summer) Rent a pressure washer & let 'er rip!  In either case chips get everywhere, but at least w/a washer, you're getting cool spray while you work.  Be sure to where safety goggles.  And watch the pressure setting--it can take bits of wood right off along with the paint if you're not careful.  btw, the drill attachments that are basically bunches of heavy wires attached to a spinner, ---ooooh NO!  tried those too--dangerous to you & the material your trying to strip the paint from! Will even rip into brick!

Answer 4

A scraper and paint thinner of some sort. Maybe even a plastic bristle brush to help scrub. That's what we used on our house and it worked really well.

Answer 5

Powerwasher. That or a wire brush. I have heard good things about a "painteater" but I have never used one.

Answer 6

You can hire a needle gun which is powered by a compressor.

Answer 7

Power wash is dangerous as you describe. Power scrapers are infojunk.

IMHO, this is the most difficult, pia, job in painting a house. I would hire it out. Maybe you could find some college kids who would do it cheaply.

Answer 8

rip it out , start new . all exterior wood is supposed to be stained NOT painted .

Answer 9

rent a very powerful pressure washer...

Answer 10

Cheapest way: scraper and wire brush

Easiest way: power washer

Answer 11

Depending how large of an area you can buy a painter striper that comes in a jell form which makes it easy to apply. Don't use a power washer because it can do more damage then good. As house painter for 25 years I can tell you that it's not an easy task, you have to be patient when taking on a job like this so don't try and rush it.

Answer 12

You need a knife that is used to strip paint off the walls Good Luck

Answer 13

Yes the drill attachment is just "Infomercial Junk"

Not really being able to see your house it is hard for anyone to give a definitive answer.A pressure washer first is a good idea, let the house sit for a couple days and then take a wire brush and scraper to get what the washer loosened up. Let the house sit for a week of good weather to dry it out.  You can always use a palm sander lastly to feather out the paint that remains so you don't have so many lumps and bumps showing in your finished product. Use a primer (Kilz) on any bare wood before applying any paint. Take care with a power washer as it can be very unforgiving if you get too close. It can eat wood up pretty easily.

Paint strippers are messy and costly to do an entire house with. I would rather clean up paint chips as opposed to slimy paint goo