Removing Exterior Paint From Wood Siding

This must be done before you go any further applying any paint products.

Removing exterior paint from wood siding.

When the wood goes through a series of wet dry periods the paint and finish are stressed and the paint can crack. Scrape sand and recoat these highly vulnerable areas as soon as peeling paint begins. Cover any plants around the house with plastic sheets or a tarp. If you choose to go with this option be aware that sandblasting will bring up the grain in your wood so that it has a very rough grooved appearance.

Spray the painted wood siding thoroughly using a ladder to reach high. Definitely not a do it yourself project sandblasting does remove paint but it s also very effective at removing wood. Removing paint with heat. Don t worry about gouging wood when removing defective old paint and rotted wood.

Heat from sunlight also drives the moisture into the wood. Cracked or peeling paint can occur on cedar siding for a number of reasons according to william feist of the western red cedar lumber association. Sills and other horizontal surfaces peel because water runoff is slow and in the meantime can work its way through any crack in the paint. If necessary remove any knobs hinges or other hardware from the wood being sanded.

Scraping out any deteriorated rotten wood getting down to a solid substrate is your number one priority. Scrape away chipped and peeling paint before re finishing your cedar siding. Before the softened paint can cool use a scraper or. To use sandpaper or a power sander to remove paint.

This is a great technique if you want to avoid sanding after scraping paint or you don t want to use chemicals. Thoroughly clean the painted surface with degreasing cleaner dish soap or household cleaner and allow to dry. Stir the paint stripper thoroughly with a mixing stick and pour it into a pump sprayer. 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.

Start with coarse 80 grit sandpaper in a manual hand. You can also use heat to remove exterior house paint. A heat gun or an infrared paint remover will heat up the paint so it peels effortlessly away from the wood. Hold the heat gun a few inches away from the surface to be stripped and as the old paint heats up you ll see it begin to bubble and lift.