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paint preparation: burn off old paint

17 years ago

wonder if anyone had heard about this method of preparation prior to exterior painting?? it's mentioned as a preferred method of preparation since it prevents a "ugly" paint job....where there would be areas with multiple layers of paint and areas with single layers of paint. the other alternative is is rip off all the old siding and put in new hardwood siding or fiber cement board, but this method would be much, more expensive.

opinions??

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Comments (4)

arlosmom
17 years ago
Olive, We had the old paint removed before our paint job last fall. Our painters used heat guns, not torches. I've read over and over how dangerous it is to use torches or any kind of open flame to burn paint -- fires can start within the walls...not good. My painter told me he used to use a torch, but would wake up in the middle of the night in a panic and have to get up and drive by the houses he was working on to make sure they were okay. Heat guns are like very hot hair dryers and do not generate enough heat to torch the house.

Yes, it's much more expensive to have the old paint removed, but if your current paint is alligatoring or very thick, it might be a good idea. The end result is a very nice paint job since there aren't signs of layers of scraped paint underneath.

Good luck with it!
brickeyee
17 years ago
"Heat guns are like very hot hair dryers and do not generate enough heat to torch the house."

Heat guns are only marginally safer than a torch.
They can easily go to 1000 F and are used to melt solder at around 450 F.
A heat plate is safer since there is not jet of superheated air to enter a confined space and start a hidden fire.
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As gregmills_gw states before me, the problem isn't the surface it is the edges. I suspect this MIGHT be an old floor that was beyond repair and they painted it for a quick "easy" (for them) fix. The paint looks to be in very good shape, so it might have been painted to allow a handsome look for a quick sale. And to be clear....you don't have a "few" planks that are cupping you have 90% - 100% that are cupping (that I can see in the photo). That's a little bit more than a few. You may be better off leaving this floor as-is and getting a few years of life out of the paint. Once the paint starts to patina past your comfort level, you can then decide what to do. And the reason for cupping = moisture intrusion. Somewhere underneath there is moisture coming up. Since all the planks are doing this, I suspect an overall "ground" issue rather than a leaky pipe issue. I suspect you will have to deal with whatever is causing the moisture imbalance in the floor before figuring out what to do with a NEW floor. I say live with it, put some money aside every month and then "fix" the problem with the moisture intrusion from below your floors/home. That could be a much bigger project than you anticipate and you will be GLAD you kept your flooring money in the bank...so that you have some working capital to deal with the REAL problem - the moisture intrusion. Good luck.
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lamguy
17 years ago
Hey folks, I did remove all the paint on the outside of our house with a propane torch and a putty knife. Never knew how BIG the house was before doing this. If you don't have anything to do for the summer, yep, I said summer, burning off the old paint sure has made the paint I put back on hold good. I did it this way 26 years ago, and at my age now, if I had to do it again, the new siding would go up. As far as a heat gun being safer than a torch, turn on the heat gun, leave it directly pointed at a 2X4 and watch it, BBQ anyone. Using the torch, if you keep it moving, you'll scorce the wood a little but you will do the same with a heat gun.
troubleseekeral
17 years ago
Burning paint off is an extremely dangerous method, and I would be quite uncomfortable to have this done to my house.
Even a profesional grade heat gun can ignite wood in inexperienced hands, if you want to use heat, look at the heat plate tools. What about the dedicatd paint grinder made by Porter Cable? It still requires details to be addressed by hand, but it beats a visit from the fire department.

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