How can I remove paint from pitted facing bricks?

Kernel_Sanders

I'd like to remove all of the paint, flaking and otherwise, from the front of my mid-terraced house. The surface paint will come off easily enough with a heat gun and flat scraper, but the Edwardian brickwork is pitted slightly in many places on most of the bricks. A wire brush would work but I don't want to score the smooth face that these bricks have. I'll be doing the work myself so not too bothered if a solution is particularly labour-intensive.
The pic is of a typical brick after it's had the heat and scrape treatment; sorry about the quality, it was taken at night with a torch.

[IMG]http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/<center><a href="<a href=http://www.use.com/BkI9N&quot; target=_blank rel=nofollow>http://www.use.com/BkI9N"</a&gt; target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://media.use.com/images/s_1/cf803dd789c70746a2aa.jpg"></a></center>[/IMG]



[IMG]http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/<center><a href="<a href=http://www.use.com/BkI4x&quot; target=_blank rel=nofollow>http://www.use.com/BkI4x"</a&gt; target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://media.use.com/images/s_1/4913903db48b3a5cbbd8.jpg"></a></center>[/IMG]

Owain_Moneysaver

soda blasting. one company that does it is here.

I don't know if you can hire the machine and do it yourself.

Kernel_Sanders

Even if I could, I think I'd need industrial quantities of soda! That sounds like a scaffold job anyway, and I need to be working from ladders.

Halle71

We're doing exactly the same thing to our Edwardian house.
I think we're lucky though - the paint doesn't seem that we'll bonded to the bricks so the easiest way to remove it is literally with a scraper. Satisfyingly, the paint on some bricks come off in 3-4 pieces.
We tested paint stripper on one section and it just created a sticky mess.

It's a very slow labour of love though - we've done about 1/4 of the ground floor. Not sure how we will do the first floor.

Kernel_Sanders

Halle71 wrote: »

I think we're lucky though - the paint doesn't seem that well bonded to the bricks so the easiest way to remove it is literally with a scraper.

You're lucky the brickwork wasn't pitted at the time of painting.
If you don't even need a heat gun then what's the problem with buying a 3 section ladder? I got mine delivered from this outfit, which was quite cheap and a good, informative website. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4771022

Halle71

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

You're lucky the brickwork wasn't pitted at the time of painting.
If you don't even need a heat gun then what's the problem with buying a 3 section ladder? I got mine delivered from this outfit, which was quite cheap and a good, informative website. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4771022

We're going to try this but we may need scaffolding because the ground floor sticks out with a mini pitched roof. We've also got young children so we're doing an hour here and there while the other one minds them so no one to hold the ladder etc.

And the only way it's bearable is being able to move from one area to another -do a hard bit followed by easy bit to boost morale :-)

A lot of the houses in our area have render (or horrible painted pebbledash) at the top and brick at the bottom so we may attempt the top and if all else fails render it with a lime render.

muckybutt

Why not just use a pressure washer with a power lance ? correctly aimed at the brick work should strip all the paint residue off easy enough.

Failing that use nitromors with a brush to get that into the pitted areas then pressure wash that off ?

Halle71

I spoke to our neighbour who removed layers and layers of paint from the front of his house in just one week.
He used paint stripper (not sure which sort) 'watered' down with wallpaper paste to make it go further and water blasted it off.
It looks amazing.
But don't use a water blaster in this weather because of the risk of ice.