Removing paint from exterior brick wall

Its a large area with possibly 2 coats of paint on soft red brick. Lots of contradictory advice out there means i’m not sure as to the best way to do it. Most sites say dont jetwash and use one of the many paint removal paste e.g. peelaway, removall etc).

Any suggestions as to the best way to do it?

i’d look at alternatives eg render or some other way to cover – we knocked an old extension down and had the paint sandblasted off back to original external wall by a stone renovation co’ – quite hard bricks but def some damage of brick surface the sort that could cause a surveyor to do that “suck in breathe & get out note pad” thing

I have used brick acid to remove old render and mortar from bricks with very good results. I would have thought it could shift paint quite effectively.

I got 5L bottles from Wickes and Jewson. The jewson brand was the best.

I’ve seen a large boundary brick wall covered with paint/graffiti sandblasted with stunning, quite unbelievable results, but I can’t see that working on soft brick. Presumably paint on soft porous bricks will have penetrated deep into the brick and its removal is physically impossible.

I have long thought that painting brickwork should be illegal without planning permission as I’ve seen too many lovely buildings completely buggered up with a bucket of paint and a paintbrush.

I’m hanging around waiting for the local authority to approve the choice of face bricks before my next job can start (8 weeks max statutory wait). Presumably when the house has been completed the new owners will be able to paint the face bricks in the whatever colour they like without any legal recourse…….madness.

OP whay are you wanting to remove it? If it is to render then you may not need to

Cheers for the responses guys, Ernie i’m with you anyone that paints external brickwork needs shooting.

BM – Definately don’t want to render it. The living room has a few issues which i wont bore people with but basically a builder mate has said that getting it off and letting the bricks breathe will help.

back to work bump…

Burchy what issues does the room have?

BM – The rear window bridges the cavity between the exterior and interior brickwork (its fitted too far into the opening) meaning two damp condensation patches on the plaster radiating out from the window. Couple this with a leak in next doors kitchen (now sorted) which has left some damp plaster.

Advised by a builder mate to move window/fit a new one and attempt to get paint off exterior wall to allow the bricks to breathe better.

Have a look at Kling-Strip or maybe one of the others – you may need to get a couple of trial packs

http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/product_chart.htm

I’m also interested as I’ve tried and failed to do my back garden walls.

We removed all the loose material with a scraper and I’ve done small areas with paint stripper where I wanted to plant things. It’s tedious and hard though. The paint is broken up so doesn’t just peel off.

You might not be able to sand blast it but you may be able to use a less abbrasive media. Ours is a yard on a terrace so to blast for us would not be suitable without a lot of containment for the sake of the neighbours.

I considered borrowing jet wash and seeing if it did any damage. My latest plan is to knock it down and rebuild.

Dave – I must admit I wasn’t actually listening much when you were talking about this on sunday – didn’t realize you had a damp problem. I can pop round and have a look one evening if it helps.

My latest plan is to knock it down and rebuild.

I had this problem and was considering the same, even the guy who turned up to Sandblast it turned it down (it was either going to bounce back or cause too much damage to the brick). In the end we went with a K-rend type render (not what the OP wants I know) which wasn’t cheap but looks good (and hasn’t fallen off yet !)