Paint Removal from stone sills & mullions

[oakenlivery]

I am planning to re paint the stone sills and mullions at the front of our house which have many years of stratified paint stuck to them.

The house is circa 1910 and has mullions with ornate mouldings at their heads. The sills are of the same material, possibly sandstone.

I'm wondering if sand blasting may be too extreme a method of paint removal. I've seen a neighbour using a heat gun but it wasn't very effective and left patches of un-budgeable paint which subsequently could be seen through the new paintwork.

The only other alternatives would be abrasives or chemical.

Would appreciate your advice.

 

[opps]

Is your intention to repaint?

If yes, why remove the paint from the sills? I prefer to leave sound paint in place and then back fill with epoxy resin filler (having first removed the loose paint). If the base paint has managed to sit there for the last 100 years then it will stay there for many more.

in the event that the last couple of coats have been applied badly then you can sand those back, using a decent sander/abrasives with a dust extractor.

If not and you wish to have a sandstone type finish, then there are a number of alternatives, as you suggested, abrasion or chemicals.

can you provide more details

regards

 

[oakenlivery]

Yes is the answer. I do wish to repaint.

The only issue I have about leaving the paint on is that it can result in a scabby appearance afterwards unless your'e careful about reducing everything to the same surface level. however I take on board your recommendation.

I also was also hoping that by removing the multiple paint layers on the mullion mouldings,which are a bit ornate, would help to revive their relief.

Do you write off the sand blasting idea then?

 

[opps]

A decent random orbital will make light work of flattening the paint on the sills (with generous use of epoxy resin filler).

Agreed the details/mullions would benefit from paint removal, the surface that you are left with would be quite pitted though. It is a lot of work though.

I have never used chemical removers on mullions with both waterbased and oil based paint before, the peel-away products are good but exclusively oil or waterbased.

I believe that the professional stripping companies often use some kind of pressure washer that sandblasts at the same time- not something I know much about though so hopefully someone else can provide more info.

 

[oakenlivery]

Thanks for your comments. Looks as though I'm going to have a busy weekend!

 

[WhiteVanJack]

A decent random orbital will make light work of flattening the paint on the sills

opps,

Would you please be able to provide a starting point where you consider "decent" to kick in, would it be the Bosch "blue" range or at a lesser point.

I need to sand down quite a few window sills myself and also some other external wood areas and intend to purchase a sander this week but am at a loss where to start. Its not for "Pro" use, more for home DIY related to external and internal renovation and it may not get much use after the current work is done.

I have been looking at the "Clarke" range from Machine Mart and Black & Decker in an attempt to perhaps not get sucked into paying for a brand name but really have not got a clue as to what I need. I am sure that I read somewhere on the forum that some of the in house sanders from tool suppliers used the same innards as some famous American sanders name beginning with an M I think, Monster... perhaps?

oakenlivery,

Some time ago I removed the pain from window sills using a combination of chemical paint stripper and coarse grit sandpaper. It was a messy job and on reflection I think a good blast with a sander will be more efficient. I used "Nitromors" as the chemical stripper, however, as far as I am aware there are now better products available from the specialist suppliers.


Rgds
Jack

 

[opps]

I tend only to buy Festool but they are v pricey.

Blue bosch, makita, dewalt, metabo etc

http://www.axminster.co.uk/random-orbit-sanders-dept206928_pg1/

the above might be a good place to start.

If the budget allows then a dust extractor should be considered (a vacuum cleaner that connects to the tools and has an automatic switching system).

Not only will you keep the dust down but the paper will clog less and the finish will be better.