Got most of the paint off the house. Been thinking of getting a small sand blaster like the one at sears to get any of the tough spots, like the battens that are more detailed, sort of like chair rail. Any thoughts?
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Don't do it.
The sand bounces off rubbery materials (sand blast resist) and most likely your paint while it eats into the wood.
Have you seen sandblasted wood signs? The cut portion has incredible variation between the soft and hard grain of the wood; not what most people want on their house.
There is no quick answer.
Heat gun and shaped scrapers.
a banister is also an as*calator
been doing the heat gun and scrapers, takes about an hour per 8 ft battan, not terrible but thought there might be a quicker way. Don't want to ruin the wood, you make a good point about the signs.
When I was eighteen (now 54) I was hired with a friend to sandblast paint off a 200 year old brick home. It was a nightmare. You do not want to go there.
I've used a plain old blower nozzle and about 100psi air scraped back and forth at an acute angle across old paint before and blown off a surprising amount of paint. If your not trying to go back to bare wood it could move you along, but not worth it if you have to rent a compressor, only if you've got one.
I'm thinking if you need to sandblast it off, there's no reason not to leave it on. Obviously, it's well adhered, why take it down to bare wood?
If there is lead in the paint you'll spread it over the widest possible area and create the greatest inhalation exposure for you and your neighbors.
4 gpm, 4000 psi pressure washer, 15 deg nozzele at an angle.
Even then, Be careful you do not cut the wood all the way thru.......
<G>
I'll stick to the heat gun, thanks all.
The silent paint remover is faster. It's expensive, but has a very good resale price.http://www.silentpaintremover.com/
dry ice media blasting?
I wouldn't recommend sand blasting. It is way too aggressive for wood.
Maybe soda blasting, or corn meal. I saw a log home blasted using corn meal, and was impressed on how well it worked.