Painted-over walls
Taking the film off, gently
Limewash and mineral paint cannot bond to sealed latex. If your wall has been painted, the paint comes off first.
That sounds like a lot, and sometimes it is not. Loose, flaking paint often lifts with scraping. Sound paint that will not scrape needs a stripper. Painted brick needs the most care, because the face of the brick is easy to damage. We try a small area first and choose the method from what we find.
What this covers
Latex, oil and masonry paint on plaster
Painted brick, inside and out
Walls with many old coats
Three methods
Which one, and when
Scraping and wet methods
For loose, flaking paint on plaster. Wet, never dry, and a HEPA vacuum collects the chips.
Chemical stripper
For sound paint that will not scrape. The wall is neutralized and rinsed, then given time to dry before coating.
Low-pressure wash and poultice
For painted brick, where harsher methods mark the face. Slow, and the one that protects the brick.
What we will not do
Methods that damage old walls
Some quick ways of removing paint cost the wall more than the paint is worth.
Sandblasting
It strips the hard face off brick and leaves it open to water.
Heat guns and open flame
They are a fire risk in old framing and they release lead from old paint.
Dry sanding
It makes dust, and in a house built before 1978 the dust may contain lead.
Skipping the test
Every wall gets a test area first. The wall tells us the method, not the schedule.
Questions
About old paint
Does all the paint have to come off?
Not always. If the old paint is sound and the product is made for it, the patch can show that it holds. On sealed latex, it usually has to go.
What if my house was built before 1978?
Federal rules apply to paid work that disturbs paint in homes and child-occupied buildings built before 1978. Tell us the year when you book. The firm's EPA lead-safe certification number is under Credentials, and on those houses we use lead-safe work practices: plastic containment, wet methods and a HEPA vacuum, never dry sanding, a heat gun or an open flame.
My brick is already painted. Can you limewash it?
Not until the paint is off. The method depends on the paint, and the wrong one damages the brick face, so we test a small area first. We do not use sandblasting, heat guns or dry sanding on old paint.
What does removal add to the job?
It adds time, and it is the part of the estimate that moves most. The test area tells us how hard the paint comes off, and the written estimate says what we found.
The test patch
See it on your own wall first
We paint a square of mineral paint or limewash in a spot you pick, in the coats the wall would get. Look at it for a week, in morning light and under lamps, then decide.