Removing masonry paint

[Elderflower2016]

Hi. Anyone successfully removed masonry paint from period brick exterior wall? Looking at purchasing house and survey mentions couple of internal damp patches - due to interior plaster probably not lime and exterior paint not breathable… wondering how hideous/ expensive/ damaging to exterior brick this process would be?

You'll get lots of helpful and appropriate advice in the FB group 'Your old house U.K. - repair and conservation'.

Any sort of blasting is generally not recommended as it will ruin the bricks, so you'll be looking at gentler methods like steam.

Thanks so much will join that FB group.

Depends a lot on your bricks. Ours are 1920s shiny red NORIs and they survived glass blasting and seem fine, just very slightly less glossy. Leaving them with 3 layers of peeling gloss paint wasn't an option, if you peeled a bit of the paint off, the brick surface was wet behind the paint. But NORIs are as hard as nails- practically engineering bricks. I'd not want to do it with my Mum's soft textured and crumbly 1960s bricks.
There are chemical methods, but if you've got a lot to strip, that's slow and expensive, and the chemicals are not very nice.

You just need a company that uses doff machines, they are the best way to remove paint off brickwork / masonry.

I’ve heard it’s very very difficult, so you might want to get a rough quote befor eagreeing the final house price

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=doff+system+paint+removal&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:5bc4e699,vid:oQYLiBXvX2Q,st:0

Not difficult at all

Thanks all for your comments I will look into your suggestions. .

I had a quote from a company to use the doff machine to remove the exterior paint on the front of our house - it’s just a standard Victorian 3 bed semi. They wanted 15k just to do one wall!

Maybe get some air bricks as replacements to improve the air circulation?

Oh dear…! 15k?!

Or you could just buy one for half the price……….use it as much as you want then sell it and probably get 75% of your money back.

https://softwash-systems.com/shop/the-doff-integra-steam-cleaner/doff-integra-steam-cleaning-system-softwash-systems/?

I joked to my DH that we should do this but now seeing that link we might seriously consider it. I guess there is a risk that the paint doesn’t come off as well as an anticipated even with the doff. I wonder if they can be hired?

In 2021, we removed the paint from the bricks of the lower part of our house (1930s semi-style house). It was the best thing we did, as the bricks were covered in layers (and layers) of paint. We had no damp issues; the removal was for aesthetics. The cost was around £4000 for the paint removal and re-pointing with lime mortar. We applied Stormguard afterwards to protect the bricks (around £80 per tin). Our soft red rubber bricks did suffer slightly, but they would have eventually failed under that paint. The attached picture shows the entirely inherited custard house versus stripped paint and the work that is underway to paint the top half white.

I doubt there is any paint that a doff cant shift. Not sure if you can hire them as apparently you need training on them first? Ive used a hot jet wash to remove paint before with mixed results, if the paint was thin ( graffiti) it got it off but layers of thick masonry paint were too stubborn and it didn’t all come off.

With a doff its just mainly steam (150c). So you don’t get soaking wet and it wont damage the brickwork like sand/media can.

If i had a house to do id definitely buy one , do it myself . Once you get the hang of it its no harder than using a jet wash.

Friend had it done on her Edwardian terrace very successfully. It's was painted uniform beige all over, all the bricks, all the trim and cills etc and was peeling and flaking everywhere. It's gone from the worst house on the street to the nicest.

What a great result @Imhappy. The £15k quote we’ve had is crazy high compared to what you paid in 2021. We only want the front of the house done as a priority. I think I need to see if there are any second hand doff machines for sale.

Hi @MinnesotaMuffin , it is a specialist job, Not a DIY task. It is messy, even with a Doff machine (which is what the guys used for my job) and you must know brickwork to ensure not to cause damage. Get a few quotes. If you are in London check out acra exterior cleaning services or S. H Brickworks (Palmers Green).