It isn’t easy to remove paint from brick but many business owners have premises with painted brick walls.

When the paint starts flaking, they assume that the best thing to do is just paint over again.

However, it is always a better idea to first remove paint from brick before adding new paint.

This is because you don’t necessarily know what the old paint contains.

You would do better to start again with a longer lasting weather-proof paint.

Removing the old paint from a building is a good way to tidy it up and make it more appealing.

There is a current trend for industry chic, so you may even wish to remove paint from your interior brick walls too.

Especially if they are an attractive colour and texture.

Many business owners like to remove paint from brick as an easy, quick way to achieve a new look without breaking the bank.

PRESSURE WASHING

Pressure washing is one of the most common ways of dealing with dirt and grime build up on your walls.

It is also an effective method for removing paint.

Especially when the water is mixed with an environmentally friendly media to help the paint along.

This method is ideal for outer walls but may not be suitable inside as the water needs somewhere to drain away.

However, pressure washing is suitable for many different types of brick so could be a good solution for your particular walls.

What do you do once you have finished removing all the paint from your walls with the pressure washer?

You must ensure that you wipe up any paint flakes on the floor before they stick.

You may wish to use a chemical like acetone on some particularly stubborn areas.

SANDBLASTING

This is a simple and effective process that works in a similar way to pressure washing.

The fine particles of the sand act as an abrasive, removing the paint from the walls in a seamless movement.

Because the sand is so fine, you will need to use safety gear:

• safety glasses
• a dust mask

And some protective clothing like:

• gloves
• long sleeves

While sand is inert and completely harmless normally, you need to be careful when it is moving at such fast speeds.

As it fills up the air, you should protect yourself from inhaling it or getting it in your eyes.

Sandblasting is usually best kept outside.

If you have a large indoor area, it may be suitable for interior brick walls too.

However, as sand is a very abrasive material, you shouldn’t use this method on more delicate bricks.

It may cause them too much wear.

This is particularly true of public buildings such as churches where limestone is commonly used.

TORC CLEANING

Torc cleaning is ideal for buildings built with limestone.

The low pressure and superfine particles used will remove the stains and dirt from the building.

It will avoid causing any damage to this type of brickwork.

In fact, this method has been used on many old and public buildings.

Buildings such as Buckingham Palace and St Pancras Station to great effect by the Basildon Stone team.

The completely harmless aggregate, calcium carbonate is the key component in this method of cleaning.

It is essentially the same material as the limestone.

This means that it can clean the stone without causing any damage or wear.

POULTICE PAINT REMOVAL

The final method to remove paint from brick is the poultice paint remover.

This is a slightly acidic paste that is spread over the paint.

Once it is pulled away will remove the paint leaving just a clean brick wall behind.

If you wish to remove paint from brick interior walls without the mess of sand or water, this could be the ideal solution for you.

This method is also ideal if you have detailed surfaces.

Areas such as decorative lintels where other methods may not be able to reach difficult crevices in the brickwork.

The paste is much easier to manipulate and can reach even the toughest to reach sections of your brick.

This is what makes this method popular on older buildings with more intricate stonework.

ALWAYS HIRE A PROFESSIONAL TO REMOVE PAINT FROM BRICK

You may be tempted to try these methods yourself.

Or perhaps you might request that your building maintenance manager does the work.

However, it is vital to seek a professional contractor instead.

This is because you need to be able to ensure that your bricks are not damaged in anyway.

Not paying attention to this could affect the structural integrity of the whole building.

Professional paint strippers will also be able to advise you on the best method or methods for your particular wall.

This will ensure that you achieve the specific results you want.

If you want to know how to remove paint, we break it all down.

Whether it’s due to irresponsible and negative graffiti, or if a building needs a new coat to look great again, removing paint is not an easy task.

There are many different methods to safely remove paint.

Ensuring that it doesn’t damage whatever is underneath.

Being delicate with the paint is key in most situations.

You don’t want to damage a famous landmark that has been painted over maliciously.

You want to avoid damaging things like glass panes and windows.

These are common targets for graffiti and other forms of illegal painting.

We’ll be discussing a couple of different methods on how to remove paint from our brick and stone cleaning experiences.

Commonly used methods for safely removing paint from delicate surfaces that you want to preserve.

Heat is one of the common elements used to remove paint.

This technique safely removes paint from a surface.

This is not the safety nor the most environmentally friendly.

Early heat-related paint removal tools used open flames and other dangerous sources of high heat in order to remove paint.

If you must use a heat gun, then keep in mind that toxic fumes can be released.

This is common if you are trying to remove paint that contains lead.

You also want to avoid using a heat gun on any indoor or sensitive materials that could burn.

Use heat as a last resort, but try and avoid it entirely if possible.

Chemical paint removal has been available for a long time and they are usually a safe and effective way in how to remove paint from a surface.

All paint strippers work incredibly quickly so it’s great for emergency situations such as clearing up some graffiti that was painted overnight on your store window.

However, there are some dangers associated with using strong paint strippers.

For starters, paint strippers are flammable so they can easily catch on fire if you aren’t careful.

They also contain methylene chloride which can burn your skin and eyes if you’re exposed to the substance itself.

They do not work well on wooden surfaces so if you are preserving a famous landmark or trying to strip paint from a wooden surface, it’s best to avoid using a paint stripper.

Some paint strippers even have carcinogen warnings, so make sure to read the labels and use the right tools before you use a paint stripper.

Scraping via hand can take a long time especially if there is a lot of paint to remove.

You will also need to sharpen the blade after some use to ensure its sharp enough to continue scraping away the paint.

It’s also possible to purchase vacuum attachments that contain all of the dust that is created by scraping away paint.

It may also help to spray a fine mist of water onto the paint itself to contain the dust.

Scraping is a simple way to remove paint but will take a long time, so it’s not recommended for larger tasks.

You can be incredibly delicate with scraping paint, so it makes a good option for famous landmarks and commercial buildings with fine surfaces.

A mechanical paint grinder works similarly to a scraper but has a vacuum attached to it to contain all of the debris.

These are also safe for how to remove paint with lead in and can remove all of the paint from a surface incredibly quickly.

However, since they are difficult to control and will literally grind the surface down to remove the paint.

It’s not recommended to use one of these tools for delicate surfaces such as a historic landmark.

Lastly, there is the option of using an infrared paint removal tool.

These use heat much like a heat gun but they do not go over certain temperatures.

This means that the heat is more controlled.

There is no chance of something catching on fire like wood.

It also means that lead paints do not turn in to a toxic vapour.

That could cause harm to your health.

Instead, an infrared tool works by warming the paint on a surface.

Then it loosens and can be peeled off easily using a scraper.

It’s a little slower than other methods.

The heating takes a while and the infrared heating devices are not very large.

This means they need to be re-positioned constantly.