While we all know that as brick is porous in nature so when you see that there is dried paint on it, be ready for the fact that the brick has soaked the paint. So if you have paint stains on the bricks, the general soap and water formula will not work for you. Removing dried paint requires more challenging tasks like usage of effective cleaning products in order to preserve the integrity of the surface.
Common problems faced
The biggest issue with removing dried paint is to get the last bits that stick on the brick’s crevices stubbornly. There are in fact a lot of products available to remove the paint but with a few basic methods, you can give it a try. Which method to use to remove the dried paint will depend on the kind of stain it is.
If you have tried removing paint from a surface like brick, you must be aware that it can be a painstaking task. According to the scope of the task, it may take several hours or even days to complete the job. Also, because of the efforts and time involved, a lot of people are not able to remove paint and rather choose to hire professional services.
Ways to remove paint
Power washing and sandblasting are the easy and fast ways to remove paint from brick. But these processes may cause erosion damage, mainly to the older bricks that tend to have a soft surface. These methods should thus be used only when the other methods fail.
You can try to use sodium hydroxide stripper as these products work on both latex and oil paint stains. But a word of caution- these require extra steps as it needs to be flushed from the surface and neutralized. So remove the dried paint with a paste of naphtha and TSP and spread it on the required surface. Let the paste sit there for some time and then start the scrubbing process.
Also, before you apply the stripping agent to remove the dried paint, test this on an inconspicuous part. You may see that the stripper you have selected does not work as expected. This way, you can opt for some other method to remove the paint. You can also choose to hire the professionals to do the work for you. But in case you go with trying it yourself, once the test paint gets softened, it can be easily peeled away. You will see that the softened paint will come off easily without any harmful lead paint chips or stains.
In case of multiple layers of paint, you can go for scrubbing and rinsing which may need to be repeated till you achieve the desired results.
If you opt to remove the paint on your own, it is important to wear protective gear as recommended by the stripper manufacturer you have bought. So, before you actually apply the paste or gel, just start with scrapping off the paint that is already loose on the surface. After that, with the help of a towel or some tool provided by the stripper company, you can apply the compound to the surface. Make sure you do it properly, push the paste or gel into all crevices of the brick. And so, layer by layer, you can make the stripper up to the required thickness as recommended by the stripper manufacturer.
Further, depending on the brick’s age, it may be coloured concrete and stamped. You can tell by the age of the surface that the brick is newer than 30-40 years, the chances are that it may be stamped concrete and not clay brick. You need to remember that concrete brick is rough in looks and have visible aggregate, whereas clay brick has a solid colour. Also, concrete brick is more porous than clay brick.
Some important tips:
Always cover the areas around the surface where you wish to work like brick floors, painted walls etc. using a plastic sheet. This is important because the paint remover may ruin areas that are splashed on or dripped.
You can keep a bucket of paint remover near you when you use the wire brush to swirl it around in order to remove the paint easily.
Using these steps and tips, we hope you can remove dried paint without much hassle.
