Removing Paint from external block wall

Doop · 27-03-2020 12:28PM #1

As the title suggests I have a fairly ugly wall which was at some point in the past was painted...it now looks awful, and I'm not of the opinion that repainting it is the way I want to go. I would rather it had never been painted to be honest.

I'm just wondering if anyone has experience of this, would a run of the mill power washer do a decent job or am I likely to make it look worse!?

Ideally I would clean off as much as I can then get some deep planters and plant the likes of ivy etc to grow up the wall and improve the aesthetics.

Or should I not bother trying to clean off the paint and just see how the planting goes...

Any suggestions or opinions? pic below

listermint · 27-03-2020 12:39PM

You could clad the wall with fencing and be done with. (id do that)

option two pressure washer it down , this most likely will leave residue and not full proof so repainting would be needed.

Other option is cheap sand cement mix render simple.

GreeBo · 27-03-2020 01:56PM

^ would you not need to pressure wash before the render anyway? Not sure how well it would adhere to crappy old paint.

OP I think I would repaint with a less obvious colour, maybe even a "cement grey" (after pressure washing off the existing of course)

Pressure washing off paint is a messy job BTW

Doop · 27-03-2020 03:08PM

Yes you would need to apply a product (the name escapes me) prior to rendering it and its quite a big wall and I have zero rendering skills!

I had considered painting it grey... maybe thats the way to go... I just feel like a mad man putting effort and energy into painting a block wall grey!!

I hadnt really considered the fencing/ cladding.. thanks... ill put some thought into that.

dok_golf · 27-03-2020 11:00PM

After power washing, if you go down the repainting route, you can add Owatrol E-B into the first coat. It is a stabiliser and bonder in one

corks finest · 27-03-2020 11:23PM

Doop wrote: »

As the title suggests I have a fairly ugly wall which was at some point in the past was painted...it now looks awful, and I'm not of the opinion that repainting it is the way I want to go. I would rather it had never been painted to be honest.

I'm just wondering if anyone has experience of this, would a run of the mill power washer do a decent job or am I likely to make it look worse!?

Ideally I would clean off as much as I can then get some deep planters and plant the likes of ivy etc to grow up the wall and improve the aesthetics.

Or should I not bother trying to clean off the paint and just see how the planting goes...

Any suggestions or opinions? pic below

Paint over it,it re plaster

corks finest · 27-03-2020 11:23PM

Doop wrote: »

As the title suggests I have a fairly ugly wall which was at some point in the past was painted...it now looks awful, and I'm not of the opinion that repainting it is the way I want to go. I would rather it had never been painted to be honest.

I'm just wondering if anyone has experience of this, would a run of the mill power washer do a decent job or am I likely to make it look worse!?

Ideally I would clean off as much as I can then get some deep planters and plant the likes of ivy etc to grow up the wall and improve the aesthetics.

Or should I not bother trying to clean off the paint and just see how the planting goes...

Any suggestions or opinions? pic below

Paint over it,it re plaster

corks finest · 27-03-2020 11:23PM

Doop wrote: »

As the title suggests I have a fairly ugly wall which was at some point in the past was painted...it now looks awful, and I'm not of the opinion that repainting it is the way I want to go. I would rather it had never been painted to be honest.

I'm just wondering if anyone has experience of this, would a run of the mill power washer do a decent job or am I likely to make it look worse!?

Ideally I would clean off as much as I can then get some deep planters and plant the likes of ivy etc to grow up the wall and improve the aesthetics.

Or should I not bother trying to clean off the paint and just see how the planting goes...

Any suggestions or opinions? pic below

Paint over it,it re plaster

dok_golf · 27-03-2020 11:53PM

3 coats then :-))

corks finest · 28-03-2020 12:21AM

dok_golf wrote: »

3 coats then :-))

2, masonry

raxy · 28-03-2020 12:33AM

Definately won't do much with a run of the mill poser washer. I power washed the walls of the garden before painting over, (wasn't trying to remove it all). Took off lots of flecks of pain but you'll never get it all off.
I give it a power wash & re-paint, get a paint sprayer if you can because painting that brick will be a pain in the ass with a brush. Cladding is a good option either but probably expensive.

listermint · 28-03-2020 07:48AM

raxy wrote: »

Definately won't do much with a run of the mill poser washer. I power washed the walls of the garden before painting over, (wasn't trying to remove it all). Took off lots of flecks of pain but you'll never get it all off.
I give it a power wash & re-paint, get a paint sprayer if you can because painting that brick will be a pain in the ass with a brush. Cladding is a good option either but probably expensive.

You use a roller on masonry not a paint brush.

corks finest · 28-03-2020 07:57AM

listermint wrote: »

You use a roller on masonry not a paint brush.

You use a heavy pile sleeve,and a decent brush ,and patience,doing heavy dashed houses for over 40 years and manage a bungalow ,boundary wall , pillars and chimneys in 4 days or under p.s. brush I use is a distemper one 7/ 8 inches wide ,6 inches long,
Patience and a decent radio is a must,on a block wall you paint the joints and bottom first,then roll up n down,over n back ,and repeat when dry

SnowWhale78 · 28-03-2020 02:21PM

You could try hire a sandblaster to remove the old paint but would be more expensive perhaps than the other options.

dok_golf · 28-03-2020 03:24PM

corks finest wrote: »

2, masonry

Ya but you said it three times

GreeBo · 29-03-2020 02:44PM

corks finest wrote: »

You use a heavy pile sleeve,and a decent brush ,and patience,doing heavy dashed houses for over 40 years and manage a bungalow ,boundary wall , pillars and chimneys in 4 days or under p.s. brush I use is a distemper one 7/ 8 inches wide ,6 inches long,
Patience and a decent radio is a must,on a block wall you paint the joints and bottom first,then roll up n down,over n back ,and repeat when dry

Painting pebbledash is very different than painting a plain or rendered wall

J.R. · 29-03-2020 03:27PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X8xuipr4_A

pablo128 · 29-03-2020 03:30PM

Ivy has the potential to destroy a wall btw.

MrMusician18 · 29-03-2020 03:31PM

If you already have a decent powerwasher will could get a wetblaster attachment, a cheapo one will do if it's not too large of an area.

Blasting media is quite cheap, wholesale 8e for 25kg.

dok_golf · 29-03-2020 07:16PM

GreeBo wrote: »

Painting pebbledash is very different than painting a plain or rendered wall

2 things, A you are speaking with a professional painter and B, Its a block wall

GreeBo · 29-03-2020 09:03PM

dok_golf wrote: »

2 things, A you are speaking with a professional painter and B, Its a block wall

2 more things
1) I didn't reply to you so I'm not speaking with you
2) I was responding to another poster who advised using a brush on the wall.

Carry on with the random aggression though chief!:rolleyes:

dok_golf · 29-03-2020 09:27PM

. The guy you quoted is a professional painter. and the piece you quoted never mentioned a pebble dash wall. didn't mean to be aggressive just pointing out some disparities. Stay safe.

GreeBo · 30-03-2020 09:43AM

dok_golf wrote: »

. The guy you quoted is a professional painter. and the piece you quoted never mentioned a pebble dash wall. didn't mean to be aggressive just pointing out some disparities. Stay safe.

Ahem!

corks finest wrote: »

You use a heavy pile sleeve,and a decent brush ,and patience,doing heavy dashed houses for over 40 years and manage a bungalow ,boundary wall , pillars and chimneys in 4 days or under p.s. brush I use is a distemper one 7/ 8 inches wide ,6 inches long,
Patience and a decent radio is a must,on a block wall you paint the joints and bottom first,then roll up n down,over n back ,and repeat when dry

dok_golf · 30-03-2020 11:36AM

Mea culpa on the fact he mentions dashed walls in the post, but last line of it is where he gives the actual advice. As I said, no aggression was intended.

GreeBo · 30-03-2020 12:53PM

dok_golf wrote: »

Mea culpa on the fact he mentions dashed walls in the post, but last line of it is where he gives the actual advice. As I said, no aggression was intended.

Yeah no worries, to be fair I misread his post initially myself.:o

Removing Paint from external block wall

Comments