Great to see how effective IR is. And I agree 100% with your reasons for stripping and re-painting, rather than ripping off and replacing. You just can't buy decent old pine unless from a recycling yard, and it beats modern pine hands down for longevity - if you keep sources of damp at bay. Great job on the weather boarding.
Beautiful restoration, and great explanation. Thank you. I have the same kind of flaking exterior paint on my house, and I think the IR paint stripper would do a better job than applying chemicals + heat gun, or even a steam cleaner. The siding you showed is straight and flat, my main concern is if the IR paint stripper would work on all the ridges and small edges of a window frame and sash.
Hi Paul - thank you for taking the time to write, and also for the positive feedback. The paint crew also used a much smaller IR tool called a Cobra for the detailed trim. The Cobra is held in one hand, and a contoured scraping tool is held in the other. Both are available from www.eco-strip.com/product/speedheater-cobra/
What a gorgeous project and result! Thank you for preserving the old wood and it's historic value. I live in a historic neighborhood and appreciate the information. Does your company offer this service?
Thank you for the positive feedback! Yes, we offer complete antique home restoration services. You can find more info online at www.northriverbuilders.com
I have had dusting/flaking issues when I use my speed heater, have you ever ran into that before? I was told boiled linseed oil can act as a softener to possibly reduce that? Off topic, but what’s the main field color of that house shown?
Yes, I have heard of brushing on linseed oil to soften old paint and aid removal - and although I haven’t experimented with it myself, it makes sense that it would reduce the dust/flaking issues that you describe The siding color is Ben Moore HC-8
I recommend the Speedheater 1100 for larger areas (siding) and the Speedheater cobra for detail work (moulding, window trim, etc). Both are available online through Eco-Strip. Note: there are other manufacturers that sell knock off units that looks similar for half the price, but they’re not as well made and tend to fail.
I removed very hard paint from my 1940s cottage. I used linseed oil to soften the paint( southern exposure). It was a slow process as the time it took to soften the paint for scraping, was much longer. I completed it and the results are beautiful. P.S. What scraper is the gentlemen using in the video? Thanks!
Congratulations on your successful paint removal! Sounds like it was worth the time and effort. One source of professional grade scraping tools in Atlas Preservation Inc.
After you strip the siding and repaint, how long before it starts too look like it did before? Or is it only lead based paint that will chip and peel like that? Thanks!
The high performance primers and paints available today outperform the old lead-based paints for sure, but since the primary cause of paint peeling is moisture getting behind it, I think removing all of the cracked and chipped paint went a long way towards preventing water intrusion, and in turn, peeling. The paint job in the video was done 5 years ago and is still solid. We used top of the line Benjamin Moore primer and paint. We also re-roofed the building prior to painting it, so that’s leak- free as well.
I have an old house that I'd like to strip the paint off of and then stain the wood. Have you ever gone from painted wood to stained wood as opposed to painting over it again?
I’m assuming you’re talking about ending up with a natural wood look (rather than an opaque house stain that looks like paint). We haven’t done that on a whole house exterior, but we’ve stripped paint from exposed timbers and not repainted them. Note: once the yellow house in the video was completely stripped of paint, several people commented that it looked so good that maybe we should skip the paint and just clear coat it! They were only half serious, but in any case it would be very difficult to get every bit of paint out of the thousands of tiny cracks and crevices of a house exterior, and that’s exactly what you’d have to do to transform a formerly painted house to a natural wood siding house.
Good question… I didn’t track the cost, but I can say that the IR stripping portion took approximately 300 man hrs . you might be able to get the power consumption specs for that IR unit and calculate the cost from there.
Not any reasonable concerns. Infrared operating temps are low enough not to ignite wood through normal usage. You’d have to leave the unit on and not move it for many hours to generate enough heat to cause wood to ignite. A standard heat gun, on the other hand, is hot enough to ignite wood, and there have been cases where removing paint with a standard heat gun has resulted in a house fire.
The method works best with linseed oil based paint. Although linseed oil paint was still being used into the 1950s, it was being replaced with other formulations around then, so no guarantees. It’s safe to say that any house built before 1920 likely has linseed oil paint (at least the lower layers). Infrared stripping works if the lower layers are linseed oil paint, even if it was painted over with something else later on
Square footage pricing doesn’t work due to the many variables, including labor rates for your area, the number of layers of paint, and the ratio of irregular trim (mouldings, etc) vs siding. Your best bet is to price the job based on the total estimated labor hours. If you’ve never done this type of work before, tell your customer you need do a test area to determine the price, then carefully track your time. Don’t forget to include time for light sanding prior to painting.
It should, but only if the bottom most layers of paint are old linseed oil based paint (if the bricks were first painted after 1950, there’s a very good chance it’s not linseed oil based)
Great to see how effective IR is. And I agree 100% with your reasons for stripping and re-painting, rather than ripping off and replacing. You just can't buy decent old pine unless from a recycling yard, and it beats modern pine hands down for longevity - if you keep sources of damp at bay. Great job on the weather boarding.
Thanks for watching, and I appreciate your comments
Thank you! I was looking for a solution for stripping lead paint on our old house built in 1882. I appreciate you posting about this.
Thanks for your feedback, and best of luck with your project! It’s a lot of work, but so worth it!
Goodness, I never knew about infrared paint removal! Thanks so, SO much xox
You are so welcome! Thanks for writing!
Beautiful restoration, and great explanation. Thank you. I have the same kind of flaking exterior paint on my house, and I think the IR paint stripper would do a better job than applying chemicals + heat gun, or even a steam cleaner. The siding you showed is straight and flat, my main concern is if the IR paint stripper would work on all the ridges and small edges of a window frame and sash.
Hi Paul - thank you for taking the time to write, and also for the positive feedback.
The paint crew also used a much smaller IR tool called a Cobra for the detailed trim. The Cobra is held in one hand, and a contoured scraping tool is held in the other. Both are available from www.eco-strip.com/product/speedheater-cobra/
Good video showing benefits & results. Folks need to make sure their tool is UL listed & safe.
Yes, that’s an Important point
What a gorgeous project and result! Thank you for preserving the old wood and it's historic value. I live in a historic neighborhood and appreciate the information. Does your company offer this service?
Thank you for the positive feedback! Yes, we offer complete antique home restoration services. You can find more info online at www.northriverbuilders.com
I have had dusting/flaking issues when I use my speed heater, have you ever ran into that before? I was told boiled linseed oil can act as a softener to possibly reduce that?
Off topic, but what’s the main field color of that house shown?
Yes, I have heard of brushing on linseed oil to soften old paint and aid removal - and although I haven’t experimented with it myself, it makes sense that it would reduce the dust/flaking issues that you describe
The siding color is Ben Moore HC-8
@@northriverbuildersinc908 thanks for reply 👍🏼
Interesting
Thanks for commenting!
Thank you for this video :) Do you recommend any infra-red machines? Thanks!
I recommend the Speedheater 1100 for larger areas (siding) and the Speedheater cobra for detail work (moulding, window trim, etc). Both are available online through Eco-Strip.
Note: there are other manufacturers that sell knock off units that looks similar for half the price, but they’re not as well made and tend to fail.
@@northriverbuildersinc908 thank you!
I removed very hard paint from my 1940s cottage. I used linseed oil to soften the paint( southern exposure). It was a slow process as the time it took to soften the paint for scraping, was much longer. I completed it and the results are beautiful. P.S. What scraper is the gentlemen using in the video? Thanks!
Congratulations on your successful paint removal! Sounds like it was worth the time and effort.
One source of professional grade scraping tools in Atlas Preservation Inc.
@@northriverbuildersinc908 Thanks for the response!
After you strip the siding and repaint, how long before it starts too look like it did before? Or is it only lead based paint that will chip and peel like that? Thanks!
The high performance primers and paints available today outperform the old lead-based paints for sure, but since the primary cause of paint peeling is moisture getting behind it, I think removing all of the cracked and chipped paint went a long way towards preventing water intrusion, and in turn, peeling. The paint job in the video was done 5 years ago and is still solid. We used top of the line Benjamin Moore primer and paint. We also re-roofed the building prior to painting it, so that’s leak- free as well.
@@northriverbuildersinc908 Thanks!
I have an old house that I'd like to strip the paint off of and then stain the wood. Have you ever gone from painted wood to stained wood as opposed to painting over it again?
I’m assuming you’re talking about ending up with a natural wood look (rather than an opaque house stain that looks like paint). We haven’t done that on a whole house exterior, but we’ve stripped paint from exposed timbers and not repainted them.
Note: once the yellow house in the video was completely stripped of paint, several people commented that it looked so good that maybe we should skip the paint and just clear coat it! They were only half serious, but in any case it would be very difficult to get every bit of paint out of the thousands of tiny cracks and crevices of a house exterior, and that’s exactly what you’d have to do to transform a formerly painted house to a natural wood siding house.
What is the electric cost to use infrared associated with a building that size?
Good question… I didn’t track the cost, but I can say that the IR stripping portion took approximately 300 man hrs . you might be able to get the power consumption specs for that IR unit and calculate the cost from there.
Any concerns of fire due to the heat?
Not any reasonable concerns. Infrared operating temps are low enough not to ignite wood through normal usage. You’d have to leave the unit on and not move it for many hours to generate enough heat to cause wood to ignite.
A standard heat gun, on the other hand, is hot enough to ignite wood, and there have been cases where removing paint with a standard heat gun has resulted in a house fire.
Does it worth to use this method on the house from 1950 ies? Thank you!!!
The method works best with linseed oil based paint. Although linseed oil paint was still being used into the 1950s, it was being replaced with other formulations around then, so no guarantees.
It’s safe to say that any house built before 1920 likely has linseed oil paint (at least the lower layers). Infrared stripping works if the lower layers are linseed oil paint, even if it was painted over with something else later on
@@northriverbuildersinc908 thank you for replying!!! So, old fashioned scraper for my house is best option? 🤣🤣🤣
I'm going to work on a house with paint just like that. How much can I charge per square foot?
Square footage pricing doesn’t work due to the many variables, including labor rates for your area, the number of layers of paint, and the ratio of irregular trim (mouldings, etc) vs siding. Your best bet is to price the job based on the total estimated labor hours. If you’ve never done this type of work before, tell your customer you need do a test area to determine the price, then carefully track your time. Don’t forget to include time for light sanding prior to painting.
Awesome video! Money and cheap tac just dosen't make life worth living! Nice to see somthing worth watching!
Thanks for watching!
Dose this work on brick 🧱 cheers
It should, but only if the bottom most layers of paint are old linseed oil based paint (if the bricks were first painted after 1950, there’s a very good chance it’s not linseed oil based)