Hi! I am a new reader. I am a general contractor, but mostly smaller scale type work, such as decks, bathroom/kitchen remodels, painting, sheetrocking, etc. With spring and summer soon to be here, my calendar gets jammed with folks wanting exterior painting. The one thing I HATE is scraping off old paint. I have seen power paint scrapers (Porter Cable has one) and I am wondering if anyone has used one and how well it worked. How bad was the vibration? The weight of the tool after awhile? etc. Thanks in advance!!
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Check out http://www.paintshaver.com
Thanks. I went to their site. Tool looks real cool, but the price!! OUCH! But, will keep it in mind. Thanks again.
Think about the long term savings instead of the short term cost. It's tax deductible as well for a professional.
That's true and a valid point. I also searched the Web and found a tool by Metabo. It weighs less (a very big difference for fatigue when you are doing this all day) and costs less. I found it for sale on Amazon, which was handy in that lots of buyers wrote their recommendations, which gave a lot of anecdotal experience on how the tool performed, likes/dislikes, etc. I also learned alot re: my own experience in removing paint, especially in the tools I used. At one house, we ended up using drills with sanding pads attached because the paint wouldn't budge for a scraper or a random orbit sander or even a belt sander, yet it was very cracked and alligatored and needed to be worked on.
Have you used the Paint Shaver? Thanks again.
Yes, I have used the paint shaver as well as the Porter Cable one. I found it to be very fast and used it with the vacuum.I liked it better than the PC. Lead paint is a serious danger and issue for many states so the vacuum was a plus. In Mass if a child gets lead poisoning and is in the proximity of someone doing paint stripping it's hard to get out of a legal problem. I'll have to do a search on the Metabo you mentioned. There's also an infrared type device that heats the paint up for easy scraping. I don't have a link handy but try looking up infrared paint strippers. I read about it in a This Old House magazine but they opted for a chemical stripper and didn't find out about the infrared device until after they committed to the chemical stripper. Work safe and smart!
Thanks for your information and comparisons on the PC vs. The Shaver. I agree that using a vacuum is the best way to reduce debris and dust. Work smart is right on the money. Always! Thanks again.
http://www.air-nailers.com/spr.htm
There's another one that's a little cheaper out there as well. I've got one of those old infrared heaters that was all the rage years ago I've been meaning to try. Nice thing about these is no dust.
No dust would be so lovely...I really get frustrated wearing goggles and a dustmask as I also wear eyeglasses. The glasses fog up in a heart beat and then I can't see a blessed thing...It is like working in a blizzard. Since I live in the Pacific NW, the real exterior painting season is in the late spring/summer, so of course, you are also sweating bullets while sanding, getting covered in this stuff...I get so excited just thinking about it, NOT! Oh well. That is the name of the game sometimes. Fortunately, I can chose the paint jobs I want. However, we have a duplex rental and didn't have any choice on that one. Totally sanded it down to bare wood as the old paint was in bad shape.
Thanks again. Take care.
There's a brief review in Fine Homebuilding on the Metabo and the Paintshaver versus chemical, sanding etc. Paintshaver looks to be the beast of the bunch but at a steep price!Link is here: http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/pages/h00140.asp
Edited 2/10/2005 12:47 am ET by gatordoc
i have "the silent paint remover" from viking tools and have used it for a while - works well and quickly but it does get a little complicated with only one worker - i've been using it primarily for stripping clapboards - hold it in place for 10-30 seconds or until the paint "bubbles" and then scrap it off - it's a little easier to have one guy hold and one scrap - the paint loosens/bubbles a little more easily if you treat it with a linseed oil/paint thinner first
Hmm...that sounds rather interesting. I live in the Puget Sound area in Washington state and tend to encounter more cedar shingle siding, lap siding, T-11 and occasionally the older style concrete shingle siding. I do have the luxury to turn down jobs that are going to be major labor intensive or I encourage the homeowners to a lot of the labor. They sometimes agree, especially when they find out how much the labor is just to prep/scrape their place. Most of the time I can get by with a pressure wash to remove loose stuff. It is usually the fascia and trim that need to be scraped/sanded. Thanks, though, for that tip. I will keep it in mind.
You want to be careful using a pressure sprayer for paint removal - mine has enough power to damage the wood surface as well as force water into places you really don't want it - wet insulation for one, wet wiring or interior walls for another, additionally, here in RI, you're supposed to catch all the runoff since the paint is probably lead-based and considered a hazard. One advantage of the heat lamp is reasonally good control of the removed paint - couple of drop clothes under the work area usually catch stuff - you do have to keep an eye on the work surface since you do get enough heat to char it - point of interest along that line - some structure fires from heat based paint removal are the result of the heat being transmitted into the void space behind the painted surface and the dust in the void space igniting - another good reason to NOT use open flames and TO HAVE a charged garden hose around (always easier to "dose"a small fire then a whole house fire) - even with a heat lamp/infra-red set-up
You are right about the necessity of being careful with a pressure washer re: damage, water infiltration, etc. I do use it however, and am careful. Mine has a lower setting which allows me to spray on cleaning solutions, etc., which work well to clean the surface of the places (houses, decks, etc.) that I am going either paint, stain, etc. I let the chips dry and use a shop vac to get them. I find a careful use of a pressure washer is wonderful for prep work. It is NOT a substitute for sanding, etc., as many people seem to think. Homeowners are very happy when I do the work as I usually will pressure wash the concrete driveways, sidewalks, steps, etc. around the areas I am spraying. Thanks.
The silent paint remover can also be seen at:http://www.silentpaintremover.comI've had one for over a year now and it works great.
Renaissance RestorationsAntique & Victorian Home Restoration Serviceshttp://www.renaissancerestorations.com
I went to the Silent Paint Remover site. What an interesting product! I love the hands free idea. It seems to be a real cool tool. I might have to see about renting it and giving it a "test drive." The other interesting thing I read was the chemical stripper that works by breaking the bond between the paint and the substrate. The guy just sprayed it on the siding in the late afternoon and it scraped off easily the next morning. Probably sort of expensive, but also an alternative as they didn't have to worry about fumes, dust, noise, etc. I think I read that from a link on the Silent Paint Remover page which went to This Old House and an article on paint removal.
I really appreciate how everyone in this forum is so helpful and shares their experiences! Thanks again.
Thanks so much! I will check it out.
Have you tried RainX on the goggles? They also have something to minimize fogging on windshields.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Great idea! I will try it. Thanks again.
Woodcraft sells a dust mask for woodworkers that does not fog your glasses...honest...only downside is that it is pricey, about $40...but it does work and it can be rinsed out and used again when it gets dirty. I bought one for use in my shop and don't regret it.
of dust masks and foggey lenses..... i went to a concrete supplier and got a box of dust masks with a rubber flapper valve in the front. the moiste air that you exhale is supposed to push that flapper open and get out that way.
but the safey glasses still fogged up. so i went to a paint ball store and bought the stuff they use for their masks. i also went to a sports store and bought the stuff for swimmer's goggles. both helped too.
but the cheapest route, which i haven't tried yet, is just plain old dishwashing soap. supposedly, its what surgeons do for their glasses. put a few drops on each lens, rub and rinse off.
a dryer sheet rubbed on the lenses will also help keep dust from sticking to them also.
How about ski goggles? The vents are usually covered with foam - that will keep the dust out and they don't cover the nose so they don't fog... FWIW you can buy perscription goggles too... Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
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