Removing Paint From A Foundation Wall ?

[Robert11]

Hello:

Will be purchasing a house that when they repainted it a few years back apparently got a little careless and got paint on the house foundation walls, right below the wood siding. Would like to "clean it up".

Don't want to make anything worse.

Is there a good way of removing the paint; thought of a powerful paint solvent, but am a bit afraid the now diluted paint would just spread.

Also, with the concrete being so rough, have real doubts that a solvent would work well. Really don't know, though.

How about a sandblaster ?

Don't know if latex or oil based. Would the answer be different for each ? Pros and cons for this approach ?

Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

Thanks, Bob

[Joseph Meehan]

Start with paint remover. Get some of the really thick stuff. I think some comes with a sort of cloth you put over it, leave it work then pull it off.

That will get most of it off. Next step is sand blasting. You may be able to get by with as small sand blaster, but watch out, you may end up blasting the entire foundation because now you have some very evident clean spots.

Another approach is to use a water soluble paint remover and then follow up with a pressure washer.

Good Luck

[ameijers]

Gray paint? No, seriously- get a couple of pint cans of various shades of gray that look close to your concrete color, maybe mix in a pinch of that powder they sell for staining sidewalks, and you can probably make a color that will make the stains pretty much vanish. Use a sign brush, 'poking' the paint on, to avoid brush marks. Hey, I've seen it done on patches on old concrete, and it works pretty well. Failing that, I'd get one of those finishing stones they use to deburr sidewalk edges (looks like a concrete brick with slots in it), and just abrade the stains off, by hand. Block, or poured foundation? If block, it has probably soaked in, and all you can do is cover it.

aem sends...

[SJF]

My footings (slab construction) are less than a foot high. I painted them gray with latex. Looks neat.