Stripping emulsion paint or cladding

Nov 15, 2009 2 Replies

Having had the flat roof of my car port fixed, I now need to do something with the ceiling under it. This is painted with emulsion over plaster and the (former) leaks caused this to bubble and flake. Unfortunately, it only did half a job, so it's a spatter of flakey bubbly patches and good stuff. Clearly the flakey bits can be scraped off but the 'good' bits are stuck solid. If I just hack the loose off and re-paint it will look like the surface of the moon.



So: Are there are good known ways of stripping emulsion paint (heat, chemical, etc)?



Alternatively, I could clad it and solve things that way. My roofer suggested covering the whole thing in hollow soffit boards. Not over convinced this would work somehow, as that stuff seems to expand and contract quite a bit, so it would be likely to end up as a series of bulges. I've seen alternative systems for interior cladding (eg Dumaplast) and I wonder if any of these would work in an outside but sheltered location like this.



Any suggestions, chaps?


I have, successfully, several times used thickly mixed wallpaper paste as a means of softening emulsion paint to a state where it was easy to remove by scraping. Just paint on thickly and allow to soak.

That sounds worth a try though a little counter-intuitive - I'd have expected wallpaper to stay up OK on an emulsioned wall, somehow...

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