Remove Paint from Old wood Siding?

Question

Just bought a 1920 Bungalow. The siding needs to to be repainted. What is the best way to remove the old paint? And safest also, Could be lead paint? The siding is wood.

Thanks

Answer 1

first scrape off a paint chip and take it to a paint store and have them check to see if it is lead based. if not, pressure wash to clean and get the bigger paint chips off, then scrape by hand. you only need to scrape off the loose chips, until no more paint chips/peels up. you can then either sand it smoother with a power sander or leave it (the areas you scraped)...its your choice. then prime over the bare spots and then repaint. if it is lead based then it is probably best to replace the siding because complete removal of paint can get very spendy and may not be worth to restore the old siding.

-kayem painting

Answer 2

It could be either scraped, use a heat gun or pressure washed. Each has it own advantages and disadvantages. Scraping is very slow and usually only takes the loose paint off. Heat gun is also slow and you have to be careful not to have any sparks to start a fire. pressure washing you have to be careful not to get to much pressure and it could rip the wood. you should figure out what one is best for you and test it in a small area.
If it's leads based it might be expensive to have someone else do it as you might have to have a lead abatement contractor remove it and they are usually expensive.
whatever one you decide on you can do a search and it will tell you the right way to use that procedure.

Answer 3

Scraping it or high pressure water blasting. Those are the only two options I know of. Better to have it professionally done too.