Media Blasting Oak Beams & Bricks. Paint removal in Stafford.

Work is underway to restore a beautiful house on the outskirts of Stafford. We were asked to clean away old paintwork from the beams in two reception rooms plus brickwork at the front of a large fireplace and decorative beams in various other rooms. The work took just two days, and I think James and Dave were a little sad to wave goodbye to the place!

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Once we’d stripped the paint away:

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Beams and Brickwork

Last week, we removed the paintwork from a number of wooden beams and brickwork to help freshen up a house currently being renovated locally. When we arrived, the beams were covered in black paint, and the brickwork marked with old paint.

Before and After of the brickwork:

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Roof Beams:

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Brickwork Cleaning – Full House

This house was a great example for glass media cleaning.  The couple bought the house as a family home and, as part of the restoration, wanted all of the old white paint removing from the external brickwork.

Here’s the before and after photos of the work, which took around a week to complete.

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Industrial Unit Paint Removal

 

The owners of this industrial unit wanted the top half of the brick work exposing, to match their other premises.  We spent several days effectively removing the white paint with an abrasive media.

The hose used had a water attachment, which significantly reduces the level of dust created.  This is often the method we use when working outside within residential, or populated, areas as it all but stops the dust blowing into the air.  We used it in this instance as there were several other businesses in close proximity to the building.

Here’s the unit when we arrived:

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And the paint removal process:

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And once work had been finished:

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Graffiti Removal

Bicarbonate of soda is perfect to use when removing graffiti from brickwork.  This recent example needed to be removed after workers at the premises unsuccessfully tried to remove the offensive words, left on both the side of a building and a wall that enclosed their land, with paint stripper.

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Brickwork cleaning following fire damage

Brickwork cleaning following a fire

Building fires leave behind peeling paint, smoke damage, and dirt.  This can all be quickly and effectively removed using our cleaning systems.

One such example of this is this large industrial unit that had suffered a devastating fire. Extensive smoke and fire damage left just the building walls standing.  The roof and internal sections of the building were destroyed, however the walls remained intact, but in desperate need of cleaning.

On this occasion, we used our soda blasting system to clean each brick, stripping away the remenants of the old paintwork.

Upon arrival, the walls were a mixture of peeling paint and smoke damage:

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Smoke and fire damage cleaned away:

The vast improvement upon completion is obvious (you can see how much it snowed too whilst we worked by how wet the floor became)! The building is now ready for that much needed roof to be fitted!

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If you’re looking for help cleaning commerical or private properties following a fire, contact us today on 0800 774 7632.

 

Barn Conversion

During August, we also visited the lovely town of Chipping Campden.  All of the beams in this barn needed stripping and cleaning, as part of the process to convert the building into a family home.  Such a large area took a few days to complete, however once finished, the entire building immediately looked cleaner and brighter.

Before the work was completed:

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And once the work was completed:

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Paint removal from exterior house bricks

Have the British elements impeded on the paint on your house?

Or do you just not like the look of your walls being coated?

Do you want to remove the coating?

Then look no further.

This post gives you all the information you need in order to make the right choices when you want to remove paint from your exterior brickwork.

So let’s get started.

If you’ve done your research and simply want to discuss your project with one of our professionals, you can get in touch here

 

Testing the brick prior to full removal

Before you do anything, think about the chances of damaging your under-surface.

Some of the questions you could ask yourself are:

  • What type of masonry is underneath?
  • How fragile is it?
  • How old is the building?

 

We talk briefly about patch testing on our building restoration page.

Understanding what type of stone you are working with is key to being able to achieve an outstanding finish.

The best way to ensure the finish you want is to do a patch test on a small, specific part of the wall within the area you plan to restore.

Tip: choose a section that’s hidden away, so if there is any damage once the test has been carried out, then it won’t be visible if, or when, it needs repairing.

Below we explain the challenges of doing it yourself, but first here’s a couple of examples from our SBL portfolio.

 

Removing Paint using Abrasive Blasting

We’ve been keeping ourselves busy completing a number of smaller jobs for customers this month.  On this occasion, we were asked to remove paint from old bricks so that the owner could re-use them when building his new porch and bay window.

Before the cleaning when we arrived:

Painted bricks to be blasted

After the paint was removed and once the front bricks were cleaned:

Paint removed and bricks cleaned

 

The challenges of removing the Paint yourself – DIY Style

If you want to do it yourself, you need to be very determined and give yourself quite a few hours in order to get the job done properly.

You can remove paint yourself without damaging the bricks underneath but you need to be very careful.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of using a chemical paint stripper – the most common form of DIY.

 

The pros and cons using a chemical paint stripper

While we would always recommend a professional to do the job, it’s no secret that there are chemical strippers available.

However, these do come at a cost in terms of labour hours among other things.

Positives

  • It can be cheaper than hiring a professional – (depending on how you value your time)
  • It works well on smaller areas of concrete or bricks e.g. less than one square meter.

 

Negatives

  • You often need to take it section at a time – One square meter by one square meter.
  • Some chemicals require you to wait 48 hours for the reaction to take effect
  • High-up bricks that are painted will be more challenging to reach
  • You still need to use a wire brush or abrasive tool to remove the paint after the chemical reaction has taken place – this causes the possibility of damaging the brick underneath
  • Chemical solutions can change the colour of older bricks

 

Also, you often need to repeat the steps several times. So be sure to stay determined if you do decide to go for a DIY approach.

 

 

Can you restore brickwork on a listed building?

It is most certainly possible to restore a listed building back to it’s former glory.

But you will need to check with the local council as to whether planning permission is needed before undertaking your project.

 

Just why are bricks painted in the first place

To be honest, there’s no simple answer to this.

There are lots of reasons why people might paint the external brickwork on their house. One of those reasons could simply be to give it a spruce up in Spring or Summer.

There was a time in the UK when the colour red was common on terraced houses. White is also a popular colour to use.

Some say once you’ve added the first coat, you can’t get the standard of finish they were before. On the other hand, we have seen and achieved some amazing results by removing the paint with our professional equipment.

 

 

Frequent Questions Asked

There are several other methods for removing paint from exterior brick. They all have their pros and cons but also require a determination and lots of labour.

 

  • Using sandpaper
  • Scrubbing
  • Using a wire brush