Planning your repaint your home’s eaves in Eugene, Oregon? I thought I should share some prep tips for making your exterior painting effortless of a hassle. It’s quite true that stripping off paint from hard-to-reach eaves can prove to be a bit of a headache even to seasoned painters. However, please note that this is NOT applicable to homes built before 1978. On these homes, there is a lead-based paint concern that needs to be handled with the utmost care.
Many homeowners attempting to repaint the eaves of their homes do not do this task as it is supposed to be done, they settle for whatever paint they are able to remove. If all the paint is not removed well, it may cause the house to have mildew and mold sooner than you can imagine, in addition to ending up with a less than perfect paint job. To help you avoid this, here are some pointers that will enable you properly strip paint from your eaves before repainting.
1. Put everything that you will need to use together before you start doing the actual job. You need protective gears to protect yourself against any injury. Some of the protective gears include a dust mask and protective glasses to prevent dirt from entering your eyes. Prepare the area you will be working around by covering it. Cover everything that may get spoilt by the paint that will be removed with a drop cloth. Cover all the plants with the drop cloth too so that you won’t have much cleaning to do once you’re done.
You will generally need the following items: dust mask, drop cloth, heavy-duty scrub brush with a detachable handle, long broom, bucket of hot water, soap preferably antibacterial, putty knife, duct tape, utility knife, carbide blade paint scraper, gel-type chemical paint stripper, disposable paintbrush, gloves, water hose, sandpaper, ladder, handheld rotary tool, scraping, and sanding accessories.
2. Get your long broom and attach it to your heavy-duty brush for scrubbing. Get a bucket and warm water with antibacterial soap or detergent. Start scrubbing under the eaves, thoroughly. This will help to make the paint become loose for easy removal. Removing this paint will prevent mildew and other imperfections from manifesting.
3. Use a paint scraper by attaching it to the broom handle, you can use duct tape to make it more secure. Use a putty knife to remove paint from under the edges, loosen the paint by using force and also use warm soapy water to scrape off the paint
4. Take the knife off the broom handle by cutting off the duct tape. Use the tape to attach the blade scraper and the broom handle. Next, use of the carbide blade scraper, to remove all the stubborn streaks of paint, you can pull by applying a little pressure to the handle, remove all the excess paint from the surface.
5. Ensure that you remove any vestiges that are on the surface by using a gel-type chemical stripper. Take off the paint scraper from the broom handle by cutting the duct tape. Replace it with a disposable paintbrush and apply the gel-type chemical using the disposable paintbrush on the areas that are hard to reach.
Replace the paintbrush with the putty knife to scrape away the paint-stripper sludge. Using a water hose pipe, sprinkle some water on the surface and then let the area dry up. Make sure you wear gloves to protect your hands from getting injuries.
6. Cover the blade of the putty knife with sandpaper and tape it into place to create a makeshift, long-handled sander. Use the putty knife sander to smooth any remaining rough edges under the hard-to-reach areas of the eaves
Detail work may require the use of an extension ladder and an up-close approach. Use a handheld rotary tool and scraping accessory to remove paint vestiges from corners and cracks, and a sanding accessory to prepare the surface for the new paint.
Before going up the ladder, make sure everything that you will need is within reach so that you don’t keep going up and down the ladder. This will save you time and the many trips of going up and coming down the ladder. Start by removing the paint from the areas that are closer to you and work your way to the areas that are far and hard to reach. Scrub the surface with water and leave it to dry.
How to Strip Paint on Hard-to-Reach Eaves in Eugene, Oregon.
