What PSI for pre painting outside wall ?

[diamondbar 14]

Hello All,

Could someone please tell me what psi i should use to pressure wash off an outside wood wall on a house to remove as much paint as possible prior to painting?

Thanks,

Richard

http://www.carpet-cleaning-diamond-bar.com

[bigchaz 157]

Hey Richard, please go ahead and click on "settings" on the top right of the page here and go in and "edit signature" This is the section that appears below your posts to include your name and company information.

[extremeclean 14]

When cleaning wood remember to be careful not to use to much pressure as this will damage the wooden surface. When we clean wood we turn our pressure washer all the way down and use a dual wand for better control of the water using a 40 degree tip and sometimes using a 25 degree tip when needed. Just remember to keep the wand away from the wood, we hold the wand about 1+' away so the pressure does not eat at the wood surface.

When removing paint with a pressure washer you only want to remove the paint that is flaked up, you don't have to remove all of it! The paint that is left behind just use a 5 in 1 scraper and scrap as needed to make the surface smooth. The the new paint will adhere just fine to the old paint as long as its clean and not chipped.

I hope this helps you. Also remember if its lead paint you will have to capture it and discard of it properly.

[sprayer dave 14]

I know this is a pressure washing forum, but I would stay away from a pressure washer to remove paint from your exterior siding. I would be willing to bet that a pro house painter will tell you the same thing.

MHO.

[extremeclean 14]

We have done several Painting jobs, before I started my own business I worked for family doing construction, Trust me when saying that the siding does need to be cleaned in some manner, pressure washing being the fastest. If the surface is not cleaned then the paint will not adhere and will fail. This is the reason that almost all painting companies offer pressure washing as part of there services

[Doug Black 18]

I concur with extremeclean. Paint prep is extemely important and don't forget to rinse rinse rinse to get the PH down from your cleaning solution application.

[sprayer dave 14]

I too have done a lot of painting in my time, both interior and exterior.

Prep is 90% of the job, and yes, the surface does need to be clean, but I believe he was asking about pressure washing as a way to remove the paint not clean it.

With a p/w you will do more damage than good and force water into the grain of the wood and behind the siding.

So, if the siding is not 100% dry before you apply the paint it will soon fail.

The best way to remove old paint is to scrap then sand to feather out the edges

[bigchaz 157]

you can still clean the home using traditional soft wash, the paint prep should normally be left to the painter to scrape and sand as they see fit for the application of whatever product they use

[Adrian 155]

What kind of wood wall is it?

Cobb blasting is an approach as well without saturating the wood beyond redemption with a pw.

[mcvince 14]

why would you use a pressure washer to remove paint? you can use solvents. If your going to use pressure washer and maybe water, termites might live in your walls.

[Doug Black 18]

why would you use a pressure washer to remove paint? you can use solvents. If your going to use pressure washer and maybe water, termites might live in your walls.

Huh? Read Post Number 3.

Prepping in advance for painters get rid of a lot of loose paint saving them a great deal of time so that they only need to edge sand and pick away at larger stronger spots of failure not removable via power washing. The cleaning is very much chemical based, and doesn't need all that much pressure and is similar to a house wash.