How to remove old paint from a wooden floor

Wood floors are impregnated with acrylic and oil paints to protect against termites and decay. Paint coatings extend the life of the boards, but gradually they wear out. Cracks and bubbles appear. We have to remove the old layer of paint and apply a new one. The paintwork is removed by mechanical and chemical methods, sometimes builders combine these methods with heat, using solvents and hair dryers at the same time.

Classic approach

The old floor, covered with thick cracks and blisters, can be cleaned with a simple trowel. They buy a tool with a wide and sharp blade that captures large areas. Hands from cuts and pieces of the paint layer are protected by thick rubber gloves. They work in a respirator or gauze bandage so that particles of dust and wood do not get into the respiratory tract and do not irritate the mucous membranes.

Begin with the area of ​​the floor on which the paint is practically separated from the boards. Use a spatula to hook the swollen coating and carefully remove it. The mechanical method is the most time consuming and laborious. A person will have to spend from 7-8 hours for one small room. The method is harmful to the back, because the employee spends a lot of time in an uncomfortable position.

Mechanical paint removal damages the surface of the boards. Chips and irregularities remain, cracks appear. Defects will have to be grinded and sealed with special primers and other leveling compounds.

The spatula can be replaced with a scraper, rasp or ax. Hand tools are usually used for processing baseboards and hard-to-reach areas. The remaining zones are cleaned of old paint with a drill. On the device put on a round brush of large diameter with a steel pile. You can replace the drill grinder with a grinding nozzle.

Electric tool is pressed to the floor and turn on. Slowly moving, removing the layer of paint and varnish. Need to work in tight gloves and closed shoes. Sneakers, boots or boots will do. No sandals and rubber slippers.Closed shoes will save your fingers from cuts. Eyes protect from dust and skalok glasses. Be sure to put on a respirator so that particles of sawdust and paint do not settle on the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx.

Inhaled coating, which does not take a drill or grinder, is removed with a chisel. The tool is tilted at an angle of 45–60 degrees and gently hit the handle with a hammer. In this way, they clear the space between the boards and baseboards, as well as the pits, which are leveled with a paint and varnish coating.

The wooden floor after cleaning the paint must be sanded. Emery paper attached to a wide bar or spatula will do. It is easier to carry out repair work with a special grinding machine. The device will remove irregularities and roughness, prepare the boards for applying a new layer of paint.

If you have to remove the paint coating applied in several layers, the mechanical method is recommended to combine with chemical or thermal. Washes or construction hair dryer soften the paint, and then it is removed with a spatula or an electric tool.

To clean and update the wooden surface can looping machine.Sharp tool knives remove the top layer of boards together with a paint and varnish coating. After the equipment, there remains a flat and smooth surface, which is sufficient to be cleaned with fine-grained sandpaper. The tool does not have to buy. The machine is taken from friends or rented for several days.

Large rooms are cleaned of paint with sandblasting equipment. The method is fast and reliable, but expensive. The equipment “shoots” with small pebbles or rubble, removing the paintwork and polishing the boards.

If you have to update a small room, you can use the old method. You will need an ax, a bucket of water and a brush for paint. Sharp notches make a sharp tool. The main thing is to break through the protective shell. The floors are abundantly soaked with water and left for a day. Moisture is absorbed into the wood, softening the paint from the inside. It remains to remove the swollen coating with the same ax or spatula. The floors are thoroughly dried before sanding to ensure good adhesion of the wood to the new paintwork.

Washes and blends

The stuck paint, applied in 2–3 layers, is softened with chemical preparations before mechanical removal. The method has several significant drawbacks:

1. Funds emit toxic fumes that burn the mucous membrane and poison the body. It is necessary to work with washers in a respirator, rubber gloves and a protective suit.
2. Indoors there is a persistent chemical smell, which is difficult to get rid of. We have to air the room several times.
3. Small particles of softened paint remain on the boards. When sanding, they stick to the sandpaper, forming a film, due to which the tool wears out quickly.
4. Paint sometimes eats into a tree, leaving colored stains.

When a chemical or combined method of cleaning from the room you need to make all the furniture. Parts of the product, falling on the legs of sofas and cabinets, corrode the paintwork and spoil the look of the interior. The floors must be vacuumed and cleaned. After drying, the prepared surface is coated with a chemical preparation. The tool is applied with a brush or paint roller. You can buy aerosols that are simply sprayed onto the desired surface.

To better wash the wash, it is recommended to cover the treated boards with foil or cling film. The drug is incubated for several hours. Exact time is indicated on the package.The film is removed along with pieces of paint. The remains of the coating hooked with a spatula or scraper and removed. The room before work must always be ventilated so that toxic substances evaporate.

If you can not remove the paintwork the first time, it is recommended to apply a remover a second time. The procedure is repeated until the boards are clean. The finished floor is dried for 1-2 days, and then polished with sandpaper with medium or fine grains.

Among the washes, there are “Prestige”, “B-52”, “Antikras-Universal” and “Abro PR-600” aerosol. The latter is sprayed at a distance of 25–30 cm. The tube is held in an upright position. Means leave only for 20–40 minutes.

Washes can be replaced with liquid glass. The tool is suitable if the floors are covered with oil paint. The drug is applied to the prepared boards and leave to solidify. Translucent film is removed along with pieces of softened paint. The remains of the coating is cleaned with a spatula or a drill. Paintwork material from the pits is removed with a chisel and a hammer. Boards before painting must be ground, because small particles of paint remain on the surface. The eye does not notice them, but they impair the adhesion of the paintwork to the wood.

Tip: When buying a remover, it is better to choose narrowly focused options for acrylic, oil, or other types of paint. Universal varieties are slower and do worse with old coatings.

Expensive gels and aerosols are replaced by improvised means. For example, soda ash. It dissolves the paint and facilitates its removal. First, the floors are abundantly moistened with ordinary water. The liquid is applied with a roller or paint brush. Wet the surface sprinkled with a thick layer of powder. Boards treated with soda, sprinkled with water, covered with foil. Leave for a day to dry the component. The powder is swept away with a broom, and the softened paint is removed with a spatula or any electric tool. The preference is given to a drill with an iron brush. Particles of paint stuck in the pile less than in the grinding wheels grinders.

Instead of washing it is possible to prepare a paste of soda ash of quicklime. Take 400 g of the first and 1.5 kg of the second component. Add some water to make a thick mass. Kashitsu evenly distributed over the prepared surface, hold for 12 hours.A mixture of soda and quicklime copes even with dried paintwork, which could not be removed mechanically.

Thermal method

If the old paint can not be washed and spatula, it is recommended to arm yourself with a building hairdryer. Equipment can be rented or bought. It turns out no more than a few jars of solvent.

The device has a special button that sets the optimum temperature for heating the paint. You need to select the correct thermal mode and turn on the hair dryer. The floor is pre-divided into small squares. At a time, treated one area, because the paint quickly hardens.

Construction dryer held in one hand, the second squeeze spatula. Choose a tool with an oblong and narrow blade. A stream of hot air is directed to the selected square and wait until the paintwork is blown up. Then the hairdryer is removed and the floor is cleaned with a spatula. You need to work quickly until the coating is soft. You must wear gloves on your hands so that particles of paint do not stick to the skin and nails.

The old coating when heated emits toxic fumes.Toxic substances, getting into the respiratory tract, cause allergies and asthma attacks. Heating appliances can only be used in ventilated areas. During operation, you need to open the windows and doors. In closed rooms without ventilation it is better to do with a drill or scraper.

Beginners who work with a building dryer for the first time should ask a friend for help. It is much more convenient when one person heats the paint, and the second removes it. The main thing is to comply with safety rules and not to bring equipment to the feet and other parts of the body, so as not to get burned.

Renting a building hair dryer is expensive. A blowtorch is much cheaper. It is necessary to work with the heating device in a similar way: direct the fire to the old layer of paint until it is covered with bubbles. Soak up the coating with a narrow spatula or scraper. Residues that could not be removed in this way are removed with a chisel or solvent.

A blowtorch is an inexpensive but dangerous device. Before using the heater, it is necessary to remove flammable objects from the room and remove the curtains.You can not bring a blowtorch close to the wallpaper, so as not to provoke a fire. Beginners who doubt their own professionalism are recommended to replace the device with an iron. This method is more secure, but no less effective.

To remove the paint, you will need a thick newspaper, a piece of foil or calico fabric. On the paint with a sharp ax leave small holes. Boards moistened with ordinary or salted water from a spray bottle. Cover with paper or cloth. Iron include a maximum. When heated, put on a newspaper or cloth for 30-60 seconds. The device is removed along with the paper. The swollen paint is quickly scraped off with a spatula.

The thermal method can be combined with chemical. First, the floors are impregnated with a wash and the coating is removed, which softens and lags behind the wooden base. The remaining paint is heated with an iron or blowtorch.

Thanks to the thermal method, the floors remain dry and even, practically not deformed. Minimum debris and noise. But even after heating, the boards need to be sanded, especially if you have to apply a new coat of paint.

Recommendations

1. It is not necessary to replace the building hair dryer with an ordinary hair dryer. The household appliance has low power. The device will not be able to warm and soften the paint. With long-term use of a conventional hair dryer, a short circuit may occur.
2. The grinder or drill should not linger long in one place. The tool is constantly moved so that the floor does not overheat. If you keep an iron brush on the site for more than a minute, the wood will become hot. On the surface of the board will remain brown spots that will be difficult to disguise. In addition, neighbors can hear the smell of burning and cause firefighters.
3. The iron brush of the drill should not move across the board, but along. Otherwise, the villi will get stuck between the joints and deform. Loose steel hairs can stick into a leg or arm, causing injury to it.
4. If you can not remove the paint mechanically, it is possible that a knot has hidden under the cover. The problem area is processed by the drill. The tool must be sent away from you. You can walk around the problem area in a circular motion, and remove the remaining paint with an emery paper.
5. Doorways before using grinders and chemical washes are covered with plastic wrap.A transparent curtain is pressed against the threshold with a damp cloth so that dirt and toxic fumes do not penetrate into other rooms.
6. If you plan to lay linoleum or tile on wooden floors, it is not necessary to sand the boards. The rough surface increases adhesion of the basis.

It is better to remove the old paint applied to the floor in Soviet times in a combined way. Use a wash or blowtorch and trowel. To speed up the process, you can combine all three ways. And if you want to save time and money, it is recommended not to clean the boards from the old material, but to cover with hardboard and apply a layer of new paint.

Video: how to remove old paint from the floor