What's the best tool for stripping paint off of plaster?

[Rob Pitt]

Hi all,

I need to strip the paint off of plaster as I'm not able to afford to have it skimmed and a painter has told me the pattern in the paint left by wallpaper on top of it will show through. I've tried various things, chemical stripper (too expensive), steamer (kept blowing the plaster), wallpaper scraper (no good without steamer), window scraper (second best tool so far, causes more damage than and removes paint slower than best), heavy duty scraper (like the window scraper but caused more damage to the plaster) and the straight edge of a shave hook. The shave hook is best causing minimal damage to the plaster but it makes a horrible squealing noise and takes off such a small area at a time it's going to take a long time.

Does anyone know a better tool for this? I wish you could buy a giant shave hook but they don't seem to exist.

I know you might use lining paper or skim it but really stripping the paint (then sanding down) is how I'm going to do this.

Many thanks.

[vic.corrance]

Hi all,

I need to strip the paint off of plaster as I'm not able to afford to have it skimmed and a painter has told me the pattern in the paint left by wallpaper on top of it will show through. I've tried various things, chemical stripper (too expensive), steamer (kept blowing the plaster), wallpaper scraper (no good without steamer), window scraper (second best tool so far, causes more damage than and removes paint slower than best), heavy duty scraper (like the window scraper but caused more damage to the plaster) and the straight edge of a shave hook. The shave hook is best causing minimal damage to the plaster but it makes a horrible squealing noise and takes off such a small area at a time it's going to take a long time.

Does anyone know a better tool for this? I wish you could buy a giant shave hook but they don't seem to exist.

I know you might use lining paper or skim it but really stripping the paint (then sanding down) is how I'm going to do this.

Many thanks.

I would spray it with water to soften the paint. Use a garden sprayer. Then use a bladed scraper . It will take a long time :/ I did a hallway of artex this way ! No other method was as effective.
Hope that helps
Vic

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[Tom d'Angler]

The best course of action is to have it skimmed.

The second-best course of action is to have it lined.

Stripping the paint off will cause damage to the wall and, as you have found out, is difficult and very time consuming.

What the "painter" should have suggested was painting a coat of Zinsser Gardz on the wall, let it dry overnight, and then paint two coats of good quality emulsion. I did this on a job three weeks ago where you could see "ghosting" from the pattern of the wallpaper that was previously on the wall. No ghosting now.

[Rob Pitt]

Thanks Tom d'Angler. I've already stripped a third of the paint but it was the easiest, loosest third, most of the rest is well bonded. I almost want to finish it for the sake of it now but if you reckon it will hide it I might patch up the plaster then give it a go. Not sure why my painter reckoned the ghosting would appear and you don't, is it the Zinsser Gardz, the quality of the emulsion or both combined that will stop the ghosting? Got any recommendations on emulsion? I've just been using large trade pots of magnolia from B & Q (Leyland Trade Contract) for the other rooms but don't know how good quality it is, especially since it's so cheap.

[Rob Pitt]

Looks like dulux trade emulsion should be good I'll get this unless someone tells me otherwise.

[Tom d'Angler]

Got any recommendations on emulsion?

I use Dulux Trade. Other decorators have their own favourites. A trade paint is always better than a "retail" paint.