So we had this idiot painting our house who decided he should prime over our lacquered wood siding. For some reason he thought that's what we wanted. ANYWAYS. . Our beautiful wood siding is now primed!! I believe it is a rough cedar which needed to be re lacquered but the primer is really stuck to it. Sanding will only take off the texture of the wood. . is there a stripper that can help us get this off. . we don't care how long and tough the task might be. . HELP!!

 

An infared paint remover might be a better option. This is one brand, there are others.
The Silent Paint Remover™ : An environmentally safe method for removing paint & varnish with infrared heat technology.

Is it the whole house? How could he have been that far off in what was needed?

 

Thanks for your reply. Our house is two story and the bottom half was finished in a really nice cedar. He only did one side of the house before we stopped him. The silent paint remover is quite amazing. . . I wonder if it would remove the primer plus the old varnish under it. The wood has a lot of texture to it. We'll look into it. . thanks again.

 

Are you sure the siding has a lacquer finish? a translucent/toner stain would be more likely.

Did he use an oil base or a latex primer? latex might come off with a pressure washer but oil base would need a paint and varnish remover type stripper and even then.......

 

mark...I know you hang out in your comfort zone....lol...

Heres the other thread...maybe a mod could combine and delete? http://forum.doityourself.com/lumber...ff-siding.html

oops..you are a mod..didn't realize that....so?

 

thanks for deleting the other post. . i went there first but then realized this was the better thread. okay. . good question about lacquer/stain . . . here are some pics. . primed and unprimed. . by looking at it. .what would you say?

 

That looks like it might be poly Poly [even spar poly] usually doesn't far well on large exposed areas like siding. At least not here in the S.E. - but I've never been that far west

I think I would try a pressure washer first. Stripper will work but it will also take the poly off with it. What does your painter say? or is he history?

 

He is history! We tried pressure washing it today. . and some of it's coming off very slowly but it's also making the wood very grainy. Because it's leaving some paint behind and we don't want to destroy the wood, we might do a little of both pressure and sanding. A LOT of work!! I wonder if anyone besides me thinks it's worth it. . .

 

IMO a well maintained clear or stained sided house always looks nicer than the same house with painted siding...... but I don't envy your job at hand. Hopefully as you remove the primer you will find what works best and the primer removal won't take as long as expected. Wish you lots of luck.

 

thank you for all your help

 

May as well add my two cents here, after 32 years in the construction and remodeling business i have found the best product for such a situation to be GOOF OFF Welcome to the Goof Off Website it will even clean dried latex paint that has been on something for years. case in point to test it a few years ago when I first foudn the product I placed an old hard as a rock completely dried and trashed paint brush in a small container poured enough of the Goof Off in to just cover the bristles. 24 hours later with soap and water I washed every bit of the old dried paint out of the brush turning it back to a usable tool as soft and straight as the day it was purchased.

I'd suggest using a garden sprayer to apply the Goof Off, wait an hour or so and then attempt to use a power washer to get the paint off once softened. BE CAREFULL if the siding is white cedar whish is very soft you can start to remove the soft pulp of the wood with the pressure washer even without any kinds of cleaner.

 

Twisted....depending on the amount of siding..that could get REAL expensive. I like Goof Off too, but used outdoors like that, I just don't think it would be very effective or cost efficient. Also, its a vertical surface, so controlling runoff would be vital.

Actually..it might make it worse if it penetrated the wood like a stain would.

 

Very good point Gun,
if the Goof Off were to make it into the grain of the wood beyond the original finish it could very well create a problem for refinishing later.

I have one other suggestion that was to be a last resort and i have seen it have to be used int he past, Im sure you wont want to hear it but it is a rel;atively cheap , time consuming but very effective sollution.

Remove the cedar siding on the side of the house that was mistakengly primed. Flip each board over place the primed side against the house re-attach the siding as if it were brand new and refinish it as you choose.

 

I suspect the primer on the op's siding was oil base and products like 'goof off' or 'oops' won't work on solvent based coatings.