1893 Queen Anne Cottage, Alameda, CA - Painting Advice??

Hi All,

Glad to have stumbled across this site.

Here's a pic from 1999 of our home -- it was built my the Marcuse and Remmel firm and ~90% restored to its original beauty (all original flooring, windows, lighting, trim, moldings, etc. -- even claw-foot tub and 1930s-era Wedgewood Estate stove.) Over the years, we have had a great time doing the final bits and pieces, and are looking for advice on one of the last projects -- exterior painting.

Has anyone here gone through a fairly extensive exterior paint-removal project?? I'm looking for suggestions on removing the paint from the gingerbread and rosettes and all the little detail-stuff. The siding was stripped and sanded rather nicely before we bought it, but the detail work needs some attention -- I'm pretty good with a heat-gun and sandpaper these days, but hoping I won't have to have laborers spend weeks stripping and sanding...

(Unless, of course, that's really the best way to go about it?...)

Thanks for any input!

Mike and Ellen

Mike & Ellen,

Welcome to the forum and please mention us to your friends!

I recently did a stripping job on the front doorway of my home and it took me weeks with a heat gun in my spare time.  I can't imagine doing a whole house worth of trim detail.

"Caring For Your Historic House" by the National Preservation and National Park Service has a good section on exterior painting among other things (interior plaster, wood windows, etc....)

Hi, nice house. I restored a 10,000 sq queen anne once upon a time and the best way i found to deal with issues like this is, carefully take the trim off and strip it on the ground, (i used hand held gas torches as it was much faster than heat guns).

Much easier to sand and prime on the ground plus if any is rotted/damaged it can be reproduced exactly as the piece is in your hand. I set up work benches with plastic sheeting underneath to more easily capture waste which is likely to be lead based and toxic.

Anyway you go, this is alot of work.

My wife & I have been doing a lot of painting...finally broke down and hired out a few walls of the exterior earlier this year.  We find that the little stuff is, like others have said, easiest to remove and deal with on the ground. 

We are also realists...when it comes to the siding & shingles, we sand a bit, prime a bit, and paint over stuff.  This tends to leave some of those little paint scales from previous paint jobs, but I actually like that look.  We aren't shooting for the new-construction look that you might get by removing 100% of all previous paint.  We figure that if the previous paint doesn't come off during the water blast or 40-grit sanding process, then it has deserved its place and we just paint over it...old house -- ought to look old & all. 

- Jason

Nice house w/ nice details. It looks like it is straight out of the "Painted Ladies" series.
We (my wife & I) have stripped (2) Victorians (Queen Anne's - including our current home/ B&B) & our town's Town Hall (for hire) & repainted them. It is time consuming tedious work for sure - plan to spend most of a summer on it if not longer depending on how much there is to strip, how much help you have, how much repair work is needed (when up close and intimate with it, you will most likely find some), how much time you can devote to it, etc. Having said that - it is all worth it in the end to remove many layers of thick, crazed, chipping paint which fills and obscures the details and to restore back the crisp, sharpness of the details that is so important to your home's design. It will not only look good at a distance - but up close too. Also - it will only have to be done once in your entire life of ownership. It will go longer periods between needed re-paintings because the primer and paint you put on will be bonded well to a good surface (not put on top of old paint that will fall off and take the new paint on top of it with it). Future repaints will require much less scraping and prepwork to prepare it for paint because the old heavy, unstable paint will be gone, etc.
My advice: Help is a wonderful thing if at all possible - we hired 3 competent high school students to help out on our current home - huge help and time saver for a reasonable wage. Use scaffolding (a hydraulic lift or boom is even better - but expensive unless you have a good friend or relative that owns one to borrow - at low to no cost). It is much safer, faster in the end, and far more comfortable than standing on and constantly moving ladders - with a very limited reach. More than one person can be working on it at a time and you will have a place for tools and materials. You can rent it, but I suggest buying it (Used - it doesn't wear out, and costs much less.  try www.craigslist.org - use the search feature top left corner, or better yet - www.craigshelper.com to search multiple craigslist areas at once, or try your local papers or pennysavers. A wanted ad can work if you can't find any for sale - it's how I found mine. Caution: not all scaffolding is the same size or interchangeable measure up and compare for compatibility before buying smaller quantities than you need before committing to purchase it.), then reselling it when you are done - you should be able to recoup virtually all of your money. If bought right - possibly even make money on it. (Here in upstate NY - it brings about $100 per section used - 2 ends and 2 braces). There is always a demand for scaffolding. Our first house we spent about $1,300 renting it over 2 summers (we both worked full time jobs and could only work on it evenings and weekends as time allowed), the 2nd house I wised up and bought it - I paid about $1,300 - still have it and have used it many times - very handy to have. I can resell it any time I want to get my investment back. Jacon4 & 1881Victorian suggested removing trim and working on it on the ground - good to do whenever possible (if easily removed and reattached), but in most instances - it's not practical or possible and needs to be stripped in place. Pieces that are damaged, or simple, easy to remake and replace I replaced rather than strip and sand simple pieces (I am also a professional cabinetmaker - so I have a different perspective on what is easy to remake and replace). Torches are faster than heat guns - but also increase the fire hazard risk exponentially - I strongly suggest a heat gun (one w/ a low and high setting preferably - use high most of the time - but low in delicate areas or places you want to limit the heat like around cracks and crevices that could ignite what's inside or areas not readily access or visible, or when softening window glazing so as no to crack the glass). Once you develop a rhythm and technique you'll move along steadily. Have a squirtable water bottle and fire extinguisher close by at all times - I have started fires before w/ heat guns working it tight spaces and a barn in our town was burn to the ground from burning off paint (not by me).  I like a 5 in 1 tool better than a putty knife for removing blistered paint - it is stiff, has a nice bevel, a pointed end which comes in handy and is a good width. You can buy profiled scrapers or sets of interchangeable blades if working on moldings and irregular shapes - I recomend them they'll save way more time (time is money) than the price you'll pay for them. I will also custom grind scrapers to fit a profile I'm working on if I don't have one that fits or works well. Carbide paint scrapers far exceed steel scrapers for performance and longevity - once I tried carbide - I refuse to ever use another steel paint scraper. Try one - you'll be impressed - I guarantee it. I have 1", 2" & 2 1/2" carbide scrapers - the 2" is my favorite and most useful. Once the paint has been burnt off - the surface will need to be sanded - use 60 grit (Coarse. It's a house, not a piece of furniture) for this. You want to remove the paint residue and have a good clean surface to put primer & paint on. For large flat areas use a random orbital sander (the round sanding pads), not the square vibrating sanders - they are much faster and will keep the surface flatter - the square pads have a felt backing - good for curved surfaces or fine finishes w/ very fine paper. Remove all of the dust - or your new paint will be over dust - not the wood. Use a dry paint brush, compressed air in conjunction w/ a dry paint brush, or rags on smooth surfaces (they don't work well w/ nooks and crannies). Caulk w/ a siliconized latex caulk. Use a good quality primer and paint - 2 coats (Benjamin Moore is my favorite - consistently among the best on consumer reports paint comparison tests) - after all the work to prep - don't skimp on cheap paint - it will shorten the longevity of the paint job. Prime w/ oil base primer, top coat w/ a latex paint - Latex is much more flexible than oil base paint and will move with the wood through seasonal and humidity changes without cracking (which allows water in behind the paint and will cause paint failure). The way to test old paint to check for oil vs. latex is to bend it - if it snaps - it's oil, if it bends it's latex. If you don't remove all old paint - DO NOT put latex paint directly on top of old oil base paint. It will peel off in sheets & not bond well. Use an oil based primer 1st. ,then topcoat with latex and you'll be fine. Good luck.  woodwright   

Thanks, all for the ideas -- most are exactly what I had in mind:

1. Purchasing a decent scaffolding -- here in the Bay Area I see them on Craigslist all the time. I'll need it for months -- figuring I'll get to all four sides of the house. I assume I'll be able to sell it right back to the market again -- no big deal if we lose a few bucks...

2. Hiring help -- day laborers are good and inexpensive (and sadly plentiful in this area these days.)

3. Taking our time. Between a heat gun, fine- and coarse-wire brush on power-sanders or grinders, and some good-old-fashioned elbow grease we'll get the century of gooped paint off the detail work.

I'll post some pics tomorrow of the detail work that I could use help / advise / suggestions on the removal of some of the 'corner pieces' and 'mini-gable-thingys'... (And I could obviously use some education on terminology, etc......)

This house is definitely on the 'lower-end' of Victorians here in Alameda -- there are literally hundreds of spectacular old homes of all shapes, colors and sizes -- some real monsters -- all within a few square miles...

Thanks again, all -- more pics to come tomorrow...

Definitely wear a mask! I am stripping paint all the time. My technique includes "tapping" and the paint just pops off in big chunks. My husband thinks I am now suffering from some sort of brain damage from breathing lead dust and fumes from using the heat gun.
I think the brain damage was always there, after all, why would I be nuts enough to take on a project like this with him!