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September 4, 2008

Stripping

Now that I've got your attention, I am looking for advice as to the best method and products to use to strip peeling paint off of heat risers. Anyone particularly happy with a specific brand or formula of solvent? Any strategies or techniques that have worked really well? How much time to allot per riser?

Unhappily, I am going the DIY route on this one (I've paid contractors to screw this up twice, I may as well screw up for free on my own this time).

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Posted by slopefarm at 10:40 AM | Comments (13)
Categories: Stripping

Comments

We used Rock Miracle recently for this exact project on the heat riser in our bathroom. It came in a big tub with sheets of plastic. Wore gloves, applied the paste to the riser, wrapped plastic around it (cut it into big strips so there was less waste). Left overnight. Most of the paint was already softened ready to come off in the morning, but we re-moistened the Rock Miracle already on the pipe (with a spray bottle of water) again just to be safe and re-wrapped and left again for about 12 hours. Came home, scraped it all off, 95% of the paint was gone. We repeated the process one last time (only left it for about 4-5 hrs this time) wiped it all down with a wet rag at the end and were left with a perfectly smooth, paint-free heat riser. The stuff didn't even smell that bad, and the paint was moist throughout the removal process so in the event of lead it wouldn't have gotten airborne. Be sure to protect the floors under the riser, because even though it is a paste, on a vertical surface, it can drip a little bit.

Good luck! It went much more easily than I was expecting (although I was expecting really bad things!).

Posted by: setancre at September 4, 2008 11:40 AM

Thanks, I just googled it. Which formula did you use? Pro-Strip, Allov-it-vertical, Upta 6 or Liquifier?

Posted by: slopefarm at September 4, 2008 11:49 AM

I'm not sure which formula. I will check when I get home tonight and repost... We picked it up over at Abbott Paint in Greenpoint. They were very helpful.

Posted by: setancre at September 4, 2008 12:27 PM

Much appreciated, thanks.

Posted by: slopefarm at September 4, 2008 12:40 PM

Peel-Away 1, less toxic than Rock Miracle, same idea of paste with backing to remove paint in liquid sheets. Prevents lead dust, etc. by keeping the mess contained in wet goop.

Posted by: FenFen at September 4, 2008 1:42 PM

the ecostripper heat gun is best for wood that is shellac-ed poly-ed underneath. It is not good for bare wood that's been painted.

Otherwise, Peel Away #6 and #7 is very good (Janovich Plaza in Soho carries it)

Posted by: lincolnlimestone at September 4, 2008 3:44 PM

Man, I must be one dumb-bunny. I've used Peel Away and Rock Miracle and heat tools to strip paint. But when it comes to heat risers, I just scrapped them. I mean, rock breaks scissors cuts paper covers rock, but if it's metal and metal and paint, guess who the loser is. That said, everything FenFen says is true and recommends itself.

Posted by: altervoce at September 4, 2008 3:46 PM

I'd never dry-scrape or use a heat gun on any paint in an old building due to the chance there's some lead there. Paste strippers, or an infrared stripper gun (silent paint remover) with a respirator and a HEPA filtered shop-vac are the only ways to do it safely. Any kind of dry scrapping, sanding, etc, creates too many opportunities for toxic dust.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather not (or have my kids) die from kidney failure, suffer cognitive and central nervous system disorders from high levels of lead exposure.

Posted by: FenFen at September 5, 2008 11:42 AM

Just so this thread doesn't go too far afield, there aer no lead issue here. House was totally redone. We're talking heat risers only, which contractor screwed up when he painted it, leading to excessive peeling. The handyman crew I hired to peel/scrape and repaint the risers screwed it up too, and I've got peeling all over again. I'm not stripping wood and there is no lead paint to worry about.

Posted by: slopefarm at September 5, 2008 11:53 AM

Just getting back to you slopefarm, checked the can and we used Rock Miracle Multi-Coat Liquifier.

Also, we purchased high-heat tolerant paint to repaint the riser with. If your paint keeps peeling you may want to go that route. It may be getting too hot for normal paint.

Posted by: setancre at September 5, 2008 2:40 PM

Thanks, setancre. There was some subtantial discussion a month ago in teh forum on the question of paint for heat risers, with some saying you can do a coat of oil-based primer, while others recommending the heat resistant route. I haven't made up my mind, yet.

Posted by: slopefarm at September 5, 2008 4:43 PM

I have lots of stuff to strip. I've used several products but have settled on Soy Gel. Its fairly non toxic and works well but is expensive.

Posted by: cfbklyn at September 15, 2008 9:57 PM

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