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We live in a traditional Victorian house in the North-East of England, i.e. fairly damp and wet. The windows have sandstone lintels. However due to damp and age the paint eventually bubbles (see picture).

I would like to repaint the house exterior.

  1. What is the best way of treating and preventing future paint bubbles on the sandstone?

  2. A couple of dozen bricks have also been painted. What's the best way of stripping the paint off these bricks to expose the original bricks.

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The best answer is to remove the paint. Get the sandstone dry - really dry, camped out in the desert for a day dry. I have found something like this, can convinced a block that gets no sun to dry/tan itself.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/some_guy/17000465161/

The stone will need to be at a temperature inside the bounds of the paint label.

Paint with something like

https://www.flickr.com/photos/some_guy/16381291883/

Paint with exterior paint of your choice (with paint you get what you pay for. Going to sherwin-williams is not throwing away money.)

As far as removing paint: Stainless steel brush of your choice. One for a grinder is not wrong, but it is easy to remove too much stone. Take note, removing paint from stone will really be removing the stone to which paint is stuck. Sandstone absorbs paint, you can not remove just the paint.

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  • Thanks Could you use a chemical paint stripper on the brick? Also would a heat gun be a silly idea of drying out the sandstone
    – csgillespie
    Apr 3, 2015 at 10:48
  • Chemical paint stripper is a good idea that I had not thought of, paint that survives should be strong enough to hold new paint. Heat gun, hair dryer, are both fine tools, and not at all silly. 1500 watts of heat is 1500 watts of heat. Near and far for heat level. As I said, I use light bulbs, when I find it the best tool. (A light bulb to keep pipes from freezing in a crawlspace is also reasonable to me.) A warning that rocks can get too hot, cracks can break a bit of rock and send it flying toward. Please let me know how your paint stripper idea works, so I can add it to my bag of tricks.
    – Some Guy
    Apr 3, 2015 at 14:58
  • I don't intend to start the job until summer. I'll let you know then
    – csgillespie
    Apr 3, 2015 at 15:45

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