What to do with my block house.

[stephielindow]

I have a 1930s house built with block or hydro-stone, and the paint is peeling and trapping moisture, thus making the block very pitted.How can I remove the old paint, and fill all the pits to restore it to new, before I repaint it?Has anyone dealt with this before? Ill add some pictures as well.

 

[handyguys]

There is no magic bullet for this one. Sorry.

For new paint to stick you need to remove everything that's loose.

A wire brush and scrapers would take a very long time. A power washer could damage the mortar joints.

Chemical strippers can be expensive and may take a few applications.

Sand blasting or media blasting may work but I have no direct experience.

If it were me....

I would look into stucco. Stucco can be mixed to be your final color. It is attached to a wire mesh which is anchored to the block. It will never need painting unless you want to change the color. This may not fit with the look of the house though.

if you want to paint. Investigate media blasting. There are companies that can come out and do it. They can use crushed nut shells or some such thing that can biodegrade and make cleanup easier. Once its down to the block you can paint. I just read about a Sherwin Williams paint for block that requires no primer. Maybe look into that.

If you cant do media blasting or sand blasting then try chemical strippers.

Good luck - Let us know what you do and how it comes out. Before and after pictures would be great.

 

[stephielindow]

Thanks for the blasting suggestion, I was able to find a soda blasting company, and that looks like what im gonna try.Pretty amazing really. I would like to repair the pitted surfaces still, if anyone can help me out with that.
http://www.sodapro.com/brick_depainting.html

 

[mudmixer]

The paint that is on there is way too thick or is not a breathing type. That is the reason for the moisture being retained.

If the moisture cannot get out, it will force crack the paint and cause peeling. In cold climates, can also cause freezing and thawing damage from the expansion.

 

[stephielindow]

Yeah we know thats a part of the problem. It was painted by the previous owner.